"Double ditch; mare fell; matter of course." And then he
got himself out of the crowd, disgusted with the littleness of
mankind. Lord Rufford had been riding a very big chestnut horse,
and had watched the anxious struggles of Kate Masters to hold her
place. Kate, though fifteen, and quite up to that age in
intelligence and impudence, was small and looked almost a child.
"That's a nice pony of yours, my dear," said the Lord. Kate, who
didn't quite like being called "my dear," but who knew that a lord
has privileges, said that it was a very good pony. "Suppose we
change," said his lordship. "Could you ride my horse?" "He's very
big," said Kate. "You'd look like a tom-tit on a haystack," said
his lordship. "And if you got on my pony, you'd look like a
haystack on a tom-tit," said Kate. Then it was felt that Kate
Masters had had the best of that little encounter. "Yes;--I got one
there," said Lord Rufford, while his friends were laughing at him.
At length Captain Glomax was seen in the road and Tony was with him
at once, whispering in his ear that the hounds if allowed to go on
would certainly run into Dillsborough Wood. "D-- the hounds,"
muttered the Captain; but he knew too well what he was about to
face so terrible a danger. "They're going home," he said as soon as
he had joined Lord Rufford and the crowd.
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