ild flowers by the road-side, the dark pines and
mile-posts, seemed to whirl past her, and she realized, with a terrible
quaking of the heart, that the horse was getting beyond her control and
was running away.

The light buggy seemed to fairly spin over the road without touching it.
From a run, the horse had broken into a mad gallop, which the small
white hands clinging to the reins was powerless to stop.

Suddenly from a bend in the road, as she reached it, she saw a horseman
riding leisurely toward her on a chestnut mare which she recognized at
once as belonging to the Gardiner stables. He could not be one of the
grooms, nor could he be one of the guests astir at that hour; still,
there was something familiar in the form of the man advancing toward her
at an easy canter.

He seemed to take in the situation at a glance, and quickly drew back
into the bushes to give the runaway horse full swing in the narrow road.

But as Bernardine advanced at that mad, flying pace, she heard the man
shout:

"My horse, by all that is wonderful! But that isn't Mag in the buggy.
Who in thunder can it be in that wagon, anyhow?"

That loud, harsh voice! No wonder Bernardine's heart almost ceased
beating as she heard it. It was the voice of Jasper Wilde.

Only Heaven's mercy kept her from swooning outright, for she knew Jasper
Wilde would recognize her as soon as he came abreast of her.

This proved to be the case.

"Bernardine Moore!" he shouted, hardly believing he had seen aright.

For one moment of time he was taken so completely by surprise that he
was quite incapable of action, and in that moment Bernardine's horse was
many rods past him.

"Yes, it is Bernardine Moore!" he cried out, excitedly.

He did not ask himself how she happened to be there; he had no time for
that.

Cursing himself for the time he had lost through his astonishment at the
discovery, he wheeled his horse about with so sharp a jerk that it
almost brought the animal upon its haunches; then started in mad pursuit
of the girl, shouting at the top of his voice to Bernardine to saw hard
on both lines, and jerk quickly backward.

To his intense rage, he saw Bernardine take out the whip and lay it on
the back of the runaway horse, and it flashed across his mind what that
meant.

She had seen and recognized him as she flew past him. She knew he was
hurrying after her, and she preferred death rather than that he should
overtake her.

Curses loud and d