e horse trotted along at a brisk pace and
showed no uncertainty. Again the dean was positive that he was going in
the wrong direction, and now he did not hesitate to interfere. He seized
the reins and turned the horse about, guiding him back to the roadway.
No sooner was he there than he turned again and made straight for the
woods.

"The dean was certain that he was going wrong, but because the beast was
so persistent he thought that probably he was trying to find a better
road, and let him go along.

"The horse did very well, although he had no path to follow. If a
precipice obstructed his way, he climbed it as nimbly as a goat, and
later, when they had to descend, he bunched his hoofs and slid down the
rocky inclines.

"'May he only find his way home before church hour!' thought the dean.
'I wonder how the Delsbo folk would take it if I were not at my church
on time?'

"He did not have to brood over this long, for soon he came to a place
that was familiar to him. It was a little creek where he had fished the
summer before. Now he saw it was as he had feared--he was in the depths
of the forest, and the horse was plodding along in a south-easterly
direction. He seemed determined to carry the dean as far from church and
rectory as he could.

"The clergyman dismounted. He could not let the horse carry him into the
wilderness. He must go home. And, since the animal persisted in going in
the wrong direction, he decided to walk and lead him until they came to
more familiar roads. The dean wound the reins around his arm and began
to walk. It was not an easy matter to tramp through the forest in a
heavy fur coat; but the dean was strong and hardy and had little fear of
overexertion.

"The horse, meanwhile, caused him fresh anxiety. He would not follow but
planted his hoofs firmly on the ground.

"At last the dean was angry. He had never beaten that horse, nor did he
wish to do so now. Instead, he threw down the reins and walked away.

"'We may as well part company here, since you want to go your own way,'
he said.

"He had not taken more than two steps before the horse came after him,
took a cautious grip on his coat sleeve and stopped him. The dean turned
and looked the horse straight in the eyes, as if to search out why he
behaved so strangely.

"Afterward the dean could not quite understand how this was possible,
but it is certain that, dark as it was, he plainly saw the horse's face
and read it like that of