320 HORSE AND MAX. 



The horse had only completed the number of rounds 

 which would bring him to the Calenderer's door, and 

 presently started off again. Not until he had finished 

 the full number of circuits did he stop, and then 

 stood as quiet as a lamb. 



■ His miserable master, flushed, dishevelled, and 

 full of shame, was then shown into the very room 



where Mr. S had witnessed the adventure. 



In his confusion he tried to stammer out some sort 

 of apology for the mischief which he had wrought. 



Mr. S , however, so far from being angry, 



begged him to come and repeat the performance as 

 often as he liked, for to see a real John Gilpin was 

 worth all the flowers in the garden. 



' For some days afterwards, the horse was safely 

 kept in the stable, but as a fair was to be held at 



a neighbouring village, C , the horse was sent, 



not ridden there, and placed in a shed, while A 



went into the fair to find a purchaser. When he 

 returned, the horse was gone, and so was a window 

 at the end of the shed. Pieces of wood and glass 

 were seen scattered outside, and it was evident that 

 the horse must have leaped through it into a large 

 field. 



' On looking through the window, the horse was 

 seen at the farther end of the field, careering round 

 and round as before, to the admiration of a crowd 



