maintain the pace, which Twentyman was making very good. "Now, young
ladies," said Twentyman, "give them their heads, and let them do it
just as they please,--alongside of each other, and not too near to
me." It was a brook,--a confluent of Cranbury Brook, and was wide
enough to require a good deal of jumping. It may be supposed that the
two young ladies did not understand much of the instructions given to
them. To hold their breath and be brave was the only idea present to
them. The rest must come from instinct and chance. The other side
of the brook was heaven;--this would be purgatory. Larry, fearing
perhaps that the order as to their not being too near might not be
obeyed, added a little to his own pace so as to be clear of them.
Nevertheless they were only a few strides behind, and had Larry's
horse missed his footing there would have been a mess. As it was they
took the brook side by side close to each other, and landed full of
delight and glory on the opposite bank. "Bravo! young ladies,"
shouted Twentyman.

"Oh, Nina, that is divine," said Ayala. Nina was a little too much
out of breath for answering, but simply threw up her eyes to Heaven
and made a flourish with her whip, intended to be expressive of her
perfect joy.

Away went Larry and away went the girls with him, quite unconscious
that the Colonel's horse had balked the brook and then jumped
into it,--quite unconscious that Sir Harry, seeing the Colonel's
catastrophe, had followed Tony a quarter of a mile up the brook to
a ford. Even in the soft bosoms of young ladies "the devil take the
hindmost" will be the motto most appropriate for hunting. Larry
Twentyman, of whom they had never heard before, was now the god of
their idolatry. Where Larry Twentyman might go it was manifestly
their duty to follow, even though they should never see the poor
Colonel again. They recked nothing of the fox or of the hounds or of
the master or even of the huntsman. They had a man before them to
show them the way, and as long as they could keep him in sight each
was determined to be at any rate as good as the other. To give Larry
his due it must be acknowledged that he was thoroughly thoughtful of
them. At every fence encountered he studied the spot at which they
would be least likely to fall. He had to remember, also, that there
were two of them together, and that he had made himself in a way
responsible for the safety of both. All this he did, and did well,
because he