"Oh, is that all?" rejoined I.

"Why, what did you think it was?" inquired Coleman.

"Never mind," I replied; "let's look at Punch."

And accordingly I was introduced to a little fat, round, jolly-looking cob, about fourteen hands high, who appeared to me an equine counterpart of Coleman himself. After having duly praised and patted him I turned to leave the stable, just as c.u.mberland and Snaffles were pa.s.sing the door, and I caught the following words from the latter, who appeared rather excited:--

"Well, if any harm comes of it, Mr. c.u.mberland, you'll remember it's your doing, not mine".

c.u.mberland's reply was inaudible, and Snaffles turned to me, saying:--

"I've only one horse at home likely to suit you, sir; you'll find her rather high-couraged, but Mr. c.u.mberland tells me you won't mind that".

"I have been mentioning what a good rider you _say_ you are," said c.u.mberland, laying a slight emphasis on the say.

"Oh, I daresay she will do very well," replied I. "I suppose she has no vice about her."

"Oh dear, no," said Snaffles, "nothing of the sort.--James," added he, calling to a helper, "saddle the chestnut mare, and bring her out directly."

The man whom he addressed, and who was a fellow -37--with a good-humoured, honest face, became suddenly grave, as he replied in a deprecatory tone:--

"The chestnut mare? Mad Bess, sir?"

"Don't repeat my words, but do as you are told," was the answer; and the man went away looking surly.

After the interval of a few minutes a stable door opposite was thrown open, and Mad Bess made her appearance, led by two grooms. She was a bright chestnut, with flowing mane and tail, about fifteen-and-a-half hands high, nearly thorough-bred, and as handsome as a picture; but the restless motion of her eye disclosing the white, the ears laid back at the slightest sound, and a half-frightened, half-wild air, when any one went up to her, told a tale as to her temper, about which no one in the least accustomed to horses could doubt for an instant.

"That mare is vicious," said I, as soon as I had looked at her.

"Oh dear, no, sir, quiet as a lamb, I can a.s.sure you. Soh, girl! soh!"

said Snaffles, in a coaxing tone of voice, attempting to pat her; but Bess did not choose to "soh," if by "sohing" is meant, as I presume, standing still and behaving prettily; for on her master's approach she snorted, attempted to rear, and ran back, giving the men at her head as much as they could do to hold her.

"She's a little fresh to-day; she was not out yesterday, but it's all play, pretty creature! nothing but play," continued Snaffles.

"If you are afraid, Fairlegh, don't ride her," said c.u.mberland; "but I fancied from your conversation you were a bold rider, and did not mind a little spirit in a horse: you had better take her in again, Snaffles."

"Leave her alone," cried I, quickly (for I was becoming irritated by c.u.mberland's sneers, in spite of my attempt at self-control), "I'll ride her. I'm no more afraid than other people; nor do I mind a spirited horse, c.u.mberland; but that mare is more than spirited, she's ill-tempered--look at her eye!"

"Well, you had better not ride her, then," said c.u.mberland.

"Yes, I will," answered I, for I was now thoroughly roused, and determined to go through with the affair, at all hazards. I was always, even as a boy, of a determined, or, as ill-natured people would call it, obstinate disposition, and I doubt whether I am entirely cured of the fault at the present time.

"Please yourself; only mind, I have warned you not to ride her if you are afraid," said c.u.mberland.

-38--"A nice warning," replied I, turning away;--"who'll lend me a pair of spurs?"

"I've got a pair here, sir; if you'll step this way I'll put them on for you," said the man whom I had heard addressed as "James,"--adding, in a lower tone, as he buckled them on, "for Heaven's sake, young gentleman, don't mount that mare unless you're a first-rate rider."

"Why, what's the matter with her? does she kick?" inquired I.

"She'll try and pitch you off, if possible, and if she can't do that, she'll bolt with you, and then the Lord have mercy upon you!"

This was encouraging, certainly!

"You are an honest fellow, James," replied I; "and I am much obliged to you. Ride her I must, my honour is at stake, but I'll be as careful as I can, and, if I come back safe, you shall have half a crown."

"Thank you, sir," was the reply, "I shall be glad enough to see you come back in any other way than on a shutter, without the money."

