IN THE RIDING-SCHOOL. 37 



Undoubtedly, after long training, fingers will 

 play scales, and flying feet whirl their owner 

 about a ballroom without making him conscious 

 of every muscular extension and contraction, 

 but this facility comes only to those who, in the 

 beginning, fix an undivided mind upon what 

 they are doing, and who never fall into wilful 

 negligence. 



Keep watch of yourself, manage yourself 

 as assiduously as you watch and manage your 

 horse, and ten times more assiduously than 

 you would watch your fingers at the piano, 

 or your feet in the dancing class, because you 

 must watch for two, for your horse and for your- 

 self. If you give him an incorrect signal, he 

 will obey it, you will be unprepared for his next 

 act, and in half a minute you will have a very 

 pretty misunderstanding on your hands. 



But there is no reason for being frightened. 

 You cannot fall, and if your horse should show 

 any signs of actual misbehavior, you would find 

 your master at your right hand, with fingers of 

 steel to grasp your reins, and a voice accus- 

 tomed to command obedience from quadrupeds, 

 howsoever little of it he mav be able to obtain 



