Henry turned to Jake. “Guess you’ll have to admit there isn’t a horse in the country that can come close to him,” he said.

Jake glanced down at the watch in his hand. “No,” he answered. “No, I’ve never heard of any horse doing the time he did tonight. Sun Raider and Cyclone would give him a race, but he’d beat them—if he ran.”

“What do you mean—if he ran?” asked Henry.

Jake nodded toward the Black. “If he ever got on the same track with those horses, there’d never be any race. That horse would want to fight—not run. He’s as wild as they come. Where’d you get him, son?” he asked.

Alec looked at Henry, who nodded. Alec told Jake briefly how he had acquired the Black.

When he had finished, Jake said, “Quite a story, son.” Then he turned to Henry. “How do you know he’s registered anywhere?” he asked. “You know as well as I do he can’t run in any of the race meetings without bein’ registered.”

“Yeah, I know,” Henry answered. “We’re hoping he’s listed in the Arabian Stud Book. I’ve been writing to them but they haven’t answered—guess they can’t find anything!”

Jake looked at the Black. “That horse was born wild, Henry. If I’m any judge—you’ll never find him registered.”

“I’m afraid you’re right, Jake,” Henry said, “but you never can tell, something might come up. We can race him against time and have him break a few records—then they’ll have to notice him!”

Jake nodded. “Not a bad idea. Lots of people would give their right arm to see what I saw tonight!”

Alec walked the Black up and down for a while and then led him into the truck beside Napoleon. After tying the two horses securely, he jumped off the truck and went around to where Henry and Jake were talking. Henry was saying, “We won’t be around tomorrow night—give the boy a rest, but we’ll make it the following night. Be at the gate by two o’clock.”

“Okay,” Jake answered.

Alec and Henry climbed into the front seat. Jake stood on the running board. Alec glanced at his watch. “Three-thirty,” he said, as the truck started to roll. “Hope my folks haven’t missed me.”

“Yeah,” murmured Henry, “and I hope the Missus hasn’t missed me or there’ll be plenty of explaining to do when I get home!”

Jake laughed and stuck his white head in through the window. “So she’s still wearing the pants in the household, heh, Henry?”

“No, ’tain’t that bad.” Henry turned a corner sharply. “It’s just that she’s had enough of horses, and she expects me to be through with ’em, too!”

“Then she still don’t know you, does she?” Jake grinned. “You’re like me, Henry,” he continued, “as long as there’s a breath left in your body, you’ll want to be around horses and nothing in this world will keep you from ’em.”

There was silence until the truck rolled up to the gate. Jake jumped off the running board and opened the gate. As it closed behind them, they waved good-bye to the old man.