THE SHIRES 



jumps it gallantly in his stride. It would never 

 do, you see, to let those other fellows catch him, 

 and he sails away once more with a stronger lead 

 than at first. What a hunting panorama opens 

 on his view ! — a downward stretch of a couple of 

 miles, and a gentle rise beyond of more than 

 twice that distance, consisting wholly of enormous 

 grass fields, dotted here and there with single trees, 

 and separated by long lines of fences, showing 

 black and level on that faded expanse of green. 

 The smoke from a farmhouse rises white and thin 

 against the dull sky in the middle distance, and a 

 taper church-spire points to heaven from behind 

 the hill, otherwise there is not an object for miles 

 to recall everyday life ; and young Rapid's world 

 consists at this moment of two reeking pointed 

 ears, with a vision of certain dim shapes, fleeting 

 like shadows across the open — swift, dusky, and 

 noiseless as a dream. 



His blood thrills with excitement, from the 

 crown of his close-cropped head to his silken- 

 covered heel ; but education is stronger than 

 nature, and he tightens his lips, perhaps to repress 

 a cheer, while he murmurs — "Over the brook for 

 a hundred! and the King never turned from 

 water in his life." 



Two more fences bring him to the level 

 meadow with its willows. Harmony is shaking 

 herself on the farther bank, and he has marked 



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