154 LADIES ON HORSEBACK. 



could not ride a yard without laying a firm grip 

 upon the off-pommel of her saddle. These 

 things are habit ; we do them without con- 

 sciousness ; we are not aware of anything 

 unusual in ourselves, but when the knowledge 

 comes to us (which it soon will if we are known 

 to possess sufficient sweetness to take a hint) 

 we should turn it to advantage, and so 

 . improve with time. 



I recollect that when these writings of 

 mine were first issued in the journal to which 

 they originally owed their appearance, a dear 

 lady wrote to me all the way from Ehode 

 Island, U.S.A., asking me for hints upon 

 various subjects, and hkewise offering me a 

 few such, with so much sweetness that I not 

 alone accepted, but welcomed and adopted 

 them. She asked me many questions relative 

 to the pictures with which my various subjects 

 were illustrated, and admired very warmly the 

 spirited drawings which Mr. Sturgess had 

 made of my leap into the farmyard and also 

 of " The first fence.'' Many of my readers 

 may recollect them ; and as there was, at the 

 time, much discussion respecting the position 



