Just move the umbrella over a little more, Mr. Ramsay. Cover the missis. She’s getting wet.” And everyone laughed.

Then the photographers took pictures of Alec and Henry together. They were very much alike, these two. They made a good picture, and the photographers knew it. They were the same height. Each carried his weight in his shoulders, chest and arms. Henry was heavier through the waist than Alec and his legs were bowed and not so slender, but they could have been taken for father and son.

“Move closer to Alec, Henry,” a photographer called.

Henry grunted, pulling his soggy hat far down over his wrinkled brow. “You oughta get out of here,” he told Alec. “You’ve had more than enough for one day.”

“Smile as if you were glad to see him,” a photographer yelled to Henry. “And push your hat back so we can get a look at your face.”

Henry pulled his sober face into a grin, but he didn’t touch his hat. “Take your mother and father and get going. I’ll follow in a few minutes. I’ve got my car here.”

Alec turned to Satan’s stall, where he saw the colt being fondled by one of the grooms Henry had hired. Satan had his head raised above the door, and the perfectly shaped white diamond in the center of his forehead stood out prominently against his black face. Looking for a carrot, the colt shoved his muzzle into the groom’s shirt pocket; then more people moved in front of the stall, blocking Alec’s view of Satan.

“Don’t turn your head away from Henry,” someone shouted to him.

“I’d like to be with Satan a few minutes before I go, Henry,” he said.

“Hold it!”

“They’ll follow you in there with him,” Henry replied. “It won’t be no better for you. You’d better go. Satan’s all right. Don’t worry about him.”

Alec’s face clouded. “It’s not that I’m worried about him. It’s just that …”

“Grin, Alec, will you?” the photographers called to him.

Alec grinned and the clicks of shutters followed; then Henry had him by the arm and was taking him up the row to where his father’s car was parked. He saw that his parents were already inside.

He sat in the back seat and was quiet as his father drove out the barn gate and headed for home.

It was a little less than an hour later when they arrived in Flushing. The sky to the west was brightened by the glow of New York City lights, and the tall skyscrapers could be seen pushing their fiery towers into the night.

Mr. Ramsay drove down quiet suburban streets and finally came to a stop before a two-story brown house. “The rain is over,” he said, getting out of the car.

Mrs. Ramsay followed him up the walk to the house. She had reached the porch when she turned to find Alec crossing the street. She was about to call him when her husband took her by the arm.

“He probably wants to go to the barn for a few minutes, Belle.