father in aiding his daughter. We must forgive his foolishness, for
Peter had never been a father, and so did not know the parental feeling.

It had taken Mutineer twenty seconds to come to a stand, and for ten
seconds after, no change in the condition occurred. Then suddenly the
woman stopped her gasps. Peter, who was looking down at her, saw the
pale cheek redden. The next moment, the arms were taken from his neck
and the woman was sitting up straight in front of him. He got a downward
look at the face, and he thought it was the most charming he had ever
seen.

The girl kept her eyes lowered, while she said firmly, though with
traces of breathlessness and tremulo in her voice, "Please help me
down."

Peter was out of his saddle in a moment, and lifted the girl down. She
staggered slightly on reaching the ground, so that Peter said: "You had
better lean on me."

"No," said the girl, still looking down, "I will lean against the
horse." She rested against Mutineer, who looked around to see who was
taking this insulting liberty with a Kentucky gentleman. Having looked
at her he said: "You're quite welcome, you pretty dear!" Peter thought
he would like to be a horse, but then it occurred to him that equines
could not have had what he had just had, so he became reconciled to his
lot.

The girl went on flushing, even after she was safely leaning against
Mutineer. There was another ten seconds' pause, and then she said, still
with downcast eyes, "I was so frightened, that I did not know what I was
doing."

"You behaved very well," said Peter, in the most comforting voice he
could command. "You held your horse splendidly."

"I wasn't a bit frightened, till the saddle began to turn." The girl
still kept her eyes on the ground, and still blushed. She was undergoing
almost the keenest mortification possible for a woman. She had for a
moment been horrified by the thought that she had behaved in this way to
a groom. But a stranger--a gentleman--was worse! She had not looked at
Peter's face, but his irreproachable riding-rig had been noticed. "If it
had only been a policeman," she thought. "What can I say to him?"

Peter saw the mortification without quite understanding it. He knew,
however, it was his duty to ease it, and took the best way by giving her
something else to think about.

"As soon as you feel able to walk, you had better take my arm. We can
get a cab at the 72d Street entrance, probably. If you don't feel