MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



"Ah, this is delightful," exclaimed the Count, as 

 he held his hands toward the cheerful blaze of a 

 bright wood fire, on our broad old hearthstone. 



The Count had come to make us a long-promised 

 visit in the early autumn ; arriving at the twilight 

 hour of a dreary day, chill and bleak, with a persis- 

 tent soaking rain, and a gusty, soughing wind. 

 For one long week the sun had hidden his face be- 

 hind the dull and sodden sky, depriving us of the 

 solace even of a brisk walk, or a game at tennis, in 

 these last days of our summer sojourn by the seaside. 

 So we heard the roar of the ocean, and the howling 

 wind outside, with a pleasing sense of comfort in the 

 contrast, as we watched the wide flames, now shoot- 

 ing up with a noisy crackling energy, now dying 

 down to a hissing mysterious whisper. 



Conversation was brisk, for the Count had such 

 an inexhaustible fund of romance, fact, story, and 

 adventure, that we gavq-him little chance of rest 

 when an adroit question, here and there, inspired 

 him to tell us of his past life. A Polish patriot — 



I 



