CURIOUS HORSE RACE. 243 



going to say their saddles) their horses beautifully ; 

 and with their hair streaming in the wind, and dresses 

 flying about their white limbs and bare feet, careering 

 across the plains, they look wild and spirited enough 

 for Amazons. They frequently ride without a bridle 

 or even halter, guiding the horse by a motion or stroke 

 of the hand. "What think you of a dozen fearless girls 

 mounted on fleet horses, without a saddle, on a dead 

 run ? I should like to see them going down Broadway. 

 Yet they are modest and retiring in their manners, 

 and mild and timid as fawns among strangers. 



There was a lad about nineteen years of age with 



my friend B n, whom one of these girls challenged 



to a race. He accepted it, and they whipped their 

 horses to the top of their speed. The barn, nearly a 

 mile distant, was to be the goal. Away they went, 

 pell-mell — the girl without a saddle, across the field. 

 The boy plied the whip lustily, ashamed to be beaten 

 by a woman, yet he fell behind, full a hundred yards. 

 Mortified at his discomfiture, and the peal of laughter 

 that went up, he hung his head, saying it was no 

 fault of his, for she had the best horse. She then 

 offered to exchange with him, and try the race over. 

 This was fair, and he was compelled to accept the 



