darkness, a gigantic horse, white and luminous.

At that moment our own mare took fright; we were abruptly swung forward,
and, had I not--mindful of the Colonel's warning--been "sitting tight,"
I should undoubtedly have been thrown out. We dashed downhill at a
terrific rate, our mare mad with terror, and on peering over my shoulder
I saw, to my horror, the white steed tearing along not fifty yards
behind us. I was now able to get a vivid impression of the monstrous
beast. Although the night was dark, a strong, lurid glow, which seemed
to emanate from all over it, enabled me to see distinctly its broad,
muscular breast; its panting, steaming flanks; its long, graceful legs
with their hairy fetlocks and shoeless, shining hoofs; its powerful but
arched back; its lofty, colossal head with waving forelock and broad,
massive forehead; its snorting nostrils; its distended, foaming jaws;
its huge, glistening teeth; and its lips, wreathed in a savage grin. On
and on it raced, its strides prodigious, its mighty mane rising and
falling, and blowing all around it in unrestrained confusion.

A slip--a single slip, and we should be entirely at its mercy.

Our own horse was now out of control. A series of violent plunges, which
nearly succeeded in unseating me, had enabled her to get the check of
the bit between her teeth so as to render it utterly useless; and she
had then started off at a speed I can only liken to flying. Fortunately
we were now on a more or less level ground, and the road, every inch of
which our horse knew, was smooth and broad.

I glanced at the Colonel convulsively clutching the reins; he was
clinging to his seat for dear life, his hat gone. I wanted to speak, but
I knew it was useless--the shrieking of the air as it roared past us
deadened all sounds. Once or twice I glanced over the side of the trap.
The rapidity with which we were moving caused a hideous delusion--the
ground appeared to be gliding from beneath us; and I experienced the
sensation of resting on nothing. Despite our danger, however, from
natural causes--a danger which, I knew, could not have been more
acute--my fears were wholly of the superphysical. It was not the horror
of being dashed to pieces I dreaded--it was the horror of the phantom
horse--of its sinister, hostile appearance--of its unknown powers. What
would it do if it overtook us? With each successive breath I drew I
felt sure the fateful event--the long-anticipated crisis--had come