Possibly pity is an emotion unknown to the brute creation, but surely if pity can be felt by them, it was expressed by Rocket, as he stood eyeing his pale, wasted young master; then, with a low cry of joy, he lifted his head to Hugh’s face, and rubbed against it, trying in various ways to evince his delight at seeing him again.
“Won’t anybody tell me what it means?” Hugh gasped, stretching out his hands towards Rocket, who even attempted to lick them.
At this point Alice stepped forward, and taking Rocket’s bridle, laid it across Hugh’s lap, saying, softly—
“It means that Rocket is yours, purchased by a friend, saved from Harney, for you. Mount him, and see if he rides as easily as ever. I am impatient to be off.”
But had Hugh’s life depended upon it, he could not have mounted Rocket then. He knew the friend was Alice, and the magnitude of the act overpowered him.
“Oh, Miss Johnson,” he cried, “what made you do it? It must not be. I cannot suffer it.”
“Not to please me?” and Alice’s face wore its most winning look. “It’s been my fixed determination ever since I heard of Rocket, and knew how much you loved him. I was never so happy doing an act in my life, and you must not spoil it all by refusing. Mr. Liston knew and approved of my doing it,” and she turned to her guardian, who advanced towards Hugh, and in a few low-spoken words told him how Alice’s heart had been set upon redeeming Rocket, and how hurt she would be if Hugh did not accept him.
“As a loan then, not as a gift,” Hugh whispered. “It shall not be a gift.”
“It need not,” Alice rejoined, “You shall pay for Rocket if you like, and I’ll tell you how on our ride. Shall we go?”
There was no longer an excuse for lingering, and with Claib’s help Hugh was once more seated in his saddle while Rocket’s whole frame quivered with apparent joy at bearing his young master again. They made a splendid looking couple on horseback, and the family watched them admiringly until Hugh, feeling stronger with every breath he drew, struck into a gentle canter, and the hill hid them from view.