378 THE YOUNG ‘FUR-TRADERS.

Somerville give a wild shout, and set off in pursuit.
Whether it was the cry or the sudden flight of Harry’s
horse, we cannot tell, but the next instant Kate’s charger
performed an indescribable flourish with its hind legs,
laid back its ears, took the bit between its teeth, and ran
away. Jacques was on its heels instantly, and a few
seconds afterwards Charley and Harry joined in the pur-
suit, but their utmost efforts failed to do more than en-
able them to keep their ground. Kate’s horse was mak-
ing for a dense thicket, into which it became evident
they must certainly plunge. Harry and her brother
trembled when they looked at it and realized her danger;
even Jacques’s face showed some symptoms of perturbation
for a moment as he glanced before him in indecision.
The expression vanished, however, in a few seconds, and
his cheerful, self-possessed look returned, as he cried out,—

“Pull the left rein hard, Miss Kate; try to edge up the
slope.”

Kate heard the advice, and exerting all her strength,
succeeded in turning her horse a little to the left, which
caused him to ascend a gentle slope, at the top of which
part of the thicket lay. She was closely followed by
Harry and her brother, who urged their steeds madly
forward in the hope of catching her rein, while Jacques
diverged a little to the right. By this manceuvre the
latter hoped to gain on the runaway, as the ground along
which he rode was comparatively level, with a short but
steep ascent at the end of it, while that along which
Kate flew like the wind was a regular ascent, that would
prove very trying to her horse. At the margin of the
thicket grew a row of high bushes, towards which they
now galloped with frightful speed. As Kate came up to
this natural fence, she observed the trapper approaching
on the other side of it. Springing from his jaded steed,
without attempting to check its pace, he leaped over the