they were regretting the pig-headedness of runaway horses in
general, and hoping that nobody had been hurt.

I forget the other characters I assumed about this period. One, I
know, that got me into a good deal of trouble was that of a
downright, honest, hearty, outspoken young man who always said what
he meant.

I never knew but one man who made a real success of speaking his
mind. I have heard him slap the table with his open hand and
exclaim--

"You want me to flatter you--to stuff you up with a pack of lies.
That's not me, that's not Jim Compton. But if you care for my
honest opinion, all I can say is, that child is the most marvellous
performer on the piano I've ever heard. I don't say she is a
genius, but I have heard Liszt and Metzler and all the crack
players, and I prefer HER. That's my opinion. I speak my mind, and
I can't help it if you're offended."

"How refreshing," the parents would say, "to come across a man who
is not afraid to say what he really thinks. Why are we not all
outspoken?"

The last character I attempted I thought would be easy to assume.
It was that of a much admired and beloved young man, whose great
charm lay in the fact that he was always just--himself. Other
people posed and acted. He never made any effort to be anything but
his own natural, simple self.