The Pony Refused to Make the Attempt.
Desperately Jeanette turned her head for a glance behind her.
Her stepmother had risen in her saddle. In another moment she would clear the ditch.
There was no opportunity for clear thought. Everything that the past six weeks had developed in her nature must have gone toward the making of Jeanette's decision. If she could not win, at least she could prevent her stepmother's easy success.
Directly in the path of the other rider, Jeanette drew her pony. With any other rider less experienced than Jacqueline Colter the result would have been a tragedy for them both.
Quick as Jeanette's action, her stepmother's was equally swift. With her horse poised for a forward leap, Jack brought him instantly to a standstill. Then without a word, she turned and rode quietly away. She would make no effort to win. Obviously she had abandoned the idea of the final jump and was riding toward the end of the course.
A moment, not of regret but of fear, seized Jeanette. She had broken the rules of the contest. The judges and the spectators must have observed her action. Disgrace awaited her.
Yet she set her lips until her square chin showed an added firmness. She would go through to the end. Her stepmother might have spared her, might have made her action less apparent by attempting the jump a second time. Afterwards they could have insisted her action was an accident due to nervousness and to a lack of experience.