a quarter past six. I'll water them on the road." They
never drank their fill before nine o'clock. And I hurried home to get my
breakfast...

"Merry Christmas!" the hostler called after me; and I shouted back over
my shoulder, "The same to you." The horses were going under the merry
jingle of the bells which they carried for the first time this winter.

I rarely could hold them down to a walk or a trot now, since the
cold weather had set in; and mostly, before they even had cleared the
slide-doors, they were in a gallop. Peter had changed his nature since
he had a mate. By feeding and breeding he was so much Dan's superior in
vitality that, into whatever mischief the two got themselves, he was
the leader. For all times the picture, seen by the light of a lantern,
stands out in my mind how he bit at Dan, wilfully, urging him playfully
on, when we swung out into the crisp, dark, hazy morning air. Dan being
nothing loth and always keen at the start, we shot across the bridge.

It was hard now, mostly, to hitch them up. They would leap and rear
with impatience when taken into the open before they were hooked to the
vehicle. They were being very well fed, and though once a week they had
the hardest of work, for the rest of the time they had never more than
enough to limber them up, for on schooldays I used to take them out for
a spin of three or four miles only, after four. At home, when I left, my
wife and I would get them ready in the stable; then I took them out and
lined them up in front of the buggy. My wife quickly took the lines: I
hooked the traces up, jumped in, grabbed for the lines and waved my last
farewell from the road afar off. Even at that they got away from us
once or twice and came very near upsetting and wrecking the buggy; but
nothing serious ever happened during the winter. I had to have horses
like that, for I needed their speed and their staying power, as the
reader will see if he cares to follow me very much farther.

We flew along--the road seemed ideal--the air was wonderfully crisp and
cold--my cutter fulfilled the highest expectations--the horses revelled
in speed. But soon I pulled them down to a trot, for I followed the
horsemen's rules whenever I could, and Dan, as I mentioned, was anyway
rather too keen at the start for steady work later on. I settled back.
The top of my cutter was down, for not a breath stirred; and I was
always anxious to see as much of the country as I could...

Do you