56 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



The young man stopped and turned to ad- 

 mire the beautiful animal, and when he came 

 quite near reached out his hand to stroke his 

 nose. But the horse wheeled about and was away 

 again as quick as an arrow .sent speeding from 

 a bow. The young man walked on again, and the 

 horse soon returned and gamboled playfully 

 around him, sometimes trotting swiftly back and 

 forth along the roadway, sometimes rising in the 

 air and sailing in circles round and round him. 

 At last, after much whistling and the offer of a 

 handful of sweetmeats, the young man coaxed 

 the horse so near to him that by a sudden leap he 

 was able to throw himself astride of his back 

 just in front of his great gray wings. 



" Now, my handsome fellow," he cried, " carry 

 me straight forward to the country that lies be- 

 yond the great northern mountains. I would not 

 be afraid of all the wild beasts in Asia if I could 

 be sure of your help." 



But the horse did not seem to understand him. 

 He flew first to the north, then to the south, then 

 to the north again, and sailed hither and thither 

 gaily among the white clouds. At the end of an 

 hour he alighted at the very spot from which he 

 had risen, and his rider, despairing of making 



