Page:Jean Webster--Much ado about Peter.djvu/304

296 reaches out me hand an' grabs hold o' the bridle an' turns Blue Gypsy's head. I did n't like to do it, for it seemed awful familiar, but with people as contrary as they is, sir, ye 've got to be familiar sometimes, if ye 're goin' to do any good in the world.

"Well, Mr. Harry, as ye can believe, she did n't like it, an' she calls out sharp and imperative for me to let go. But I hangs on an' begins to gallop, an' with that she raises her crop an' cuts me over the hand as hard as she can. It hurt considerable, but I held on an' did n't say nothin', an' she raised her arm to strike again. But just at that moment a wave broke almost at the horses' feet, an' Blue Gypsy reared, an' Miss Ethel, who was n't expectin' it, almost lost her balance an' the crop dropped on the sand.

"'Peter,' she says, 'go back an' get me that crop.'

"But by that time I'd got the bit in me teeth, sir, an' I just laughs—ugly like—an' keeps