264 The Cottrse, the Camp, the Chase 



side, for then the rush of water drifted the boat so far that 

 the chain formed a great bow, and the windlass could not 

 be worked on account of the strain. But this sad mistake 

 made such an accident possible, as speedily happened, 

 though it had never been thought of before. 



The boat was quite two-thirds of the way across when, 

 to our chagrin, we saw the first horseman appearing in the 

 distance, quickly followed by others, and it was quite 

 evident that we should have plenty of company in the 

 boat. There was a small cutting leading to the water, and 

 I was standing by my horse on the left, and Mr. Eobinson 

 was sitting on his horse on the right. He had a habit of 

 never dismounting when crossing a ferry, as he used to say 

 that he could not swim, and must trust to his horse in case 

 of an accident. There was just room for three persons 

 and horses abreast in the cutting, so that the first person 

 who arrived came up on the right of Mr. Eobinson, and 

 some others closed up behind us. Just as the ferry-boat 

 was about to ground, Sir Charles and Orvis, the first whip, 

 came up on the right hand, and there was a shout, " Make 

 room for Sir Charles and Orvis ! Pull back those on the 

 left." 



Very unwillingly I obeyed the order, and backed my 

 mare, for I feared that after all, instead of being over one of 

 the first, in the rush on to the boat I should be squeezed 

 out, and not get a place on it at all. As it happened, I 

 managed to get on one of the last, and away we started. 

 We were packed terribly close, and I began to feel rather 

 nervous lest some horse should begin to kick, thinking 

 that if they should do so, those of us at the rear end might 

 be pushed into the water, but the idea of an accident to 

 the boat itself never crossed my mind for one moment. 



