Then uttering a snort, Jack darted forward to Little Snap's side.
"What sort of a confounded hoss have you got here?" cried the unknown, again seizing the bridle, this time leaping nimbly into the saddle.
"What is the trouble, Jack, old boy?" asked his master, wondering at the creature's singular and unusual action.
No sooner had the stranger gained the seat than the horse sprang abruptly to one side, and rearing into the air, sent the man flying heels over head into the bushes by the roadside.
All of this was done so suddenly that Little Snap had not found time to express his amazement.
As if impelled by a newborn fear, Jack bounded up the road, with a whinny of terror.
"Hi, there! help—quick—he'll get away from me!" cried the man, staggering to his feet and bursting through the bushes into the road.
Though startled by this unexpected turn in affairs, the postboy had presence of mind enough to see that the stranger was no longer a supplicant for favors, but that a fierce determination to gain his ends was apparent on his features and in his voice.
He started to catch hold of Fairy's bridle, but with a snort of defiance the creature threw back her head, and Little Snap, reading the other's purpose, touched her smartly with the spur.
At that moment the tramp of feet came from the growth, and the burly figures of three or four men sprang into sight.