ld come of this, do not blame me."

"No harm will come--to you, friend Peter; and I have been so
long cooped in an inn that I, who am desert-born, wish for a
gallop on the mountains with a good horse beneath me and a brave
knight in front. Listen, you brethren; you say you do not fear;
then leave your bridles loose, and where'er we go and whate'er we
meet seek not to check or turn the horses Flame and Smoke. Now,
Son of the Sand, we will test these nags of which you sing so
loud a song. Away, and let the ride be fast and far!"

"On your head be it then, daughter," answered the old Arab.
"Pray Allah that these Franks can sit a horse!"

Then his sombre eyes seemed to take fire, and gripping the
encircling saddle girth, he uttered some word of command, at
which the stallions threw up their heads and began to move at a
long, swinging gallop towards the mountains a mile away. At first
they went over cultivated land off which the crops had been
already cut, taking two or three ditches and a low wall in their
stride so smoothly that the brethren felt as though they were
seated upon swallows. Then came a space of sandy sward, half a
mile or more, where their pace quickened, after which they began
to breast the long slope of a hill, picking their way amongst its
stones like cats.

Ever steeper it grew, till in places it was so sheer that Godwin
must clutch the mane of Flame, and Masouda must cling close to
Godwin's middle to save themselves from slipping off behind. Yet,
notwithstanding the double weights they bore, those gallant
steeds never seemed to falter or to tire. At one spot they
plunged through a mountain stream. Godwin noted that not fifty
yards to their right this stream fell over a little precipice
cutting its way between cliffs which were full eighteen feet from
bank to bank, and thought to himself that had they struck it
lower down, that ride must have ended. Beyond the stream lay a
hundred yards or so of level ground, and above it still steeper
country, up which they pushed their way through bushes, till at
length they came to the top of the mountain and saw the plain
they had left lying two miles or more below them.

"These horses climb hills like goats," Wulf said; "but one thing
is certain: we must lead them down."

Now on the top of the mountain was a stretch of land almost flat
and stoneless, over which they cantered forward, gathering speed
as the horses recovered their wind till the pace grew fast.