rider. The pair
seemed to get on well. So far the horse had not made a mistake.

The last mile and a half was a severe test, the jumps being all stiff,
and the pace began to tell.

A thorn hedge faced the field at this point. Handy Man flew it safely,
so did Milkmaid, Fright, and Sparrow, but Picket came down with a
crash, rolled over, flung his rider out of danger, and was struggling
to rise as Alan on Bandmaster came along. It was an awkward, dangerous
situation; a less experienced horseman might have lost his head. Alan,
however, was accustomed to act quickly in emergencies. He pulled his
mount to the left and just cleared the struggling horse. Picket,
however, was so near Bandmaster that he put him out of his stride; this
caused loss of ground and he fell back.

Eve noticed the danger and gave a slight cry of alarm, followed by a
sigh of relief as she saw Bandmaster safe.

"A narrow squeak," said Harry. "Nobody but a good rider would have
escaped."

The pace was tremendous, considering a mile had to be covered, and not
more than ten of the twenty-seven starters were within striking
distance.

It was a formidable mile to the winning post, a stiff fence, then the
water jump, bigger than the first, and two hurdles brushed in the
straight, the last being close to the winning post.

Alan felt faint but kept hard at it. He was not so strong as he
thought. His wounds and all he had gone through sapped his strength.
He possessed indomitable courage, a stubborn will which stood him in
good stead.

Bandmaster tipped the first fence but it did no harm and he raced after
Handy Man, Milkmaid, and Sparrow at his best pace.

The water jump loomed in front a formidable obstacle. Handy Man
scrambled over, narrowly escaping a fall. Alan thought the Baron's
horse was about done. Sparrow fell. Milkmaid cleared it well. Alan
had a clear course and steadied his mount. Once over the water he had
a great chance, for on the flat Bandmaster had tremendous pace. His
eyes were misty, he could not see clearly, his head swam, something
trickled down his leg; the wound in his thigh had opened and was
bleeding. He felt Bandmaster rise under him, knew he was in the air
over the water, topped the fence, and came down safely; but it was
almost a miracle he did not fall off, he swayed in the saddle, it was
only by a tremendous effort he retained his seat. Bandmaster was a
wonder. Alan was not able to give him any assist