e and fell,
vanishing from light to darkness, from darkness to light, and seeming of
their own free will and motion to dance to the thundering music.

It was the most terrific thing that he had ever seen. The most terrific
thing... he stood there, his cap on the back of his head, his legs
apart, his mouth open; forgetting utterly the crowd, thinking nothing of
time or danger or punishment--he gazed with his whole body.

As his eyes grew more accustomed to the glare of the hissing gas, he saw
that in the centre figures were painted standing on the edge of a pillar
that revolved without pause. There was a woman with flaming red cheeks,
a gold dress and dead white dusty arms, a man with a golden crown and
a purple robe, but a broken nose, and a minstrel with a harp. The woman
and the king moved stiffly their arms up and down, that they might
strike instruments, one a cymbal and the other a drum. But it was
finally the horses that caught Jeremy's heart. Half of them at least
were without riders, and the empty ones went round pathetically, envying
the more successful ones and dancing to the music as though with an
effort. One especially moved Jeremy's sympathy. He was a fine horse,
rather fresher than the others, with a coal-black mane and great black
bulging eyes; his saddle was of gold and his trappings of red. As he
went round he seemed to catch Jeremy's eye and to beg him to come to
him. He rode more securely than the rest, rising nobly like a horse of
fine breeding, falling again with an implication of restrained force as
though he would say: "I have only to let myself go and there, my word,
you would see where I'd get to." His bold black eyes turned beseechingly
to Jeremy--surely it was not only a trick of the waving gas; the boy
drew closer and closer, never moving his gaze from the horses who had
hitherto been whirling at a bacchanalian pace, but now, as at some
sudden secret command, suddenly slackened, hesitated, fell into a gentle
jog-trot, then scarcely rose, scarcely fell, were suddenly still. Jeremy
saw what it was that you did if you wanted to ride. A stout dirty man
came out amongst the horses and, resting his hands on their backs as
though they were less than nothing to him, shouted: "Now's your chance,
lidies and gents! Now, lidies and gents! Come along hup! Come along hup!
The ride of your life now! A 'alfpenny a time! A 'alfpenny a time, and
the finest ride of your life!"

People began to mount the step