“The Old Nick take you!” grated Inza’s escort, with his hand to his face. “You shall pay dearly for that blow!”
Frank was ready for anything just then, and the prospect of a duel had no terrors for him. Indeed, it filled him with a feeling of fierce satisfaction.
“I shall be pleased to settle with you at any time or place,” he bowed, tossing the whip to its owner.
Then he reined about, and saw Inza’s horse bearing her away at a mad gallop, while she struggled to hold it in check. A dog ran from the walk and barked at the horse, filling it with greater fear, and it shied, nearly unseating the girl.
“A runaway!” muttered Frank. “She has lost control of the creature. She will be thrown and killed if the horse is not stopped!”
In another moment he was tearing along the Row in pursuit.
Then it was that Frank soon discovered what sort of mettle there was in the animal he bestrode. The creature seemed to fly over the ground in a most astonishing manner, and he soon saw he was overhauling the girl with remarkable swiftness.
“Steady, Inza!” he called, as he came along behind her. “Keep your seat, and I will pull the brute down in a moment.”
He forged along beside her, bent forward, grasped the bit of the frightened animal, and then began the struggle to check the animal without throwing the girl.
If Inza had not been in the saddle, Frank would have brought the creature up with a round turn; but he dared not attempt such a thing, and so he bore a steady hand on the bit of the snorting and terrified horse, speaking soothingly and pulling the animal down at the same time.