Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-01-09

a foine day FIR canter, miss,
commented genial Mike as Marcia,
one hand on his shoulder. the other
on the pommel, sprang lightly into the
saddle.
Heavenly" agreed the girl, but the
wistful expression In her eyes belied
her gayety. I
"Wud ye be goin' alone?" queried
Mike, skilfully adjusting the folds OF
her riding skirt.
at looks that way" laughed Marcia.
unless meet Lochinvar on the high
way
II was only thinkin'. Pegasus is pref.
ty fr-risky the day, OWN to shtandin'
so long in the shtall. He's loikely to.
run wild We. Miss Marcia. But ar,
coorse If Misther Lock-pardon. miss,
! fight the rist av lis name-is goin' to
meet ye''-
Marcia interrupted him with a merry
laugh. a..
"Oh. Pegasus and I will get along
all right. How his coat shines, No
one ever took such good care of him
as you do. Mike. He'd win the blue
ribbon at any horse show"
Mike grinned appreciatively and tip
ped his cap.
Now don't We be dom any jumpin'
Miss Marcia" he cautioned. as Mar
cha. her proud chin held high. gave
,.f i,J- har cil,
tipped crop and trotted off along the
smoothly raked drive.
"Phwat r-rud wud We be takin'. Miss
Marcia?" called the admiring groom
after her
THE Tanglewood road. l guess. "
Marcia answered back over her Shout
der.
There really was no guesswork about
it. Since a certain memorable day
nearly month ago no other road had
held for Marcia any charm-and yet
fortthree long weeks she had persist
entity taken another direction.
Now, as she turned toward the high
| way that led into the old winding road,
her thoughts galloped ahead of her
| horses hoofs. and already in magma
ton she had brought Pegasus to q
| watching. spellbound. man and horse
take jump after jump over the mead
ow wall.
How she longed to try 1t herself.
Pegasus vaulted beautifully, she knew.
| She had seen him take the bars many
time when out at pleasure. But she
| had promised her father that she
would never attempt It. That was the
| condition. in fact. by which Pegasus
| was her very own possession.
Then she remembered with a thrill
how Pegasus had suddenly started and
before she could control him had fol
| lowed the lead of the other rider and
| bounded with the grace of a greyhound
over the meadow wall. The unexpect-
| edness of it had quite taken her breath
| away. But. oh, was there ever any
| sensation so exquisite?
| Before she could recover from hel
surprise the unknown rider had gal
| loped up reside her and, dispensing
with even an apology for his lack OF
conventiona'ity. exclaimed: "A mag
| nifcent performance, Please accept
my compliments"
And she, conscious of the rising col
or in her cheeks, had answered smil
ingly
The praise belongs all to Pegasus
didn't know he was going to do it."
How incredulous the man had looked
You mean?" he asked, doubling his
senses.
THAT l never took a jump before
My horse followed your lead. / wa!
never more astonished in all my life"
I'm that case allow me to pay MI
compliments over again." the man hat
then said, looking at her with undis
guised admiration. Pegasus has s
wonderfully clever rider"
And then-Marcia blushed to recall
it-she had spent the rest of that glori
Gus morning in taking vaulting lessons
from an unknown riding master AnC
if further truth be told she had let tn,
accident of one day dictate the pro
gramme of the next. But after tina
discretion had come to the rescue, an,
romance was forced to beat reluctan
, but absolute retreat In other words
every day for three long monotonou
weeks Marcia had resolutely avoided
the vicinity Of Tanglewood road.
ii But today she had closed her ears t
the prosaic arguments Of prudenc
and literally given rein to her fancy
The air was as crisp and the sky a
blue as on that other day. Her hear
thumped with excitement
Faster. Pegasus. faster she urged
touching the horses shining flank
with her crop. Were almost there
When the edge of the wood wa
reached she drew rein and with eager
: shining eyes looked out expectantl
, over the brown meadows. There wa
no one in sight Well, she would hav
! one jump anyway.
Pegasus was as keen for the spor
as Marcia herself He took the wa
handsomely-noto only once, but agai
I and again. Then, a gate of bars fal
Their down in the wall catching Mai
cia's attention, she decided to put he