266 MARTIN RATTLER.

the rein of his willing horse, away he went again in
a wild headlong career.

“Och, boy, pull up, or yell kill the baste!” cried
Barney, who thundered along at Martin’s side enjoying
to the full the spring of his powerful horse; for
Barney had spent the last farthing of his salary on
the two best steeds the country could produce, being
determined, as he said, to make the last overland
voyage on clipper-built animals which, he wisely con-
cluded, would fetch a good price at the end of the
journey. “Pull up! dye hear? They can’t stand
goin’ at that pace. Back yer topsails, ye young
rascal, or Pll board ye in a jiffy.”

“How can I pull up with that before me?” cried
Martin, pointing to a wide ditch or gully that lay in
front of them. “TI must go over that first.” .

“Go over that!” cried Barney, endeavouring to
rein in his horse, and looking with an anxious expres-
sion at the chasm. “It’s all very well for you to talk
0’ goin’ over, ye feather, but fifteen stun—— Ah, then,
won't ye stop? Bad luck to him, he’s got the bit in
his teeth! Oh then, ye ugly baste, go, and my blessin’
go with ye!”

The leap was inevitable. Martin went over like
a deer. Barney shut his eyes, seized the pommel of

the saddle, and went at it like a thunderbolt. In the