ou so?"

"I'll tell you. They square their shoulders vulgarly; they hold the reins
in their hands as if they were driving, and they draw the reins to their
waists in a coarse, absurd way. They tighten both these reins equally,
and saw the poor devil's mouth with the curb and the snaffle at one time.
Now you know, Mary, the snaffle is a mild bit, and the curb is a sharp
one; so where is the sense of pulling away at the snaffle when you are
tugging at the curb? Why, it is like the fellow that made two holes at
the bottom of the door--a big one for the cat to come through and a
little one for the kitten. But the worst of all is they show the caddess
so plainly."

"Caddess! What is that; goddess you mean, I suppose?"

"No; I mean a cad of the feminine gender. They seem bursting with
affectation and elated consciousness that they are on horseback. That
shows they have only just made the acquaintance of that animal, and in a
London riding-school. Now you hold both reins lightly in the left hand,
the curb loose, since it is seldom wanted, the snaffle just feeling the
animal's mouth, and you look right and left at the people you are talking
to, and don't seem to invite one to observe that you are on a horse: that
is because you are a lady, and a horse is a matter of course to you, just
as the ground is when you walk upon it."

The sensible girl blushed at his praise, but she said, dryly, "How
meritorious! Cousin Walter, I have heard that flattery is poison. I won't
stay here to be poisoned--so." She finished the sentence in action; and
with a movement of her body she started her Arab steed, and turned her
challenging eye back on Walter, and gave him a hand-gallop of a mile on
the turf by the road-side. And when she drew bridle her cheeks glowed so
and her eyes glistened, that Walter was dazzled by her bright beauty,
and could do nothing but gaze at her for ever so long.

If Hope had been at home, Mary would have been looked after more
sharply. But if she was punctual at meals, that went a long way with
Robert Bartley.

However, the accidental and frequent meetings of Walter and Mary, and
their delightful rides and walks, were interfered with just as they began
to grow into a habit. There arrived at Clifford Hall a formidable
person--in female eyes, especially--a beautiful heiress. Julia Clifford,
great-niece and ward of Colonel Clifford; very tall, graceful, with dark
gray eyes, and black eyebrows the size of a leech, tha