ing
around to them, and extending a smeary, dripping hand for the taut rein.

The young man let her step in front of him and put her hand on the strap,
but kept his own there as well, while they both followed the backing horse
with braced steps, the girl talking soothingly to the frightened animal
the while. The naturally docile filly responded to the voice she had heard
from earliest colthood and soon let Elizabeth approach close enough to put
her hand on the bit. The seriousness of the affair gave way to the comic
when the horse began to snatch bits of grass from the roadside.

The young couple laughed and looked at each other rather sheepishly as
they saw that further cooperation was not needed. They untangled their
hands where they had slipped tight together in the loop of the bridle rein
as they had followed the rearing beast.

"She has broken the girth," the young man said, lifting his hat
ceremoniously and with a manner not born of life on the farm.

He threw the stirrup over the top of the saddle and fished under the now
quiet horse for her dangling surcingle. Having secured it, he untied the
strap and examined it to see if it were sufficiently long to permit of
tying another knot. Deciding that it was, he tied one end in the ring in
the saddle and, passing the other through the ring of the girth, drew it
up with a strong, steady pull. His side face against the saddle, as he
pulled, permitted him to examine curiously the young girl in front of
him.

"Are you sure you are not hurt at all?" he asked solicitously.

"Not a bit--only muddy," she replied, stooping to brush her earth-stained
hands through the rain-laden grass at the roadside. He was still working
with the straps when her hands were cleaned and watched her openly as she
shielded her face behind Patsie's head while waiting. The water dripped
from the ends of her braided brown hair and the long dark lashes of her
brown eyes were mist-laden also. He examined all the accoutrements of her
mount minutely. When at last it occurred to her that he was giving them
extra attention for the sake of extending the time Elizabeth's eyes
lighted up with a humorous twinkle. The young man caught and rightly
interpreted the expression and was embarrassed.

"I think it's all right," he said quickly. "I'm awfully sorry to have been
so stupid. I never thought of meeting any one in all this rain."

Elizabeth took that as a reflection upon her presence out of doors on su