"Where's Martin?" Lute called, lifting; her voice in answer.



"I don't know," came the voice. "I think Robert took him along

somewhere--horse-buying, or fishing, or I don't know what. There's really



nobody left but Chris and you. Besides, it will give you an appetite for

dinner. You've been lounging in the hammock all day. And Uncle Robert must



have his newspaper."

"All right, Aunty, we're starting," Lute called back, getting out of the



hammock.

A few minutes later, in riding-clothes, they were saddling the horses. They



rode out on to the county road, where blazed the afternoon sun, and turned

toward Glen Ellen. The little town slept in the sun, and the somnolent



storekeeper and postmaster scarcely kept his eyes open long enough to make up

the packet of letters and newspapers.



An hour later Lute and Chris turned aside from the road and dipped along a

cow-path down the high bank to water the horses, before going into camp.



"Dolly looks as though she'd forgotten all about yesterday," Chris said, as

they sat their horses knee-deep in the rushing water. "Look at her."



The mare had raised her head and cocked her ears at the rustling of a quail in

the thicket. Chris leaned over and rubbed around her ears. Dolly's enjoyment



was evident, and she drooped her head over against the shoulder of his own

horse.



"Like a kitten," was Lute's comment.

"Yet I shall never be able wholly to trust her again," Chris said. "Not after



yesterday's mad freak."

"I have a feeling myself that you are safer on Ban," Lute laughed. "It is



strange. My trust in Dolly is as implicit as ever. I feel confident so far as

I am concerned, but I should never care to see you on her back again. Now with



Ban, my faith is still unshaken. Look at that neck! Isn't he handsome! He'll

be as wise as Dolly when he is as old as she."



"I feel the same way," Chris laughed back. "Ban could never possibly betray

me."



They turned their horses out of the stream. Dolly stopped to brush a fly from

her knee with her nose, and Ban urged past into the narrow way of the path.



The space was too restricted to make him return, save with much trouble, and

Chris allowed him to go on. Lute, riding behind, dwelt with her eyes upon her



lover's back, pleasuring in the lines of the bare neck and the sweep out to

the muscular shoulders.



Suddenly she reined in her horse. She could do nothing but look, so brief was

the duration of the happening. Beneath and above was the almost perpendicular



bank. The path itself was barely wide enough for footing. Yet Washoe Ban,

whirling and rearing at the same time, toppled for a moment in the air and



fell backward off the path.

So unexpected and so quick was it, that the man was involved in the fall.



There had been no time for him to throw himself to the path. He was falling

ere he knew it, and he did the only thing possible--slipped the stirrups and



threw his body into the air, to the side, and at the same time down. It was

twelve feet to the rocks below. He maintained an upright position, his head up



and his eyes fixed on the horse above him and falling upon him.

Chris struck like a cat, on his feet, on the instant making a leap to the



side. The next instant Ban crashed down beside him. The animal struggled

little, but sounded the terrible cry that horses sometimes sound when they



have received mortal hurt. He had struck almost squarely on his back, and in

that position he remained, his head twisted partly under, his hind legs



relaxed and motionless, his fore legs futilely striking the air.

Chris looked up reassuringly.



"I am getting used to it," Lute smiled down to him. "Of course I need not ask

if you are hurt. Can I do anything?"



He smiled back and went over to the fallen beast, letting go the girths of the

saddle and getting the head straightened out.



"I thought so," he said, after a cursory examination. "I thought so at the

time. Did you hear that sort of crunching snap?"



She shuddered.

"Well, that was the punctuation of life, the final period dropped at the end



of Ban's usefulness." He started around to come up by the path. "I've been

astride of Ban for the last time. Let us go home."



At the top of the bank Chris turned and looked down.

"Good-by, Washoe Ban!" he called out. "Good-by, old fellow."



The animal was struggling to lift its head. There were tears in Chris's eyes

as he turned abruptly away, and tears In Lute's eyes as they met his. She was



silent in her sympathy, though the pressure of her hand was firm in his as he

walked beside her horse down the dusty road.



"It was done deliberately," Chris burst forth suddenly. "There was no warning.

He deliberately flung himself over backward."



"There was no warning," Lute concurred. "I was looking. I saw him. He whirled

and threw himself at the same time, just as if you had done it yourself, with



a tremendous jerk and backward pull on the bit."

