e so little accustomed. Harry, whose heart,
indisputably in the right place, was possibly the only sound item in
his outfit, pounded gallantly on, roaring as he went, like a lion
seeking after his prey; but Tommy, whose labours were, as a rule,
limited to mild harness-work, was kept going mainly by stress of
circumstances, in which category Larry's spurs took a prominent part.
The bog-track at length became merged in a rushy field, and then
indeed did the pent waters of the hunt break forth. Major Dick's tall
chestnut had gradually increased his lead, and by the time the track
was clear of riders, he was two fields ahead, with Cottingham not far
behind, and a few indignant young men riding like maniacs to overtake
them. To have been held back by a schoolboy and a little girl is an
indignity not easily to be borne. The Broadwater Vale field was a
hard-going one, including a strengthening of young soldiers from the
regiment quartered at Riverstown, and it was not long before Tommy and
Harry were beginning to find themselves in a more familiar and less
exigent position. Judith, on the grey mare, went by them like a flash;
Doctor Mangan overtook them heavily, and heavily passed them. Father
David, riding a little wide of the crowd, waved a friendly hand to
Christian, as the black mare, composed and discreet, as became a
daughter of the Church, dwelt for an instant on the top of a wide
bank, before she struck off into the next field. Worst indignity of
all, Charles, the coachman, on the elderly carriage horse, drew
alongside, and presumed to offer directions and admonitions. "As if,"
thought Christian, as she drove Harry at the bank in the wake of the
black mare, "I cared a pin what he says!"

Gone for poor Charles were the days when Miss Christian had revered
him above all other created things; days such as the one on which,
after a ride round the yard on an unharnessed carriage horse,
Christian, in gratitude too great for words, had attempted to kiss
him. Charles had repelled the embrace, saying tactfully: "No pleasures
in Lent, Miss!" and Christian had accepted the excuse. Then Miss
Christian had been three years old, now she was thirteen, and Charles
had, in the interval, married a cook, and lost his figure, and with
it, had departed his nerve, and the reverance of Miss Christian, and
he knew it.

Close behind Charles came Dr. Mangan's "little girl," who had been
confided with a lubricating half-crown, to his care. Mis