“I will explain afterward,” said Mr. Carteret, “but you would oblige me very much by slipping off that horse immediately.”
The girl looked at him. “I see through you,” she said, “you are afraid I’ll get bucked off.”
“It would be no disgrace,” he answered; “you are not sitting on a horse, but on an explosion.”
“It would be a disgrace to get off because you were afraid,” said the girl. “Besides,” she continued in a lower voice, “I’m very sorry for the way in which my aunt and Cecil have acted in this matter. You warned them that the horses might buck playfully. You know the Granvils are supposed to ride.” She broke off and spoke to the horse, for Hospital had satisfied his curiosity as to the newcomers, and was walking sidewise, deciding whether he would buck some more or roll over.
Barclay started for the brute’s head, but his good arm was seized and he was thrust back. “My dear girl,” said Mr. Carteret, going a step closer, “if you have any feelings of humanity,”—he looked very grave, but there was a smile in his eyes, and he spoke in a low voice, which nevertheless was plainly audible to Barclay,—“I say, if you have any feelings of humanity,” he repeated, “or any sense of the fitness of things, get off that horse at once. Here is a young man with a bad arm and something extremely important on his mind that is for your ear alone, and he’ll unquestionably get killed if he goes near enough that horse to tell you about it. Be a good girl,” he added in a whisper, “and be kind to him. Perhaps he’s worth it.” A quick flush came into the girl’s face. And Mr. Carteret, without glancing back, hurried out of the paddock.
Just outside the gate he ran into Lady Withers, the Major, and Mr. Tappingwell-Sikes, who had just arrived. They had been following as fast as they could.
“What has happened?” demanded the Major, much out of breath.
“I don’t know,” said Mr. Carteret; “but we’ll all know in a few minutes.”
Lady Withers looked at him in amazement, and tried to brush past; but he barred the way. “There is nothing you can do,” he said. “If she chooses to stay on Hospital, it’s too late to get her off without a breeches-buoy. If she got down, these are moments when she mustn’t be interrupted.”