214 kate's day with the old horse 



fringe, bright colour, and the full, tempting figure of 

 a young Juno, make beauty, then Polly Preece was 

 a belle. If reckless riding and a smart habit make 

 a horsewoman, Polly Preece was a very Amazon. 



True she had never had a fall ; true her horses 

 cost three hundred guineas apiece, and were clever 

 enough to jump through hoops at a circus, even 

 though they had ten stone of fair humanity hung 

 on to their tortured mouths ; and true, too, that 

 though Polly laughed often (and showed in doing so 

 as dazzling a set of teeth as ever disappointed a 

 dentist), few people owed even a smile to any wit 

 of hers. 



But the Bruisers (as the men of the Gonaway 

 hounds were called) voted her a right good sort, 

 if only she would give them a little more time 

 at their fences and not always pick the tenderest 

 part of a man to jump upon. 



George Vernon did the civil at first as Master. 

 In a week's time he was her pilot, and in a month 

 half a dozen of the Bruisers were sadly afraid that 

 he would ere long be her husband, thereby robbing 

 them of the greatest prize in the local market 

 of matrimony and of the merriest bachelor in the 

 hunt. As for George himself, he thought honestly 

 enough that the Preece girl was " very good fun," 

 but if he could have had her dollars without her lie 



