-everything sloping away from him.
Then the back straightened suddenly and the hoofs struck the ground
with such impact that, if the boy had not been very firmly in the
stirrups, he would have been tossed in the air like a stone from a
catapult.

After that, Vaughan had a few of the busiest moments of his life. Up
in the air--in front and behind and all together--pitching this way and
that; rooting, jumping, bucking, doing everything except rolling on the
ground, the screaming horse tried to get rid of its rider.

Vaughan did not know what he was doing. Sheer pluck, and the supple
strength of his young body, brought him through a test where more
experienced riders would have failed. He did the right things without
knowing why. He leaned forward over the neck of the rearing horse; he
lay back when its heels were lashing the air; he balanced himself, as
he had often done on a horizontal bar at school, when the arched back
of the horse quivered under him high off the ground; and he stood in
his stirrups to save his body from the shock of those four heavy feet
striking the ground at once. He did all these things instinctively,
though he had never been on a bucking horse before.

He was far too excited to be afraid. His determination saw him
through, and at last the quivering horse and the breathless boy came to
a standstill. Then, with a shrill whinny, the horse did its final
worst. It braced its hind legs well apart and tossed its chest high in
the air. Up and up rose the head and shoulders, while the fore feet
pawed the air; up and up, till horse and rider hung for a moment in the
balance--a horse on two legs, standing erect with a white boy clinging
to its back. They swayed for a moment; for two; for three. Then over
they came. With a violent jerk of its head, the horse fell over
backwards.

A shout of consternation went up. Vaughan's position was one of
greatest peril. But the boy's dancing blood had given his mind a
lightning grip of the situation, and as the horse fell, he kicked his
feet free from the stirrups, and flung himself clear. He was not a
moment too soon. With a crash which shook the ground, the heavy horse
came down, and would have mangled to a lifeless pulp anyone who had
been under it. But Vaughan was safe. He lay for a minute, gasping,
then stood up and faced the drover. The rein was still in his hand,
though the force of the fall had torn the strong leather strap from the
bridle