The Detroit times., 1913-09-23

was 20 happy that Francois almost
forgot 70 gallop TO the head Of the
line when his turn came. for 10y Of
looking ct him. Then the drill was
over and there was to be rough rid
Ing and jumping. Hurdles were swift
~ dragged out and placed In man
ner Of ring.
| This one b very close 10 the
bank" said Lacy Hampton. standing
By Blusbird and Watching - the Ne
groes placed the bars. III q horse
refused and turned sharp and was
foolish. no mieht 80 over. And the
bank 10 stsep."
"Lalcy, you are . grandmothsriy per.
son." Clifford Stswart-who was an.
other girl-threw at her. You would
like them al to ride In wadded wool
drsssins-gowns, and 70 have . wall
padded with cotton batting 70 Cuard
them" And Lucy smiled and be-
lieved herself overcautious.
The excited horses came dancing up
TO the barriers and lifted and were
over. with or without rapptng. but
not one. for the first round, refusing.
Then the bars were raised nix inches;
six inches In mid-air 10 . large space
when one must Jump It. Capsrton
BayU went 1t II frs&; his mother
watched breathless - he dew for.
ward. sitting erect. intense, his young
eyes cleaning. Over went his great
horse Traveller, and over the next and
the next-all Of them; but the white
heels had struck the top bar twice
the beautiful. spirited performance
was Lot perfect Harry Hampton
came next: all Of the kindly multi
tude gazed eagerly. hoping that the
boy to whom life had given less than
the others might win this honor he
wanted. The Arst bars without rap
pingi the second: and Z suppressed
sound q satisfaction, which might
soon b . great roar Of pleasure.
hummed over the neA. Black Hawk
Game rushing. snorting. pulling up to
tho third Jump, the Jump whore Lucy
stood. And - he came q little girl.
high In q carriage. . chariot - one
said then. dourished her scarlet para.
col IN the cir. and lost hold Of It. and
It dew like hume red bird into the
course. close TO the hurdle. And
Black Hawk. strung to the highest
point Of his thoroughbred nerves,
saw, and . horror Of the flaming liv-
ing thing. % It seemed. caught him.
and he swerved at the bar and bolt.
ed-boI&sd straight for the steep
slopA
A gasp went up from the three hun.
dred. four hundred people; the boy
WAS dashlng 70 death: no one stirred;
every muscle was Tis1d-ths specta-
tors were paralysed. Not all. Fran.
co.'s from his bAbyhood had known
how TO think quickly. and these boys
were his pride and his care; he had
thoueht Of that possible danger which
Luoy had foreseen: when the Jump
Ing began, mounted on his mare
AQuarelle. he was posted near the
head Of the .0lope. not twenty yards
from the hurdle, to b 1t hand In
any contingency. When Harry's horse
bolted, oue toucArpvt AQuarelle into
motion. Like Z Ane Of brown light
abe dashed ct right angles to tho rum
away--a line drawn to intercept the
line Of Black HAWKS flight There
was silence over the held-one sec
ond-two seconds-the lines shot to
the angie-thsn II came-ths shock
they awaited.
Black Hawk, rushing. saw the other
coming and swsrved ct the last mo-
ment-too late. The animals collid-
Cd. not with full force. yet for q mo-
mont Il loked like nothing but death
for riders and mounts. Harry Hamp-
ton Was thrown backward to the level
neld: Black Hawk galloped OF. fran
tic and unhurt, across Il: Aquarelle.
one cav, lay on the very edge Of the
drop and was scrambling TO her feet
with liveliness enough to assure her
safety; of Francois there was no
sign. In half . minute the breath
les still crowd WAS in an uproar.
and q hundred men were jostling one
another to reach the scene Of the 40
cident.
It was two minutes. perhaps, be-
fore Capsrton Bayly. with q, Negro
boy At his heels. with Jack Littleton
and Harry Wise and . dozen other
lads racing back Of him. had plunged
over the drop Of land where Francois
had disapepared. Two minutes are
enough sometimes for q large event.
In that two minutes Lucy Hampton.
without conscious volition. by an In.
stinct - simple and imperative as
birds instinct to shield her young,
had slipped from her horse Bluebird
and flown across the level and down
over the steep bank till she found
herself holding Francois dark head
In her arms and heard her own voice
saying words she had never said even
to herself.
Il love you, love you." she said,
and II all the world heard she did not
know or care. There WAS no world
for her ct that minute but the man
lying with his head against her heart
dead It might be. but dead or alive,
dearest. II love you-love you-love
you." she repeated, % II the soul
were rushing out Of her In the words.
With that the luminous great eyes
opened, and Francois was looking at
her, and she knew that he had heard.
And then the training Of q lifetime.
Of centuries. flooded back into her.
and womanly reticence and maidsnly
shame and the feelings and attitude
which are not primeval, - she had
been primeval for that one mad mo-
ment. She drew back % she felt him
trying to lift himself, and left him
free and was on her feet, and then
with Q shock she was awarssof an.
other presence; turning she looked
up into the angry glow Of her cousins
eyes. He was not looking ct her, but
at the man who, dAsed, hurt, was try
ing PAINFULLY to pull himself up