s.

"I've never told you of my horse, have I?" he asked.

"Why, no; you got one, too?"

He drew a long breath of enthusiasm at the mere thought of his greatest
treasure. "Such a mare," said he, "as rarely has been seen, even in
Kentucky. She's famous now and going to be more so. She's the very apple
of my eye."

The girl looked at him wide-eyed with a fascinated interest. "What color
is she?"

"Black as night."

"And gentle?"

"Ah, gentle as a dove with friends; but she's not gentle if she happens
to dislike a man or woman! Why, if she hates you, keep away from her.
She'll side-step with a cunning that would fool the wisest so's to get a
chance for a left-handed kick; she'll bite; she'll strike with her
forefeet the way a human fighter would."

"Oh!" said the girl. "Ain't it a pity she's so ugly?"

"I said she's gentle with her friends. She'd no more kick at me than I
would kick at her. She knows it. She's intelligent beyond most
horseflesh."

"Has she ever won in races?"

"She's won in small events, and great things are expected of her by more
folk than I when she gets going on the larger tracks. I'm counting on
her for good work this year, after I go home again."

"Ah," sighed the girl, carried quite away by his excited talk about his
favorite, "how I'd love to see her run!"

"It's poetry," he granted; "the true poetry of motion."

"And this Cunnel--Cunnel--"

"Colonel Doolittle?"

"Uh-huh. Will he help me, do you s'pose, to get my Little Hawss cured of
his lameness?"

"You may count on that."

"Who else is comin' here to see you?" she inquired, as they left Little
Hawss wistfully agaze at them across the old log fence.

Layson, for no reason he could think of, felt a bit uncomfortable, as he
replied. He temporized before he really told her of what worried him.

"Well," said he, "there'll be old Neb--"

"Who's he?"

"A servant who has been in our family for years. He is a fine old
darkey and we love him--everyone of us."

"And will he be all?"

"No; I understand that Mr. Horace Holton, also, will come with the
party. Mr. Holton and his daughter."

It is possible that he may have flushed a little, as he spoke about this
matter, or there may have been some slight hint of the unusual in his
voice. At any rate, the notice of the girl was instantly attracted.

"Daughter?" she inquired.

"Yes," said Frank, "his daughter Barbara."

"How old is she?" Madge's curiosity had been aroused at