He was walking over when Henry moved away from the group and came toward him.

“Is he any worse?” Alec asked when Henry reached him.

The trainer took him by the arm, turning him back toward the Black’s stall. But Alec had had a chance to see the worried and drawn looks on the faces of the men before El Dorado’s stall.

“I didn’t get to the Race Secretary’s office,” Henry said grimly. “I didn’t need to.”

“Why? What’s the matter?” Henry still hadn’t turned to him, and Alec could catch only a glimpse of his face as they walked along. And he didn’t like what he saw there.

“The Race Secretary is over there,” Henry said, “along with the track vet and the State vet, who was called in.”

“But why, Henry? Is El Dorado that sick?” Alec looked at the crowd, now gathered in small, tight groups.

“It’s serious, Alec,” Henry said solemnly, turning to the boy for the first time. “El Dorado has swamp fever, the most dreaded horse disease known. They’re putting him down tonight,” he added quietly. “There’s no cure.… It’s the only thing they can do.”

The blood had left Alec’s face, and it was only after a few minutes had passed that he asked hopefully, “But it’s not contagious, is it, Henry?”

The trainer nodded without meeting the boy’s eyes. “It is, Alec,” he said. “It can reach epidemic proportions if not controlled. We can’t leave. Every horse here has been placed in quarantine. A meeting has been called for tomorrow morning in the Secretary’s office. We’ll know more then.”

Alec said nothing. Across the row were Avenger and Cavaliere and Kashmir, all with their heads pushed over their stall doors. Down the line on Alec’s side were Phar Fly and Satan and Sea King … and just behind him was the Black. All of them had been exposed to swamp fever. There was no running away now. It was too late for that.

The Black whinnied, but Alec didn’t turn to him. Instead he clasped his face in his hands while Henry’s arm went around his shoulders to steady him.

THE SILENT KILLER
13

Their faces grave, the trainers filed into the office of the Race Secretary. Silently they took their seats around the long rectangular table at the head of which sat the Secretary. On his right was the State Veterinarian, and to the rear of the table were the sportswriters with their pads and pencils already in hand.

Alec sat beside Henry, waiting like everyone else.

The Secretary rose to his feet, and his eyes were on the sheet of paper lying on the table before him as he said, “The autopsy performed this morning on El Dorado proved without doubt that he had equine infectious anemia, commonly called swamp fever.” He paused, his eyes leaving the paper for the men seated at the table. “I know that all of you have some knowledge of this disease, but at an earlier meeting this morning of the directors of the track and veterinarians we decided that it would be best for the State Veterinarian, Doctor Murray, to acquaint you with all the facts concerning swamp fever. Doctor Murray,” he announced, turning to the man on his right.

The State Veterinarian rose from his chair, his bald head directly in a beam of sunlight that found its way through the curtained window. “The cause of swamp fever,” he said solemnly, “is a virus carried in the bloodstream. It is most commonly found in horses and mules. A horse may die of the first attack or, as is usually the case, he recovers and seems perfectly well until he experiences another attack. When the attacks come frequently, death follows shortly thereafter. Horses having swamp fever should be destroyed at once, so as not to infect healthy horses with the disease.” Pausing, he added, “At present, there is no vaccine or immunity known to prevent a horse from contracting swamp fever.”

The veterinarian was a tall man and now he straightened to his full height as he looked around the table. “The disease can reach epidemic proportions if not controlled. It is transmitted from infected horses to healthy animals by flies and mosquitoes or through stable equipment such as combs, brushes, saddles, bridles, blankets and anything else which may have touched an abrasion of the infected horse and is then used on a healthy animal.