The Saint Paul globe., 1897-04-11

sufficient stipend. She was fated to
wear cheap clothes to threadbareness,
to go often in shabby shoes. Yet by
reason Of her position and her wit she
was ever welcome in the select circle
of the county She looked on and
envied her neighbor's their wealth,
not a little resenting now and then
the poverty that debarred her from the
pleasures of their luxurious lives. Her
vivid imagination conceived Basil
Bingham a fairy prince and Queens
Weston" an enchanted place. If she
were but the princess what a vista of
glory the future; what a lift she could
give the boys. what presents she would
shower upon her dear old father, and
what a horse she would rideL For
Kitty dearly loved horses.
1t must not be imagined from these
romantic disgressions that Kitty was a
dreamer; on the contrary, she was an
eminently practical and leveI-headed
young person. AS she had watched
the blood girls. the beauty girls, the
mpliShed-literary- domestic pOlitI-
cal, and all other sorts of girls, retire
discounted from their assaults on
Queens Weston" her observations
revealed to her that they had one and
all failed through simple ignorance Of
human nature. Basil Bingham, she
argued, was horseman and a hunts
man. he lived for the straight ride,
and the at-the-death life. If q man
could beat him at his own game he
would be to him a hero, but could a
girl ride harder and show him the
way. would he not place her on a ped
estal of perfection? The girl who wins
him will have to do 1T at gallop-that
was her deduction.
Kitty had had some experience Of
riding From a child she had galloped
at will about the country lanes on an
obliging neighbOr's pony. She had a
serViceable habit of her own manufac-
ture, and on a few rare occasions
when visiting friends, she had enjoyed
the rapture of a decent mount and a
ride to hounds. But the vicarage stable
was empty, and the chance of poor
Kitty appearing decently mounted in
the same field with the master Of
Queens Weston appeared at first sight
remote.
"A horse, a horse! Ny kingdom for
a horser muttered the parsons daugh-
ter to herself one night, as she sat in
the solitude of her own room after re-
turning from dinner at a house in the
neighbOrhood. Basil Bingham had been
at the party, and Kitty's envious heart
had burned within her as she had heard
the talk in anticipation of next Mon
days meet.
IF l only had horse for one day.
she repeated. "A real horse that could
go and jump! L wonder what it would
cost?"
An idea had taken possession Of
Kittys mind 60 she mused From the
bureau in the corner she drew from it's
hiding place little chocolate box. and
there was q jingle of bullion as she
lifted the lid. This was Kitty's bank
a very slender store, indeed, but pa
tiently amassed by pinching and scrap
ing for many months. The hoard had
been amassed in order that one happy
day it might develop into the equivalent
value of a tailor-made gown. Kitty
locked at the money and pondered. For
a moment she weighed q day on horse
back against a season of tailormade
gown, and sport came out uppermOst.
There was q warmth Of cOmradeship
in the ten golden coins which she held
tightly in her hand as she walked to
the railway station en- route for hunt
ing stable, twenty miles up the Midland
line. George Briddon. landlord Of the
CheEtOn arms, was breeder and deal
er; he had dozens of screws and plenty
Of clippers for sale or hire, and we'll
known among them was Dauntless, q
fast weight carrier that knew his busI-
ness. Kitty had often heard from afar
Of the prowess Of this particular horse,
and II was to him and his owner she
paid a visit.
You wants 'oss for next Monday,
Miss. and you UNITS with his lordship's.
I thought hadn't seen you out with US
on this side, misS"