Of a truth, the race of Job's comforters is not yet extinct, thought I, as I turned to look for Coleman, who had been up to this moment employed in superintending the operation of saddling Punch, and now made his appearance, leading that renowned steed by the bridle.

"Why, Fairlegh, you are not going to ride that vicious brute to be sure; even Lawless won't mount her, and he does not care what he rides in general."

"Nevermind about Lawless," said I, a.s.suming an air of confidence I was very far from feeling; "she won't eat me, I daresay."

"I don't know that," rejoined Coleman, regarding Mad Bess with a look of horror; "c.u.mberland, don't let him mount her."

"Nay, I can't prevent it; Fairlegh is his own master, and must do as he likes," was the answer.

"Come, we can't keep the men standing here the whole day," said I to Coleman; "mount Punch, and get out of my way as fast as you can, if you are going to do so at all"--a request with which, seeing I was quite determined, he at length unwillingly complied, and having, after one or two failures, succeeded in throwing his leg over the cob's broad back, rode slowly out of the yard, and took up his station outside in order to witness my proceedings.

"Now, then," said I, "keep her as steady as you can for a minute, and as soon as I am fairly mounted give her her head--stand clear there."

-39--I then took a short run, and, placing one hand on the saddle, while I seized a lock of the mane with the other, I sprang from the ground and vaulted at once upon her back, without the aid of the stirrup, a feat I had learned from a groom who once lived with us, and which stood me in good stead on the present occasion, as I thereby avoided a kick with which Mad Bess greeted my approach. I next took up the reins as gently as I could, the men let go her head, and after a little plunging and capering, though much less than I had expected, her ladyship gave up hostilities for the present, and allowed me to ride her quietly up and down the yard. I then wished c.u.mberland (who looked, as I thought, somewhat mortified) a good-afternoon, turned a deaf ear to the eulogies of Mr. Snaffles and his satellites, and proceeded to join Coleman. As I left the yard my friend James joined me, under the pretence of arranging my stirrup leather, when he took the opportunity of saying:--

"She'll go pretty well now you're once mounted, sir, as long as you can hold her with the snaffle, but if you are obliged to use the curb--look out for squalls!!!"

CHAPTER V -- MAD BESS

"Away, away, my steed and I, Upon the pinions of the wind, All human dwellings left behind, We sped like meteors through the sky,

With glossy skin and dripping mane, And reeling limbs, and reeking flank, The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain Up the repelling bank.

We gained the top, a boundless plain Spreads onward.

My heart turned sick, my brain grew sore, And throbbed awhile, then beat no more, The sky spun like a mighty wheel, And a slight flash sprang o'er my eyes, Which saw no farther."

_Mazeppa_.

OUT of consideration for the excitable disposition of Mad Bess we took our way along the least bustling streets we could select; directing our course towards the outskirts of the town, behind which extended for some miles a -40--portion of the range of hills known as the South Downs, over the smooth green turf of which we promised ourselves a canter. As we rode along Coleman questioned me as to what could have pa.s.sed while he was seeing Punch saddled, to make me determine to ride the chestnut mare, whose vicious disposition was, he informed me, so well known, that not only would no one ride her who could help it, but that Snaffles, who was most anxious to get rid of her, had not as yet been able to find a purchaser. In reply to this I gave him a short account of what had occurred, adding my more than suspicion that the whole matter had been arranged by c.u.mberland, in which notion he entirely agreed with me.

"I was afraid of something of this sort, when I said I was sorry you had made that remark about cheating to him this morning--you see, he would no doubt suppose you had heard the particulars of his gambling affair, and meant to insult him by what you said, and he has done this out of revenge. Oh, how I wish we were safely at home again; shall we turn back now?"

"Not for the world," said I--"you will find, when you know me better, that when once I have undertaken a thing, I _will_ go through with it--difficulties only make me more determined."

"Ah!" said Coleman, "you should get somebody to write a book about you, that is the kind of disposition they always give to the heroes of novels, the sort of character that will go and run his head against a brick wall to prove that it is the harder and thicker of the two--they knock out their brains though, sometimes, in doing it, when they happen to have any--it is very pretty to read about, splendid in theory, but I much doubt its acting so well if you come to put it in practice."