Fortunately for the unhappy Felix the horse walked away from the hotel in an orderly fashion,and soon they gained the highway leading to the resort the party wished to visit.
Had the dude left the horse alone all might have gone well.But he deemed it necessary to pull on first one line and then the other,which kept the carriage in a meandering course.
"I don't think,Mr.Gussing,that you can be much used to driving,"said one of the young ladies,presently.
"That's a fact,"answered the dude.
"Why don't you keep to the right of the road?""Well,--er--the fact is,this horse is a very difficult one to drive.I don't believe I ever drove one which was more so."As this was the first horse Mr.Gussing had ever driven,this assertion was true in every particular.
"Oh,I can't travel so slow!"cried one of the young ladies,and seized the whip,and before Felix could stop her,used it on the steed.
The effect was magical.The horse started up like a racer,and tore through the street as if trying to win a race for a thousand dollars.
The dude clung to the reins in the wildest terror.To his frenzied imagination it seemed that his final hour was approaching.
"Whoa!"he screamed,jerking on the lines."Stop,you crazy beast!Stop,before we all get killed!"But the horse only went the faster.And now,to increase his alarm,he saw a buggy approaching from the opposite direction.
It contained one of the town lawyers,Silas Simms by name.
"We shall run into that buggy!"screamed the fair Belle."Oh,Mr.Gussing,be careful!"A moment later the two turnouts came together with a crash,and one wheel was torn from the buggy and the town lawyer pitched out headlong to the ground.Then on went the carriage with the dude and the two young ladies,at a faster pace than ever.
"Let me jump out!"screamed one of the ladies.
"No,not yet!You'll be killed,Grace,"answered Belle.
"Then stop the carriage!"
Alas,the poor Felix was already doing his best to stop the horse.But his jerkings on the reins only added to the horse's wildness.
Not far along the road was a good sized brook,spanned by a neat wooden bridge.As the carriage neared the bridge,Felix pulled on the wrong rein once again.The horse turned from the road proper,and descended full speed into the stream itself.
"Oh,now we'll be drowned!"shrieked Grace.
But she was mistaken.The stream was easily fordable,so there was no danger on that score.But the rate at which they were impelled through the water naturally created no inconsiderable splashing,so that on emerging on the other side the dude,as well as the young ladies,were well drenched.
To the great joy of Felix the contact with the water cooled the ardor of the steed,so that he resumed the journey at a far more moderate rate of speed.
"Wasn't it just glorious!"cried Belle,who,after the danger seemed past,grew enthusiastic."What a noble animal!""Glorious?"echoed the dude."I don't care much about such glory.As for the noble animal--I--er--I wish he was hung!
That's the best he deserves."
The dude spoke bitterly,for the spell of terror was still on him.Had he consulted his own wishes he would have leaped from the carriage and left the ladies to their fate.
But the thought of the bewitching Belle made him keep his seat,and he resolved that if he must die he would do it like a martyr.
The horse went on,and at last they neared the end of the short journey.But here a new obstacle presented itself.There was a big fence and a gate,and the gate was tight shut.
As they could not enter the grounds without opening the gate,the dude got down out of the carriage.He did not hand the reins to either of the ladies but laid them over the dashboard.
