The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-05-25

mined to ride him. He is most en-
phatically not a lady's horse, and you
have never ridden him. Your skirts
will irritate him, and if he sees your
crop, he'll bolt"
She did not reply, but merely sig
nified her desire to mount. No sooner
was she up, however, than she secretly
regretted her caprice; but not for a
hundred worlds would she have per-
mitted this groom to know. But Pr
rate, with that rare instinct of the
horse, knew that his mistress was not
sure of him. He showed the whites Of
his eyes and began paving the gravel.
The girl glanced coVertly at her groom
and found no color in his cheeks. Two
small muscular Jumps appeared at the
corners Of her jaws. She would ride
Pirate, and nothing should stop her;
nothing, nothing. Womanlike, know
ing herself to be in the wrong, she was
| furious.
And Pirate surprised them both.
During the first mile he behaved him
self in the most gentlemanly fashion;
and If he SHE'D once or twice, waltzed
| little, it was only because he was
| full of life and spirit. They trotted,
they cantered, ran and walked. War
! burton, hitherto holding himself in
readiness for whatever might happen,
relaxed the tension of his muscles, and
his shoulders sank relievedly. Per-
haps, after all, his alarm had been
needless. The trouble with Pirate
might be the infrequency with which
he had been saddled and ridden. But
he knew that the girl would not soon
forget his interference. There would
be more humiliations, more bitter pills
for him to swallow. 1t pleased him,
however, to note the ease with which
Dick kept pace with Pirate.
AS for the most beautiful person in
all the great world, l am afraid that
she was beginning to feel self-import-
ant. Now that her confidence was full
ly restored, she never once spoke to
or looked at her groom. Occasionally
from the corner of her eye she could
see the white patch on Dicks nose.
James" she said ic.ously and
suddenly, ego back five yards wish
to ride alone"
Warburton, his face burning, fell
back. And thus she made her first mis-
take. The second and final mistake
came Immediately after. She touched
Pirate with her heel and he broke
from a trot into lively gallop. Dick,
without touch of the boot, kept his
distance to foot. Pirate, no longer
seeing Dick at his side, concluded that
he had left his rival behind and the
suppressed mischief in his black head
began to find an outlet. Steadily he
arched his neck; steadily but surely
he drew down on the reins. The girl
felt the effort and tried to Illustrate
1t. In backing her pull with her right
hand, the end of her crop flashed down
the side of Pirates head-the finish
ing touch. There was a wild leap a
blur of dust, and Mr.. Pirate, well
named after his freebooting sires, his
head down where he wanted it, his
feet rolling like snare-drum, Mr.. Pr
rate ran away, headed for heaven only
knows where.
For brief moment Warburton lost
his nerve; he was struck with horror.
If she could not hold. her seat. she
would be killed or dreadfully hurt, and
perhaps disfigured. 1t seemed rather
strange, as he recalled it, that Dick,
instead of himself, should have taken
the initiative. The noble sorrel, for
merly cavalry horse, shot forward
magnificently. Doubtless his horse
sense took in the situation, or else
he did not like the thought of yonder
proud, supercilious show-horse beating
him in running race So, a very fast
mile was put to the rear.
The girl, approaching her peril, did j
as all good horsewomen would have
done; locked her knee on the horn and
held on. The rush of wind tore the
pins from her hair which like a golden
plume, stretched out behind her (Have
you ever read any thing like this be-
fore? ! dare say. But to Warburton
and the girl, it never occurred that
other persons had gone through like
episodes It was real, and actual, and
single, and tragic to them)
The distance between the two horses
began slowly to lessen, and Warburton
in nebulous way, what
he girl had meant when she said that
Dick could outrun Pirate. If Pirate
lept to the road, Dick would bring him !
Town; but if Pirate took it into his
lead to vault a fencel Warburton
ihuddered Faster, faster over this
oil of earth, Gathering across this 5
bridge, around this curve and that
sngle. Once the sight of team draw
ng a huge grain-wagon sent a shiver
o Warburton's heart But they thun-
Tered past with foot to spare. The
I'D negro on the seat stared after
hem, his ebony face drawn with won
Ter and the whites of his eyes showing.
toot by foot, yard by yard, the space
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