THE SPOTTED HOESE's STOKY. 185 



animal I was to bestride was being decked for 

 the chase. 



Meanwhile my friends had joyously accoutred 

 themselves, and were soon eogaged in super- 

 intending the toilets of their respective steeds 

 previously to mounting. I watched Packenham's 

 horse start with those two short strides which 

 some animals take before getting into full swing ; 

 and then, finding a groom near me, I gave him 

 my leg after a fashion I had observed in Dacre, 

 and scrambled to the saddle ; feeling more utterly 

 abroad than I should fancy any one who has 

 ever been brought in contact with horses can 

 have done since Phaeton began to find things 

 going wrong in his ill-advised journey. 



Love is a very powerful divinity. He " con- 

 quers all things," "rules the court, the camp, 

 the grove," " makes the world go round," and 

 performs a variety of other difficult feats, not 

 the least among which was his inducting me to 

 my present position ; but had I only known what 

 my sensations would have been when I was once 

 insecurely seated on that small and exceedingly 

 uncomfortable saddle, he would assuredly have 

 been compelled to use every artifice he was 

 acquainted with to keep me there, if I had only 

 seen any reasonable likelihood of getting down 

 again in safety. Our heads, however, were 



