140 CAROLINE,

 

 

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Attempts to overtake Phonny- A race,

But Livingston thought that it would be more trouble
to drive forward and overtake Phonny, than to go and
get the water himself, so he said he thought they had
better let Phonny go on. “It is very doubtful,” said he,
“ whether we can catch him.”

“Oh yes, we can catch him easily enough,” said Caro-
line. “ Give me the whip.”

So she took the whip and began whipping the horse to
make him go faster. Livingston did not like this very
well, but he did not think that it would be polite for him
to make any objection, so they rode on faster and faster.
Phonny heard them coming, and looked round, and when
he saw Caroline whipping the horse and making him go
as fast as possible, he drove on rapidly himself, consider-
ing it a sort of race. Caroline began to call out aloud for
him to stop, and as she could not make him hear, she
wished Livingston to call to him. Livingston did so;
while Caroline putting down the whip took her handker-
chief, and waved it in the air as a signal. At length
Phonny began to understand that they wished him to
stop ; and so reined up his horse by the road-side, just op-
posite, as it happened, to a farm-house.

“ Phonny,” said Caroline, “I am thirsty, and we want
you to get off your horse and go to this farm-house and
see if you can’t get me a drink of water.”

“ No,” said Phonny, “ for if I get off my horse, I can't
get on again.”

Caroline looked quite blank at this unexpected diffi-
eulty. Phonny, without waiting to hear what plan she
might devise for obviating it, whipped up his horse and
eantered back along the road, to see what had beeome of
Rodolphus.