• backward [´bækwəd] ad.向后 a.向后的 (初中英语单词)


• saddle [´sædl] n.鞍子 v.装鞍(于) (初中英语单词)


• glimpse [glimps] n.&v.瞥见 (初中英语单词)


• tremendous [tri´mendəs] a.可怕的；巨大的 (初中英语单词)


• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)


• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)


• whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)


• nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)


• reaction [ri´ækʃən] n.反应(力) (初中英语单词)


• embrace [im´breis] vt.&n.拥抱；采纳；信奉 (初中英语单词)


• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)


• normal [´nɔ:məl] a.正规的 n.正常状态 (初中英语单词)


• instinct [´instiŋkt] n.本能；直觉；天资 (初中英语单词)


• innocent [´inəsənt] a.无罪的；单纯的 (初中英语单词)


• insect [´insekt] n.昆虫 (初中英语单词)


• discipline [´disiplin] n.纪律；训练 (初中英语单词)


• sunshine [´sʌnʃain] n.日光，阳光 (初中英语单词)


• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对…施压力 (初中英语单词)


• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)


• appetite [´æpitait] n.欲望；食欲 (初中英语单词)


• evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)


• wholly [´həul-li] ad.完全，十足；统统 (初中英语单词)


• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)


• barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中英语单词)


• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)


• partly [´pɑ:tli] ad.部分地；不完全地 (初中英语单词)


• striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)


• examination [ig,zæmi´neiʃən] n.检查；考试；检验 (初中英语单词)


• punctuation [,pʌŋktju´eiʃen] n.标点符号；标点法 (初中英语单词)


• abruptly [ə´brʌptli] ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词)


• sympathy [´simpəθi] n.同情，怜悯 (初中英语单词)


• collapse [kə´læps] vi.&n.崩溃；病倒；衰败 (高中英语单词)


• alongside [əlɔŋ´said] ad.在旁 prep.横靠 (高中英语单词)


• thicket [´θikit] n.灌木丛；密集的东西 (高中英语单词)


• gravel [´grævəl] n.砾石 vt.铺砾石 (高中英语单词)


• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)


• muscular [´mʌskjulə] a.肌肉的；强有力的 (高中英语单词)


• batter [´bætə] v.乱轰；磨损(家具等) (高中英语单词)


• squeeze [skwi:z] v.&n.压榨，榨取 (高中英语单词)


• superstition [,su:pə´stiʃən, ,sju:-] n.迷信(行为) (高中英语单词)


• thankful [´θæŋkfəl] a.感激的；欣慰的 (高中英语单词)


• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• unexpected [ʌniks´pektid] a.突然的；意外的 (高中英语单词)


• upright [´ʌprait] a.直立的 ad.直立地 (高中英语单词)


• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)


• motionless [´məuʃənləs] a.静止的；固定的 (高中英语单词)


• deliberately [di´libərətli] ad.故意地；慎重地 (高中英语单词)


• perpendicular [,pə:pən´dikjulə] a.垂直的 n.正交 (英语四级单词)


• uncertainty [ʌn´sə:tənti] n.不可靠；不确定的事 (英语四级单词)


• continuation [kən,tinju´eiʃən] n.继续(部分)；续篇 (英语四级单词)


• grassy [´grɑ:si] a.多草的；青草味的 (英语四级单词)


• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)


• scrape [skreip] v.&n.刮，削，擦；搔 (英语四级单词)


• hopelessly [´həuplisli] ad.无希望地，绝望地 (英语四级单词)


• unbroken [ʌn´brəukən] a.未破的；不间断的 (英语四级单词)


• delighted [di´laitid] a.高兴的；喜欢的 (英语四级单词)


• shorten [´ʃɔ:tn] v.缩短，变短 (英语四级单词)


• hammock [´hæmək] n.吊床；圆丘 (英语四级单词)


• midway [,mid´wei] n.中途 ad.&a.中途(的) (英语四级单词)


• canopy [´kænəpi] n.(床上的)罩篷；天篷 (英语四级单词)


• fishing [´fiʃiŋ] n.钓鱼；捕鱼；渔业 (英语四级单词)


• packet [´pækit] n.盒 vt.…打成小包 (英语四级单词)


• happening [´hæpəniŋ] n.事件，偶然发生的事 (英语四级单词)


• squarely [´skwɛəli] ad.成方形地；正直地 (英语四级单词)


• duration [djuə´reiʃən] n.持久；持续期间 (英语六级单词)


• footing [´futiŋ] n.立脚点；基础；地位 (英语六级单词)