ten-thousand-dollar bills into the "trusted cashier's" hand. The latter
marked it "Old Stone, 5 to 1 to win!" and thrust it into his pocket.
Then "Whitney" or somebody bet $70,000 on Calvert.

"They're off!" shouted the man at the tape.

How he lived while they tore around the course Felix never knew. Neck
and neck Old Stone and Calvert passed the quarter, the half, and the
three-quarter post, and with the crowd yelling like demons came hurtling
down the stretch.

"Old Stone wins!" cried the "booster" at the tape in a voice husky with
excitement. "Calvert a close second!" Felix nearly fainted. His head
swam. He had won a quarter of a million. Then the voice of the "booster"
made itself audible above the confusion.

"What! A mistake? Not possible!--Yes. Owing to some confusion at the
finish, both jockies wearing the same colors, the official returns now
read Calvert first; Old Stone second."

Among the zitherns Felix sat and wondered if he had been schvindled. He
had not returned to Wassermann Brothers. Had he done so he would have
found it empty five minutes after he had lost his money. The
millionaires were already streaming hilariously into Sharkey's. "Gates"
pledged "Belmont" and "Keene" pledged "Whitney." Each had earned five
dollars by the sweat of his brow. The glorious army of wire-tappers had
won another victory and their generals had consummated a campaign of
months. Expenses (roughly), $600. Receipts, $50,000. Net profits,
$48,400. Share of each, $16,133.