ar; but
for the time being at least her little heart was sore, very sore, with
anger. 'Oh Leuchy, whyever are you so spiteful, and why does my head
split, and why does my heart ache for love of one who could be so cruel
to me? Did I not repent over and over and over again? She has done
for herself; but when I go into the danger zone, I go into it now in
very truth. Perhaps when poor Hollyhock is no longer flitting about
the place you 'll think more kindly of me, Leuchy. I was willing for
your sake to make a final effort to be good, but the wish has died. I
'm a bad lass, and you 'll describe me as I am, when the essay on the
kitchen cat is read aloud. Oh Leuchy, _I_ would not be so mean!'

All night long Hollyhock tossed from side to side on her restless
couch, thinking and planning how she would perform that feat which
would stamp her as the bravest lassie in the school.

There was one action which she could perform, one action which was so
full of danger that no other girl in the school would attempt it. It
was, in short, the following. On the night when she entered the danger
zone, she would enter it on her own Arab horse, Lightning Speed. She
could easily get this brilliant little animal over to the Palace of the
Kings by the aid of Magsie, who was more devoted to her than ever. She
would ride her horse, Lightning Speed, in the dead of night, with the
moon shining brightly, up a certain gorge which led to the source of
one of the streams that kept the great lake supplied with water.

Lightning Speed was a high-spirited little animal, a thoroughbred Arab
no less, and Hollyhock knew that at the top of the gorge, when all
things looked so ghostly, he would start at every shadow and at the
slightest sound. He was all nerves, was Lightning Speed--all nerves
and gallant bearing, and devotion to Hollyhock.

At the top of the gorge was a sudden break in the cliffs, below which
roared the mountain stream. The bold girl resolved to leap from the
rock on the one side to the opposite rock. She was determined that
Lightning Speed would and _should_ obey her, for did not he love her,
the bonnie beastie?

She would not have attempted this deed, because she loved the brave
steed; but now she had heard of Leucha's conduct to her, her mind was
made up. She and Lightning Speed would leap the gorge, and she had
little doubt that they would both land safe on the opposite side.

But this plan of hers, meaning certain