The horse stepped carefully to the unbroken side of the tower. Maghar saw that the horse was standing firmly; and, then without allowing a moment for reflection, he urged the noble beast to the leap.
It sprang frantically into the air; or so it seemed to the spectators. But really it was not frantic at all, but a steady, powerful impetus that carried it clear across the great chasm.
Horse and rider landed safely on the opposite bank! Enemies and infidels though they were, the spectators cheered and shouted in admiration of this wonderful feat of horsemanship!
Maghar dismounted for a few moments, taking care to put the cover of a thick copse between himself and any arrow shots that might be sent after him. He wished to compose his own nerves, for they had been terribly shaken. But he soon mounted again, and was off like the wind.
He was not pursued. The infidels knew it to be useless, for he had a level country before him, and they must toil over rough ground, and high hills to reach his starting-place. And perhaps, too, they thought he had shown such courage and skill that he deserved his freedom.
For they never knew anything about the magical powers of the horse; and, though the infidels were long ago driven out of the country, and the old castle is a heap of ruins, the story of the wonderful leap of the knight Maghar is still related in the neighborhood.
THE SEA-COW.
This is a queer name for a fish. But then you must admit, after a glance at its portrait, that it is a very queer fish. It is not shaped much like a cow, but it gives milk; and it gets the name of cow from that circumstance.
It not only gives milk to its young, but it is warm-blooded, while fishes are, you know, cold-blooded. It also breathes through lungs instead of gills like fish. In all these things it resembles the whale. The fact is that neither whales or sea-cows are really fishes, though they are generally considered as such, as they live in the water and swim about like fishes.
Sometimes a sea-cow is found that measures fifteen feet, but, usually, they are much smaller. Perhaps you may have heard of this creature by the name of manatee.