Father Brighthopes Part 34

In order that he might not observe the mirth indulged at his expense, the rest of the party galloped on, Chester riding by the side of the sociable Jane Dustan.

"What a delightful creature this is!" cried Sarah, wheeling sharply around Mr. Kerchey. "I could ride him night and day without wearying."

"Ah! glad to h--h--hear it!" said the amateur farmer, still holding the saddle with a fearful grasp.

"I see you are very careful of your horse," she added, letting her animal prance daintily on before. "Is he lame?"

"No--not--not exactly----"

"Ha! ha! I see! You are preserving his wind in order to outstrip us towards the close of the ride! I shall look out for you, Mr. Kerchey!"

"I--beg--to--a.s.sure--you--" replied the tortured man, each word jolted out of his lungs by the hard-trotting horse, "I--have no--no such intention."

"How I envy you the advantages of living in a city!" exclaimed Sarah.

"You have riding-schools there; you must have enjoyed them a great deal, Mr. Kerchey."

If, on ordinary occasions, it was difficult for the amateur farmer to express his ideas, what shall we say of him in his present painful situation? All his faculties were called into activity by the threatening danger. His own horse was beginning to prance and amble sidewise; and it was only by the exercise of great vigilance that he kept his balance at all. Let the reader endeavor to carry on a sprightly conversation with a saucy girl and add up a long column of figures at the same time, and he may be able to form a dim conception of the ordeal through which Mr. Kerchey was compelled to pa.s.s.

"I--I--never--rode much," he managed to articulate.

"Indeed? you surprise me," cried Sarah, carefully committing the trifling mistake of touching his horse with the tip of her whip.

The animal leaped into the air, breaking so suddenly into a gallop that Mr. Kerchey barely escaped being thrown to the ground.

"Whoa--_whoa_--_whoa_!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, in an agitated voice, letting go one of the reins, in his confusion.

The horse dashed to the corner of the fence, and stopped so suddenly that Mr. Kerchey, thrown clear over the pommel of the saddle, rested on his neck. Fortunately, having come to this stand, the animal did not move until he had had time to regain his seat; for, as it was, had it not been for the proximity of the rails, on which he braced his hands, the rider must have plunged head foremost to the ground.

Sweating a cold sweat, and trembling in every limb, Mr. Kerchey seized both reins, one in each hand, resolved to hold the animal "in," at all hazards.

"Whoa--whoa--whoa!" he kept repeating, in tremulous tones, as he once more got into the road.

Sarah choked with emotion.

"Wouldn't you like a whip!" she asked, as soon as she could summon sufficient gravity to speak.

"Oh--no--thank you," gasped Mr. Kerchey.

"You'd better. You'll manage your horse much more easily with one. Will you take mine?"

Sarah rode up to him, and extended the frightful whip, at sight of which Mr. Kerchey's horse bounded to the side of the road like a frightened deer. Off flew his hat; his hands grasped saddle and mane; and he cried "Whoa--whoa!" again, with all the energy of fear.

But some horses, after submitting to a degree of insult, will have their revenge. Mr. Kerchey's thought he would try what virtue there was in running away. Thanks to his feet, thrust ankle-deep in the stirrups, the rider kept his seat this time, but he could not manage the reins and keep his hold of the saddle at the same time. He went by the amazed party of equestrians on the speed of the wind. The horse turned up to the meeting-house, and made for one of the sheds.

"He'll break his head!" cried Sarah, terrified at the mischief she had done, reining up to Chester's side.

Chester spurred forward, to do what he could to avert so uncomfortable an accident. But already Mr. Kerchey saw his danger, and pulled the bridle with his left hand, still clinging to the saddle with his right.

The horse was sufficiently under control to obey the direction. He described a beautiful curve, and went around the meeting-house, reappearing on the opposite side of the green.

The immediate danger pa.s.sed, the spectators began to laugh. Mr. Kerchey reminded Jane Dustan of the celebrated monkey, Andrew Jackson, who rode the pony in the circus-ring "last fourth of July." Mr. Kerchey's performance was more public. He rode in view of the whole neighborhood, his hat off, his feet thrown behind, in the stirrups, his hands still holding on desperately. Around the meeting-house he went again, faster than before. A third time the horse consented to perform the amusing evolution, then rebelled. Wheeling suddenly, he threw Mr. Kerchey sprawling into a black puddle of indescribable water, near one of the sheds.

It was well for both horse and rider that the latter had instinctively extricated his feet from the stirrups. As it was, the animal, more indignant, it seemed, than terrified, quietly turned under the shed, and stopped.

A magnificent splashing of the water celebrated Mr. Kerchey's descent into the element. He came down like an immense frog, with outstretched arms and legs, sublime. But like anything else than a frog he began to scramble and gasp, and flounder in the puddle.

Chester dashed to the spot, dismounted, and helped him out.

To describe the ludicrous appearance of the strangling, drenched, muddy, hatless equestrian, or the effect it had upon the convulsed spectators, would be superfluous. With the exception of Chester, only Miss Sedley, a young lady of the finest feelings, and Sarah, whose conscience upbraided her for the mischief she had done, were at all able to control their mirth.

"Take me--somewhere!" gasped Mr. Kerchey seeking his handkerchief, to wipe his streaming face. "I'm--hurt. My shoulder--Oh!"

"You haven't put any bones out, I hope?" said Chester.

"I don't know. I'm afraid," moaned the equestrian, with a most ludicrous expression of mingled grief, pain, fright and mud. "Oh dear! what a--a mournful termination to--to my folly!"

He sank upon the ground, and sat with his feet in the puddle, a picture of utter woe.

"Excuse me," he said, feebly, "I--I am very--faint."

"He is seriously injured, I fear," observed Miss Sedley.

"You won't let me--_die_--here in the filth--will you?" groaned Mr.

Kerchey, looking up with a despairing expression into the faces of the spectators.

Even Chester had to hide his face for laughing. But Sarah, more and more alarmed, felt never less susceptible to merriment.

"Do take him right over to Dr. Sackett's!" she exclaimed, with deep solicitude.

"Yes," murmured the unhappy man, "if you can get me there. I--I can't walk--I am sure!"

"We can carry you," replied Chester. "Come, boys!"

"Be careful that I--I don't die by the way!" whispered Mr. Kerchey, on the point of swooning.

The young men fastened their horses under the shed, rolled up their sleeves, and "took hold." Happily, the doctor's house was close by, and they arrived seasonably at the door, with their companion still groaning and moaning piteously. No wonder! The doctor found his excuse. Mr.

Kerchey had broken an arm, besides doing some extensive damage to his shoulder.

When informed of the true state of the case, the company were sobered at once; and Sarah, especially, was very much distressed.

"I was the cause of it all!" she exclaimed, with strong feelings of self-reproach.

"To make ample reparation," said Jane Dustan, "all you have to do is to take care of your victim during his recovery."

"And I'll do it, laugh as you may!" exclaimed Sarah.

She kept her word as far as practicable. Mr. Kerchey was carried home the next day; and every afternoon, during the long week he was confined to his room, she called to inquire about his health, and often stopped to make his broth with her own hands, or to read the newspaper for him.

Mr. Kerchey loved the broth only because she made it, and when she read he was entertained by the sweet tone of her voice alone. Of course, he forgave her for frightening the horse; and if ever there was a poor fellow in love with a kind-hearted, mischievous, merry girl, it was Mr.