Henry glanced at his watch. “Around noon we’ll be there,” he said, “like I told you.”

The countryside became slightly rolling, and after a little while they were able to see the towering peaks of the Adirondack Mountains far in the distance. Alec settled back comfortably in his seat. “This is the way I like it,” he said.

Henry glanced at him, then turned back to the road.

“I mean, just the three of us again,” Alec explained. “The way it was when no one knew about us.”

Nodding, Henry said, “I know, Alec. There’s no thrill like bringing a horse along like we did the Black … and Satan, too … then springing him in a big race without anyone’s knowin’ what we had.” Pausing, Henry looked at Alec again. “But once you do that, y’got to go along with the crowd.”

The Black had his muzzle in the window and Alec rubbed it, saying, “Anyway, I’m glad we’re going to have a week alone. You said it’d be about a week, didn’t you, Henry?”

“It should be, Alec. I learned that Phar Fly, the Australian horse, arrived in California yesterday, but they’re not flying him east until next week. El Dorado, the South American champ, is already on his way, too; he’ll be one of the first to arrive. The European horses and Kashmir, who was in England, are coming together; they’ll arrive late next week, if they stick to the schedule released. And, as I told you, I’m having Satan shipped here early in the week.”

“I wonder if they’ll know each other.”

“Who?”

“The Black and Satan.”

Henry smiled. “No. They’ve forgotten all about each other. Satan was only a few months old when they were separated.”

Alec turned to the Black. “Anyway, it’s going to be interesting to watch them together.”

“Yeah,” Henry muttered. “Mighty interesting.”

During the next hour they drove through many small towns and penetrated ever deeper into the Adirondack foothills.

“Just a few miles now,” Henry said.

Alec was fingering his stopwatch, pressing the stem and following the second hand as it swept around the face. Finally he looked up at Henry. “Do you have your stopwatch with you?”

Henry’s hand went to his pocket and he removed the watch, which he gave to Alec. The boy pressed both stems simultaneously.

“Think your watch is off?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know. I just thought I’d check it.”

When the hands of Henry’s watch came to two minutes, Alec stopped both watches. He found the hands of his watch registering exactly two minutes also.

“What made you think it was off?” Henry asked, without turning to the boy.

“I just wanted to make sure it was right,” Alec replied evasively.

Henry was silent for a few minutes; then he said thoughtfully, “You never did say why you took the Black to the park that morning the cop picked you up.”

“You never asked me, Henry.”

“Well?”

“I wanted him to stretch out.”

Henry turned to the watches Alec held in his hand. “For any particular reason?” he asked.

For a minute Alec was undecided whether or not to tell Henry; then he said, “He did it in one fifty-nine, Henry.”

Henry kept his eyes on the road as he said, “From the seventh tee to the elm tree?”

“A mile and a quarter, isn’t it, Henry?”

“It’s that, all right. We measured it together.”

“The bridle path is pretty soft and deep,” Alec said quietly.

“Yeah, I know.”

“And it was the first time in a long while he’s stretched out.”

“I realize that, too, Alec.”

“What are you thinking?”

“It’s going to be mighty close, if the Black races.”

“With Satan?” Alec asked.

“Mighty close,” Henry repeated. And that was all he said.

They were silent after that, each alone with his thoughts. Finally they saw the great grandstand and buildings of the International track.

The stallion struck his hoof soundly against the side of the van, and Alec turned to him. “Just a few more minutes now,” he said.

They drove along the high fence for a few miles before coming to the barn entrance of the track. Henry turned into it and drove the van up the tree-lined road that wound its way toward the stables. Some workmen landscaping the grounds stopped to watch them as they drove by. A short distance farther on was a white wooden-framed building, and Henry brought the van to a stop before it.

“Must be the offices,” he told Alec.