66 LADIES ON HORSEBACK. 



out and glinted brilliantly upon the glittering 

 steel. I was riding a horse which had lately 

 been given me ; a fine, raking chestnut, with 

 a temper of his own to manage. He turned 

 like a shot, and sped away at untold speed. 

 I had no open space before me ; therefore I 

 durst not let him go. It was an enclosed 

 portion of the park, thickly studded with 

 knots of trees, and I knew that if he bore me 

 through one of these my earthly career would 

 most probably be ended. I strove with all 

 the strength and all the art which I possessed 

 to pull him up. It was of no use. I might 

 as well have been pulling at an oak-tree; it 

 only made him go the faster. 



Happily my presence of mind remained. I 

 saw at once that my only chance was to 

 breast him against the rails of the cricket- 

 ground, and for these I made straight, prepared 

 for the shock and for the turn over which I 

 knew must inevitably follow. He dashed up to 

 the rails, and when within a couple of inches 

 of them he swerved with an awful sudden- 

 ness, which, only that I was accustomed to 

 ride from balance, must have at once unseated 



