--mind the goal!" shouted Lutyens, and bowing
forward hit the ball full, and followed on, forcing the Archangels
towards their own goal.

"No football," said The Maltese Cat. "Keep the ball by the boundaries
and cramp 'em. Play open order, and drive 'em to the boundaries."

Across and across the ground in big diagonals flew the ball, and
whenever it came to a flying rush and a stroke close to the boundaries
the Archangel ponies moved stiffly. They did not care to go headlong
at a wall of men and carriages, though if the ground had been open they
could have turned on a sixpence.

"Wriggle her up the sides," said The Cat. "Keep her close to the crowd.
They hate the carriages. Shikast, keep her up this side."

Shikast and Powell lay left and right behind the uneasy scuffle of an
open scrimmage, and every time the ball was hit away Shikast galloped
on it at such an angle that Powell was forced to hit it towards the
boundary; and when the crowd had been driven away from that side,
Lutyens would send the ball over to the other, and Shikast would
slide desperately after it till his friends came down to help. It was
billiards, and no football, this time--billiards in a corner pocket; and
the cues were not well chalked.

"If they get us out in the middle of the ground they'll walk away from
us. Dribble her along the sides," cried The Maltese Cat.

So they dribbled all along the boundary, where a pony could not come on
their right-hand side; and the Archangels were furious, and the umpires
had to neglect the game to shout at the people to get back, and several
blundering mounted policemen tried to restore order, all close to the
scrimmage, and the nerves of the Archangels' ponies stretched and broke
like cob-webs.

Five or six times an Archangel hit the ball up into the middle of the
ground, and each time the watchful Shikast gave Powell his chance to
send it back, and after each return, when the dust had settled, men
could see that the Skidars had gained a few yards.

Every now and again there were shouts of "Side! Off side!" from the
spectators; but the teams were too busy to care, and the umpires had all
they could do to keep their maddened ponies clear of the scuffle.

At last Lutyens missed a short easy stroke, and the Skidars had to fly
back helter-skelter to protect their own goal, Shikast leading. Powell
stopped the ball with a backhander when it was not fifty yards from
the goalposts, and Shikast spun round wit