Summary
Once while Paul is riding his horse, his mother and Uncle Oscar come in upon him. They ask him half-jokingly about what he is doing, but since he is in the middle of his intense ride, he does not say anything to them until he is done. When Uncle Oscar asks him about the name of the horse, he discovers that Paul has been closely following horse races along with the family gardener, Bassett, who used to be Uncle Oscar's batman, and for whom Uncle Oscar had found his present job as gardener.
Uncle Oscar goes to Bassett to ask about Paul and learns from him that they have been placing bets on races together. However, Bassett, speaking very seriously, tells Uncle Oscar that he cannot say too much, because he wants to respect Paul's desire for secrecy. On a drive in his car, Uncle Oscar asks Paul for a tip for the upcoming Lincoln Races, and to his surprise, Paul tells him that he believes the horse Daffodil will win. Paul says that he can only know the winner, not any other horses.
It turns out that Daffodil wins, and Paul makes some money from the bet. Uncle Oscar is incredulous that Paul has been gambling with Bassett, so he meets with the two and them and asks to see their money. Bassett has been keeping Paul's money and winnings and placing his bets for him. He shows Uncle Paul the money, astonishing the man.
At the next race Paul wins once again with an unpopular choice, and thereafter Uncle Oscar decides to join him and Bassett as gambling partners. Paul explains to Uncle Oscar that he is gambling so that he would have enough money to satisfy his mother and stop the house from whispering all the time about needing more money. Oscar says that he is aware of the family's financial difficulties.
Analysis
The scene in which Paul's mother and Uncle come in on Paul riding his horse is the only time before the climactic ending scene (when Paul's mother comes in on him in his final and fatal ride) in which others try to confront what Paul is doing. Paul's mother says tellingly, "Aren't you growing too big for a rocking-horse? You're not a very little boy any longer, you know." At this point, Paul is still fine riding his horse in front of others, but later he will only do so in private, feeling that its childish intensity and mystery would be inappropriate for others to see. It is also telling in this scene that Paul's mother shows an anxious expression, because formerly she was only able to look bitter about her own condition.
A peculiar tone hangs over the conversation among the gambling partners - Paul, Uncle Oscar, and Bassett. Bassett often speaks in "a secret, religious voice," Uncle Oscar feels "wonder and amusement," and Paul himself has "eyes blazing" while at the same time being "curiously serene." Gambling for them is at once a very established and well-known form, a typical social activity which belongs in the realm of the everyday, while it also possesses, through the dimension of luck, an ineffable and nearly occult nature. As we learn in his initial curiosity about Paul's gambling and then his decision to become partners with his nephew and the gardener, Uncle Oscar is animated not by human concern for Paul but by a nonchalant curiosity and a cool desire to make money.
After some initial wonderment, he chats with Paul just as a gambling partner and not as a vulnerable child, despite what he must know about the dangers of gambling addiction. Bassett, conversely, all but worships Paul for his ability; other than Paul's mother at the end of the story when she senses that something is wrong with her son, Bassett is the only who gives due recognition to the overwhelming force which moves with Paul in gambling. Paul himself at once conceals and betrays his own secret passion; he keeps mum about exactly what he is up to, but he effectively alludes to some undisclosed secret by his constant anxiety to keep things hidden from his mother. Also, although Lawrence does not tell us anything out of the ordinary about most of Paul's physical being, we (and the characters) constantly notice an unusual force in his blue eyes which suggests that there is something abnormal about the boy.
