ed up his ears, and
with an angry toss of his head galloped away down the road as fast
as he could.

"Stop, Miss Bunny, for goodness sake stop," shouted the groom; "you
must not go so fast; come back here at once."

[Illustration: FRANCIS SAVES BUNNY.]

"I can't stop--I can't!" shrieked the little girl in a voice of
terror. "Oh! he's running away--he's running away;" and, completely
overcome with fright, poor Bunny dropped her reins, and, catching
hold of the pony's mane, held on to him with all her strength.

"What a fool I was to let her go!" cried the groom; "what on earth
will my master say to me? Goodness, the silly child has let go her
reins; she'll be off--she'll be off;" and, spurring up his horse, he
rode after the runaway, hoping to overtake him and put a stop to his
mad race.

But the noise of the horses as they clattered down the road after
him seemed only to excite Master Frisk, and on he went faster than
ever.

As the pony reached the end of the drive, and poor little Bunny had
become so weak and faint from terror that she was in great danger of
being thrown to the ground, a young lad of about sixteen jumped up
from the grass where he had been seated, and, dashing forward,
seized Frisk by the head and brought him to a sudden stand-still.

"Poor little girl," said the boy kindly, as he lifted Bunny from her
saddle and laid her gently on the grass. "What a fright you have
had! How did this beggar come to run away? He looks quiet enough."

"I whipped him," answered Bunny in a shaky voice; "and oh! I thought
I was going to fall," and she put her hand to her head as if she
still felt giddy.

"You were certainly very nearly off," said the boy; "but what a fool
that groom of yours was to let a kid like you ride without a leading
rein; he shouldn't have done such a thing."

"Oh! but I begged him so hard that he let me go," said Bunny; "he
didn't want to let me, and--"

"Miss Bunny, I'm ashamed of you," cried John, riding up beside her.
"You promised you'd ride quite quiet beside me, and you broke your
word. I'm very thankful to you, sir, I'm sure," he continued,
turning to the young stranger. "In another minute this little lady
might have been thrown on her head and been killed on the spot."

"Oh, dear! oh, dear! it wasn't my fault," cried Bunny, bursting into
tears; "I only mean't to go round beside Mervyn, and Frisk ran away
and--"

"Don't cry, dear," said the strange lad kindly; "you must not