e passed some distance away. It was not so far away, however, that
Anita could not see the handsome turn of his close-cropped black head,
and his eyes full of laughter and courage and impudence. As some
things go by contraries, the glimpse of Broussard made Anita dismount
quickly from Pretty Maid and flit within doors to avoid the sight of
him. Once indoors, Anita ran where she could catch a last look of
Broussard's young figure, his cavalry cape thrown back, before he
turned the corner and was gone.

Colonel Fortescue, at the office window, returned a salute, without a
smile, to Mrs. Fortescue's greeting from afar. His teeth came together
with a snap.

"It's the last time," he said aloud--meaning that Mrs. Fortescue would
have to submit to his judgment in horses and let Birdseye alone.

What happened next turned the Colonel's resolution to adamant. A
trooper was leading Pretty Maid away and another trooper was about to
do the same for Birdseye when the black mare suddenly threw her head
down and her heels up. Mrs. Fortescue kept her seat, while the mare,
backing, and kicking as she backed, knocked over a couple of the
passing color guard, and only by adroitness the color sergeant saved
the flag from being dropped to the ground. Meanwhile, the two
troopers, falling backward, collided with the chaplain, a small, meek
man, as brave as a lion, who stopped to look and was ignominiously
bowled over. Sergeant McGillicuddy, just coming out of the office
entrance, made a dash forward and grabbed Birdseye by the bridle. The
mare, still unable to unseat Mrs. Fortescue or to break away from the
wiry little Sergeant, yet managed to scatter all the official mail in
the Sergeant's hand on the snow. Kettle, who could not have remained
away from "Miss Betty" under such circumstances to save his life,
dropped the baby on the drawing-room floor and rushed out. This the
After-Clap resented, shrieking wildly.

[Illustration: The black mare suddenly threw her head down and her
heels up.]

The combination of the kicking mare, the fallen troopers, the prostrate
chaplain, and the screaming baby at once determined Colonel Fortescue
to remain in his office; what he had to say to Mrs. Fortescue would not
sound well in public. Unlike Kettle, Colonel Fortescue had no fear
whatever for Mrs. Fortescue, and watched calmly from the window as
Sergeant McGillicuddy brought Birdseye to her four feet. Mrs.
Fortescue sprang to the ground