and they arrested
his fall, leaving him dangling at the end of them while the maddened
horses, jerked at the bits by the weight of the man, reared and plunged
as if they would in any instant tumble themselves and the carriage over
the cliff.

At this critical moment a mounted horseman, who unobserved had been
following the party, dashed to their rescue. The rider caught the
plunging steeds by their heads and tried to restrain their terror, at
his own eminent peril, while the carriage lay wedged against the wall
and the driver screamed pitifully from his dangerous position midway
between sea and sky.

Then Beth slipped from her seat to the flat top of the parapet, stepped
boldly to where the reins were pulling upon the terrified horses, and
seized them in her strong grasp.

"Hold fast," she called calmly to the driver, and began dragging him
upward, inch by inch.

He understood instantly the task she had undertaken, and in a moment his
courage returned and he managed to get his foot in a crack of the rock
and assist her by relieving her of part of his weight. Just above was a
slight ledge; he could reach it now; and then she had him by the arm, so
that another instant found him clinging to the parapet and drawing
himself into a position of safety.

The wind had died away as suddenly as it came upon them. The horses, as
soon as the strain upon their bits was relaxed, were easily quieted.
Before those in the carriage had quite realized what had occurred the
adventure was accomplished, the peril was past, and all was well again.

Uncle John leaped from the carriage, followed by Louise and Patsy. The
young horseman who had come to their assistance so opportunely was none
other than Count Ferralti, whom they had such good reason to distrust.
He was sitting upon his horse and staring with amazement at Beth, at
whose feet the driver was grovelling while tears flowed down his bronzed
cheeks and he protested in an absurd mixture of English and Italian, by
every saint in the calendar, that the girl had saved him from a
frightful death and he would devote his future life to her service.

"It is wonderful!" murmured Ferralti. "However could such a slip of a
girl do so great a deed?"

"Why, it's nothing at all," returned Beth, flushing; "we're trained to
do such things in the gymnasium at Cloverton, and I'm much stronger than
I appear to be."

"'Twas her head, mostly," said Patsy, giving her cousin an admiring hug;
"she