He turned and combed Sunfish's scanty mane with his gloved fingers.

Those nearest saw that his lips were trembling a little and mistook his hidden emotion for anger.
"You got him going," a man whispered in Jeff's ear.

"The kid's crazy mad.
He'll bet the shirt off his back if yuh egg him on a little more." Jeff must have decided to "egg" Bud on.

By the time the crowd had reached the course, and the first, more commonplace races were over, the other half of his money was in the hands of the stake-holder, who happened on this day to be Jerry.

And the odds varied from four to one up to Jeff Hall's scornful fifteen.
"Bet yuh five hundred dollars against your bay horse," Lew offered when Bud confessed that he had not another dollar to bet .-- "All right, it's a go with me," Bud answered recklessly.