Brandon tried the girth.

"My lady, it is as tight as the horse can well bear," he said.

"It is loose, I say," insisted the princess, with a little irritation;
"the saddle feels like it. Try the other." Then turning impatiently to
the persons gathered around: "Does it require all of you, standing
there like gaping bumpkins, to tighten my girth? Ride on; we can
manage this without so much help." Upon this broad hint everybody rode
ahead while I held the horse for Brandon, who went on with his search
for the loose girth. While he was looking for it Mary leaned over her
horse's neck and asked: "Were you and Cavendish settling all the
philosophical points now in dispute, that you found him so
interesting?"

"Not all," answered Brandon, smiling.

"You were so absorbed, I supposed it could be nothing short of that."

"No," replied Brandon again. "But the girth is not loose."

"Perhaps I only imagined it," returned Mary carelessly, having lost
interest in the girth.

I looked toward Jane, whose eyes were bright with a smile, and turned
Brandon's horse over to him. Jane's smile gradually broadened into a
laugh, and she said: "Edwin, I fear my girth is loose also."

"As the Lady Mary's was?" asked I, unable to keep a straight face any