"Don't let him get his head down!" yelled William, nimbly jumping
over a bed of poppies and taking his position beside his mistress.

"The gates, William! The gates!" cried the girl, excitedly. "Only one
is open. He will not be able to get through."

William scampered down the driveway and swung back the iron barrier.
None too soon! Like a black shadow, Pirate flashed by, his rider's
new derby rolling in the dust.

The girl stood in the doorway, her hands pressed against her heart.
She was as white as the clouds that sailed overhead.




X

PIRATE


On the opposite side of the road there was a stone wall about five
feet in height; beyond this was a broad, rolling field, and farther
on, a barb-wire fence and a boggy stream which oozed its way down
toward the Potomac. Far away across the valley the wooded hills were
drying and withering and thinning, with splashes of yellow and red. A
flock of birds speckled the fleecy October clouds, and a mild breeze
sent the grasses shivering.

Toward the wall Pirate directed his course. Warburton threw back his