RETRIBUTION Coles had advertised the auction sale of the mares to take place immediately after the race and though he would gladly have postponed it he had to live up to his advertisement.

Naturally the result was disastrous.

The ranchers had seen the ragged Alcatraz win against the imported horses and they felt they could only show their local patriotism by failing to bid.

There were one or two mocking offers of a hundred dollars a head for the lot.

"Something pretty for my girl to ride," as one of the ranchers phrased it, laughing.