e to Miss Hamm--led the procession,
mounted upon a mettlesome steed and attired in a costume including a
short coat, boots, and bifurcated garments of a close-fitting nature.
Her hair, beneath a stiff hat such as I myself customarily wear, was
braided in heavy coils. As might be expected, she rode, as the saying
goes, astride, evincing great adeptness for this form of exercise, which
has been described to me as being healthful in the extreme, although I
should denominate it as bordering upon the dangerous, unless the equine
one chose for one's use was more docile than so frequently appears to be
the case.

As the party dashed by us with appropriate salutations, to which I
replied in kind, I was suddenly impressed by a grace of movement--or
shall I call it a jaunty abandon?--in Miss Hamm's bearing, aspect and
general demeanour. To the casual eye the effect of this was far from
being displeasing. I was about to venture as much to Miss Primleigh and
had, in fact, cleared my throat as a preliminary to making the
statement, when she broke in, speaking in a tone of severity. I quote
her:

"You needn't say it, Doctor Fibble--I know exactly how you feel, before
you speak a word. And I agree with you perfectly in all that you think.
Didn't I tell you that creature was a forward piece? Did you see how the
little minx was dressed? Did you see how she carried herself? If we both
live to be a thousand years old you'll never catch me wearing such
clothes!"

I nodded in a noncommittal fashion, not caring at the moment to take
issue with Miss Primleigh. Arguments I detest. If she chose to
misinterpret my sentiments, so be it then. I shall, however, add here
that while my own opinion of the matter was not absolutely in accord
with the burden of Miss Primleigh's criticisms, there was one point
brought out by her in her remarks upon which I could not conscientiously
take issue with her. To paraphrase her own words, I believe I should not
care ever to catch Miss Primleigh costumed as Miss Hamm was. In
confidence I may confide to my diary that I do not believe the former
would appear to the best advantage in such habiliments as I have briefly
touched upon, she being of a somewhat angular physical conformation,
although not until now do I recall having been cognisant of this fact.

To-night, sitting here, the picture of Miss Hamm upon horseback persists
in the retina of my brain as a far from unseemly vision. One is moved to
wonder that