und. The broad salmon river swept sleekly through
the valley below, among the bland green fields which were as far away
for all practical purposes as the plains of Paradise. No one who has
not ridden a stern chase over rough ground on a well-bred horse with his
temper a bit out of hand will be able at all fitly to sympathise with
the trials of Mrs. Naylor. The hunt and all that appertained to it had
sunk out of sight over a rugged hillside, and she had nothing by which
to steer her course save the hoof-marks in the occasional black and
boggy intervals between the heathery knolls. No one had ever accused her
of being short of pluck, and she pressed on her difficult way with the
utmost gallantry; but short of temper she certainly was, and at each
succeeding obstacle there ensued a more bitter battle between her and
her horse. Every here and there a band of crisp upland meadow would give
the latter a chance, but each such advantage would be squandered in the
war dance that he indulged in at every wall.

At last the summit of the interminable series of hills was gained, and
Mrs. Pat scanned the solitudes that surrounded her with wrathful eyes.
The hounds were lost, as completely swallowed up as ever were Korah,
Dathan and Abiram. Not the most despised of the habits or the feeblest
of the three-year-olds had been left behind to give a hint of their
course; but the hoof-marks showed black on a marshy down-grade of grass,
and with an angry clout of her crop on Pilot's unaccustomed ribs, she
set off again. A narrow road cut across the hills at the end of the
field. The latter was divided from it by a low, thin wall of sharp slaty
stones, and on the further side there was a wide and boggy drain. It was
not a nice place, and Pilot thundered down towards it at a pace that
suited his rider's temper better than her judgment. It was evident, at
all events, that he did not mean to refuse. Nor did he; he rose out of
the heavy ground at the wall like a rocketing pheasant, and cleared it
by more than twice its height; but though he jumped high he did not jump
wide, and he landed half in and out of the drain, with his forefeet
clawing at its greasy edge, and his hind legs deep in the black mud.

Mrs. Pat scrambled out of the saddle with the speed of light, and after
a few momentous seconds, during which it seemed horribly likely that the
horse would relapse bodily into the drain, his and Mrs. Pat's efforts
prevailed, and he was standing,