my grandfather. Which is sad
and strange! Otherwise I shall make of them both an instant example!"

I ought to have said that although these performances were never
actually witnessed by Enriquez's sister--for reasons which he and I
thought sufficient--the dear girl displayed the greatest interest in
them, and, perhaps aided by our mutually complimentary accounts of each
other, looked upon us both as invincible heroes. It is possible also
that she over-estimated our success, for she suddenly demanded that I
should RIDE Chu Chu to her house, that she might see her. It was
not far; by going through a back lane I could avoid the trees which
exercised such a fatal fascination for Chu Chu. There was a pleading,
child-like entreaty in Consuelo's voice that I could not resist, with
a slight flash from her lustrous dark eyes that I did not care to
encourage. So I resolved to try it at all hazards.

My equipment for the performance was modeled after Enriquez's previous
costume, with the addition of a few fripperies of silver and stamped
leather out of compliment to Consuelo, and even with a faint hope
that it might appease Chu Chu. SHE certainly looked beautiful in her
glittering accoutrements, set off by her jet-black shining coat. With an
air of demure abstraction she permitted me to mount her, and even for
a hundred yards or so indulged in a mincing maidenly amble that was not
without a touch of coquetry. Encouraged by this, I addressed a few terms
of endearment to her, and in the exuberance of my youthful enthusiasm I
even confided to her my love for Consuelo, and begged her to be "good"
and not disgrace herself and me before my Dulcinea. In my foolish
trustfulness I was rash enough to add a caress, and to pat her soft
neck. She stopped instantly with a hysteric shudder. I knew what was
passing through her mind: she had suddenly become aware of my baleful
existence.

The saddle and bridle Chu Chu was becoming accustomed to, but who was
this living, breathing object that had actually touched her? Presently
her oblique vision was attracted by the fluttering movement of a fallen
oak-leaf in the road before her. She had probably seen many oak-leaves
many times before; her ancestors had no doubt been familiar with them on
the trackless hills and in field and paddock, but this did not alter her
profound conviction that I and the leaf were identical, that our baleful
touch was something indissolubly connected. She reared before t