his shoulder showed his opponent still at least two lengths
behind. Gladwyne, however, now roused himself to ride in earnest.
Hitherto he had taken no great interest in the proceedings, but he had
just seen Bella wave her hand to Lisle and then Millicent's applauding
smile. He resented the fact that both should be pleased to see him beaten
by this intrusive stranger. It reawakened his rancor, and the strain of
the last week or two had shaken him rather badly. He was nervous, his
self-control was weak; but he meant to pass his rival.

He was still behind at the next fence, but pressing his horse savagely he
crept up a little as they approached the one really difficult jump; and
as they sped across the narrow meadow Lisle fancied that the bay was
making its last effort. Crestwick was standing near the hurdles, with
Nasmyth moving rapidly toward them not far away and Bella running across
a neighboring field. Crestwick watched Gladwyne intently. The man's face
was strangely eager, considering that all he had been asked to do was to
test the bay's speed, and there was a hardness in his expression that
fixed Crestwick's attention; he wondered the cause of it.

Bella was close to him, when Lisle, riding hard, rushed at the hurdles,
and Jim found it hard to repress a shout as the bay's hoofs slipped and
slid on the treacherous turf. The horse rose, however; there was a heavy
crash; wattled branches and the top bar of the hurdle smashed. Lisle
lurched in his saddle; and then the bay came down in a heap, with the man
beneath him.

It was impossible to doubt that Gladwyne had seen the accident, but the
chestnut rushed straight at the shattered hurdle, teeth bare, nostrils
dilated, head stretched forward, and Crestwick thrilled with horror. The
fallen horse was struggling, rolling upon its rider, just beyond the
fence; but Gladwyne did nothing, except sit ready for the leap. It was
incomprehensible; so was the look in the man's face, which was grimly
set, as the big chestnut rose in a graceful bound.

There was a sickening thud on the other side, a flounder of slipping
hoofs, and the staccato pounding of the gallop broke out again. The
chestnut had come down upon the fallen horse or helpless man, and was
going on, uncontrollable. Crestwick rushed madly at the hedge, and
scrambling through, badly scratched and bareheaded, found Nasmyth trying
to drag Lisle clear of the bay. The Canadian's eyes were half open, but
there was no exp