General opinion declared
that the nail had been driven in wilfully,--that it had been done
by Tifto himself, and that Tifto had been instigated by Captain
Green. Captain Green perhaps overacted his part a little. His
intimacy with the Major was well known, and yet, in all this
turmoil, he kept himself apart as though he had no interest in the
matter. 'I have got my little money on, and what little I have I
lose,' he said in answer to inquiries. But everyone knew that he
could not but have a great interest in a race, as to which the
half owner of the favourite was a peculiarly intimate friend of
his own. Had he come down to the stables and been seen about the
place with Tifto it might have been better. As it was, though he
was very quiet, his name was soon mixed up in the matter. There
was one man who asserted it as a fact known to himself that Green
and Villiers,--one Gilbert Villiers,--were in partnership together.
It was very well known that Gilbert Villiers would win two
thousand five hundred pounds from Lord Silverbridge.
Then minute investigations was made into the betting of certain
individuals.
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