We waited a very long time. The horse stood still, blowing his breath loudly from steaming nostrils, and contemplated us. I never knew before that a horse could express his opinion of a person so plainly. Around the curve we could hear whips cracking and men swearing; but the horse stood there and kept his suspicious eyes on me.
"I'll stay here till dark," his eyes said, "but you don't get me past a thing like that!"
I didn't mind his looking, but his snorting seemed like an insult.
At last a man pushed past the horse. When he saw us backed gracefully up into the Y-shaped cave, he stood as still as the horse. Finding that neither he nor my escort could think of anything to say to relieve the mental and physical strain, I called out graciously:—
"How do you do, sir? Would you like to get by?"
"I'd like it damn well, lady," he replied, with what I felt to be his very politest manner.
"Perhaps," I suggested sweetly, "if I came out and let the horse get a good look at me—"
"Don't you do it, lady. That 'u'd scare him plumb to death!"
I have always been convinced that he did not mean it exactly as it sounded, but I caught the flicker of a smile on my escort's face. It was gone in an instant.
Suddenly the other horses came crowding upon the bell-horse. There was nothing for him to do but to go past me or to go over the precipice. He chose me as the least of the two evils.