couldst never ride her! Tut! I would be loath to kill thee."

"Ride her!" I cried, with the bravest scorn, for she looked so kind and
gentle; "there never was a horse upon Exmoor but I could tackle in half
an hour. Only I never ride upon saddle. Take those leathers off of her."

He looked at me with a dry little whistle, and thrust his hands into his
pockets, and so grinned that I could not stand it. And Annie laid hold
of me in such a way that I was almost mad with her. And he laughed, and
approved her for doing so. And the worst of all was--he said nothing.

"Get away, Annie. Do you think I'm a fool, good sir? Only trust me with
her, and I will not override her."

"For that I will go bail, my son. She is liker to override thee. But the
ground is soft to fall upon after all this rain. Now come out into the
yard, young man, for the sake of your mother's cabbages. And the mellow
strawbed will be softer for thee, since pride must have its fall. I am
thy mother's cousin, boy, and I'm going up to the house. Tom Faggus is
my name, as everybody knows, and this is my young mare, Winnie."

What a fool I must have been not to know it at once! Tom Faggus, the
great highwayman, and his young blood mare, the strawberry.

Already her fame was noised abroad nearly as much as her master's, and
my longing to ride her grew tenfold, but fear came at the back of it.
Not that I had the smallest fear of what the mare could do to me, by
fair play and horse-trickery, but that the glory of sitting upon her
seemed to be too great for me; especially as there were rumours abroad
that she was not a mare, after all, but a witch.

Mr. Faggus gave his mare a wink, and she walked demurely after him, a
bright young thing, flowing over with life, yet dropping her soul to a
higher one, and led by love to anything, as the manner is of such
creatures, when they know what is best for them. Then Winnie trod
lightly upon the straw, because it had soft muck under it, and her
delicate feet came back again.

"Up for it still, boy, be ye?" Tom Faggus stopped, and the mare stopped
there; and they looked at me provokingly.

"Is she able to leap, sir? There is good take-off on this side of the
brook."

Mr. Faggus laughed very quietly, turning round to Winnie so that she
might enter into it. And she, for her part, seemed to know exactly where
the fun lay.

"Good tumble-off, you mean, my boy. Well, there can be small harm to
thee. I am akin to thy family,