to the instant, Captain De Courcy cantered up, his face a thought
graver and more stern than I had ever seen it before. As he dismounted,
my hand, in holding his stirrup, soiled the brilliant polish of his
lacquered boot; he perceived it, and rewarded my awkwardness with a
smart cut of his whip. A minute before I had made up my mind to give him
the note; now, torture itself would not have torn it from me.

I followed him with my eyes till he entered the house,--not over
distinctly, it is true, for they were somewhat blinded by tears that
would, in spite of me, come forth. The sensation was a most painful one;
and I am heartily glad to confess I have seldom experienced a recurrence
of it. Scarcely was the hall-door closed on him, when I remembered that
he would soon hear of the note, which I had failed to deliver, and that,
in all likelihood, a heavy punishment awaited me. My offence was a grave
one: what was to be done? Turn the mare loose and fly, or patiently
await my fate? Either were bad enough; the latter certainly the less
advisable of the two. A third course soon suggested itself, doubtless
inspired by that most mischief-working adage which says that one may be
"as well hanged for the sheep as the lamb."

I therefore voted for the "larger animal;" and to satisfy myself that I
was honest to my own convictions, I immediately proceeded to act upon
them. I led the mare quietly along to the angle of the Square, and then,
turning into the next street, I shortened the stirrups, mounted, and
rode off.

"Set a beggar on horseback--" says the proverb; and although the
consequence is only meant figuratively, I have a suspicion that it might
bear a literal reading. I rode away, at first, at a trot, and then,
striking into a brisk canter, I took the road to Kingstown, whither,
even yet, some horsemen were hastening.

Every stride of the bounding animal elevated my spirits and nerved my
courage. The foot-passengers, that plodded wearily along, I looked down
upon as inferior; with the horsemen on either side I felt a kind of
equality. How differently does one view life from the saddle and from
the ground! The road became more thronged as I advanced, thicker crowds
pressed eagerly forward, and numerous carriages obstructed the way. At
another moment, perhaps, I should have attracted attention; but stranger
sights were passing at every instant, and none troubled their heads
about the "ragged urchin on the thoroughbred."

The