As she neared him, she looked up from her horse's neck, rested her eyes upon him for an instant, and smiled brightly, much as a charming boy might have done. Then, just as she was about to pass on, the girth of her saddle slipped under her, and she was thrown lightly to the ground, while the old horse stopped and stood perfectly motionless above her.
"My skirt has caught in the stirrup," she said to Ordway, and while he bent to release her, he noticed that she clung, not to his arm, but to the neck of the horse for support.
To his surprise there was neither embarrassment nor amusement in her voice. She spoke with the cool authority which had impressed him during the incident of the ram's attack upon "Sis Mehitable."
"I don't think it is quite safe yet," he said, after he had drawn the rotten girth as tight as he dared. "It looks as if it wouldn't last, you see."
"Well, I dare say, it may be excused after forty years of service," she returned, smiling.
"What? this saddle? It does look a little quaint when one examines it."
"Oh, it's been repaired, but even then one must forgive an old servant for growing decrepit."
"Then you'll ride it again?" he asked, seeing that she was about to mount.
"Of course—this isn't my first tumble—but Major expects them now and he knows how to behave. So do I," she added, laughing, "you see it doesn't take me by surprise."
"Yes, I see it doesn't," he answered gaily.