'm not surprised to hear it.
Ever since the little Missis came home with the happy tale, I've been
wondering what miracle pulled you through so grand with them."

Then Dale went out and down the street, talking to everybody he met.

The village received him with tranquil indifference. No one
congratulated him. The greater excitement had obliterated all memory
of the less: not a soul seemed to recollect the famous controversy,
the postmaster's campaign against detractors, his long absence or his
brilliant success. Kibworth Rocks, the drawn blinds of the Abbey
House, the decorations of the Abbey Church--these were the only things
that Rodchurch could now think of, or talk about.

The inquest, held on Monday in one of the state rooms at the Abbey,
brought to light no new facts that were of the least importance. All
sorts of people gave evidence, but no one had anything to say that was
really worth saying. Mr. Allen, it appeared, had "acted foolish" and
been reproved by the Coroner, first for irrelevance and then for
impertinence.

Allen had attempted to persuade the Court that the prime cause of the
accident was simply this, that poor Mr. Barradine's saddle was made by
a London firm instead of by him--Allen. He pooh-poohed the
stud-groom's statement that Mr. Barradine had an ineradicable
objection to patent detachable stirrups, and maintained that he would
have been able, in five minutes' quiet conversation, to prevail on the
deceased gentleman to adopt a certain device which was known to Allen
but to nobody else in the trade; and then he attempted to read a
written paper in which he advocated the superiority to the modern
plain flap of the ancient padded knee-roll as a means of rendering the
seat more secure for forehand stumbles.

"It was laughable--but for the occasion--to hear him spouting out his
nonsense, until Doctor Hollis told him straight he wouldn't put up
with it any longer."

Dale gave this account of the proceedings to Mavis and to Mr. Ridgett,
who had come up to take high tea on the eve of his departure just as
he had done on the day of his arrival.

"But I admit," said Dale, conscientiously, "there was one bit of sense
in Allen's remarks. He convinced me against trusting to these blood
animals. They're too _quick_, and they're never _sure_. The grooms an'
all spoke up to Mr. Barradine's knowledge of his ridin' gen'rally; but
it stands to reason, when you're past sixty your grip on a horse isn't
the