ome to harm."

Away they went. They thought that they were too far off to frighten
Ellis's pony, and as Ernest knew the country well, he hoped that they
might still overtake him by cutting across some fields. The gate
leading into them was shut, so they knew that Ellis had not gone that
way. A boy was sitting whistling on a stile hard by. Ernest asked him
if he had seen a young gentleman on a pony going fast along the road.
He nodded, made a sign that he was going very fast indeed, but showed
that it had never entered his head to try to stop the pony. Ernest
forced open the gate without waiting for the lout to do so, and they
galloped through and along over the turf. There were two or three
slight hedges, but they forced their way through them. The road, after
winding considerably, crossed directly before the path they were taking.
They heard a horse's hoofs come clattering along the hard road. They
were just in time to be too late to meet Ellis. He passed them a moment
before they could open the gate. His cap had fallen off; his hair was
streaming wildly, and he was holding on by the mane with one hand,
though he still tugged at the rein with the other. He saw them. He did
not shout or cry for help, but his eye showed that he understood their
object. Now was the most dangerous time. They were approaching the
chalk-pit. If they followed too close they might frighten the pony, and
produce the catastrophe they were anxious to avert. With great presence
of mind they pulled suddenly up, and Ernest believed that their so doing
had the effect of decreasing the speed of the runaway pony. They then
trotted slowly on, till they trusted that Ellis had passed the point of
extreme danger. Once more they put their ponies to their full speed.
They almost dreaded to approach the spot, lest what they feared might
have occurred. Ernest rode close to the brink of the pit. To his joy,
there was no sign of the pony having gone near it, and they thought that
they saw him in the distance. On they pushed after him.

Ellis himself, when he found that he was run away with, determined to do
his best to stick on, hoping that by going up some hill or other the
pony might be brought up. He forgot how high the forest was situated,
and that it was chiefly downhill the pony would have to go. He did
stick on, and bravely too, but very frequently he thought it would be in
vain, and that he must be thrown off. He felt happier when