She's done the filly work before, you see; and it's no good trying that again." Captain Clavering really believed that he had learned a good deal, and that he now knew the way to set about the work before him.

What sort of spurs he was to use, and how he was to put them on, I don't think he did know; but that was a detail as to which he did not think it necessary to consult his adviser.

He sat the whole evening in the smoking-room, very silent, drinking slowly iced gin-and-water; and the more he drank, the more assured he felt that he now understood the way in which he was to attempt the work before him.

"Let her know I'm there," he said to himself, shaking his head gently, so that no one should observe him; "yes, let her know I'm there." At this time Captain Boodle--or Doodles, as he was familiarly called--had again ascended to the billiard-room, and was hard at work.

"Let her know that I'm there," repeated Archie, mentally.