e left-hand cliff diagonally, and, further on, adopted
its sheer side for its left bank. He saw the clearly defined cutting,
sharp, precise, before it reached the cliff, and he was riding
straight for it!

In that first moment of realization he passed through every sensation
of fear; but no time was given him for thought. Fifty yards! What was
that to the raking stride of his untamed mare? It would be gone in a
few seconds. Action was the only thing to serve him, and such action
as instinct prompted him to was utterly unavailing. With a mighty
heave of his body, and with all the strength of his sinewy arms, he
tried to pull the creature on to her haunches. As well try to stem
the tide ahead of him. She threw up her head until it nearly struck
him in the face; she pawed the air with her great front legs; then, as
he released her, she rushed forward again with a vicious snort.

His case seemed utterly hopeless. He sat down tight in the saddle,
leaning slightly forward. He held his reins low, keeping a steady
strain upon them. There was a vague, wild thought in his mind. He knew
the river had narrowed. Was it a possible jump? He feared the very
worst, but clung desperately to the hope. He would lift the creature
to it when it came, anyhow. Would she see it? Would she, freakish
brute that she was, realize her own danger, and, for once in her
desperate life, do one sensible act? He did not expect it. He dared
not hope for that. He only wondered.

He could see the full extent of the chasm now. And he thrilled as he
realized that it was broader than he had supposed. Worse, the far bank
was lower, and a fringe of bush hung at its very edge. His jaws
tightened as he came up. He could hear the roar of the torrent below,
and, to his strained fancy, it seemed to come up from the very bowels
of the earth.

A few more strides. He timed his effort with a judgment inspired by
the knowledge that his life depended on it--it, and the mare.

The chasm now came at him with a rush. Suddenly he leaned over and let
out a wild "halloo!" in the creature's ears. At the same time he
lifted her and plunged his spurs hard into her flanks. The effect was
instantaneous, electrical. Just for an instant it seemed to him that
some unseen power had suddenly shot her from under him. He had a
sensation of being left behind, while yet he was rushing through the
air with the saddle flying from under him. Then all seemed still, and
he was gliding, the lo