n't break Shannon's laigs."

"Not he; Mr. Wally's no fool," said Boone. "Git up, y' ol' sardine!" He
kicked the horse he was leading, and they trotted up to Norah and Tommy.

Shannon, standing with drooping head, showed little interest as Wally
flung the saddle on his back. He had won his race handsomely, and it was
a scorching day; possibly the big chestnut felt that no more should be
required of him; in which case he was soon to be rudely awakened. Wally
swung into the saddle with a quick movement, and turned him, not towards
the gate, but in the opposite direction, which further puzzled Shannon.
But he was a stock horse first and a hurdle racer as an afterthought;
and a good stock horse knows his rider's mind, if that rider is a good
man. He made one tentative movement towards his paddock mates, now
moving away towards the gate; then, feeling the touch of Wally's hand
on the bit, and the light pressure of his knee, he decided that some new
game was on foot, and cantered easily away.

They crossed the racing track, going westward over the big paddock, away
from the buggies and the crowd. A belt of timber checked their swift
progress a moment; then they came out into clear ground in sight of
the boundary fence, a stiff three-railer. Wally peered at it anxiously,
unable, for an instant, to see if there were a wire on top; but it was
clear, and he shook up his horse, putting him straight at the middle of
a panel. Shannon pricked his ears and flew it daintily--this was work he
loved, and hot though the day might be, he was ready for any amount of
it. Also Wally was lighter than Murty, his usual rider; and although he
loved Murty, and respected him greatly, this new man had a seat like a
feather and a hand gentle as silk upon his tender mouth. Shannon broke
into the gallop that he felt sure his rider wanted.

They were in a wide paddock, bare, save for a few clumps of timber,
in the shade of which sheep were thickly clustered. It was good, sound
going, with a few little rises; and, knowing that he would have to
slacken speed presently, Wally let the chestnut have his head across the
clear grass. They took the next fence and the next before he drew rein.
He was in country he did not know--all big farms, with many stubble
fields with newly erected stacks, and with good homesteads, where now
and then a woman peered curiously from a verandah at him. There were
no men in sight; every man in the neighbourhood was at the races