"I have you now," thought the stranger, who knew by the dull, roaring
sound of the water that a chasm lay between him and the opposite bank.

But Maggie had not yet half displayed her daring feats of
horsemanship, and when he came so near that his waving brown locks and
handsome dark eyes were plainly discernible, she said to herself: "He
rides tolerably well. I'll see how good he is at a leap," and, setting
herself more firmly in the saddle, she patted Gritty upon the neck.
The well-trained animal understood the signal, and, rearing high in
the air, was fast nearing the bank, when the young man, suspecting her
design, shrieked out: "Stop, lady, stop! It's madness to attempt it."

"Follow me if you can," was Maggie's defiant answer, and the next
moment she hung in mid-air over the dark abyss.

Involuntarily the young man closed his eyes, while his ear listened
anxiously for the cry which would come next. But Maggie knew full well
what she was doing. She had leaped that narrow gorge often, and now
when the stranger's eyes unclosed she stood upon the opposite bank,
caressing the noble animal which had borne her safely there.

"It shall never be said that Henry Warner was beaten by a schoolgirl,"
muttered the stranger. "If she can clear that, I can, bad rider as I
am!" and burying his spurs deep in the sides of his horse, he pressed
on while Maggie held her breath in fear, for she knew that without
practice no one could do what she had done.

There was a partially downward plunge--a fierce struggle on the
shelving bank, where the animal had struck a few feet from the