Page 21 (1/2)

'We cannot,' said Madge, 'all of us come to terms after this fashion

with our consciences, but we have had enough of these discussions on

o out'

They went out, and, as soht road, they

turned into a field as they ca a footpath

which crossed the broad, deep ditches by planks They ithin

about fifty yards of the last and broadest ditch,round, saw an ox which they had not

noticed, galloping after theo on,' he cried, 'make for the plank'

He discerned in an instant that unless the course of the anie could be reached

The wo

a heavy walking-stick, the end of which he had hollowed out in his

schooldays and had filled up with lead Just as the ox caround, and Frank, springing aside,

dealt it a tremendous, two-handed blow on the forehead with his

knobbed weapon The creature was dazed, it stopped and staggered,

and in another instant Frank was across the bridge in safety There

was a little hysterical sobbing, but it was soon over

'Oh, Mr Palood, 'what presence of e! We should have been killed without you'

'The feat is not original, Mrs Hopgood I saw it done by a tough

little farmer last summer on a bull that was really h, poor fellow, and he had to jue, 'to settle your problem

when it came to you in the shape of a wild ox'

'Because there was nothing to settle,' said Frank, laughing; 'there

was only one thing to be done'

'So you believed, or rather, so you saw,' said Clara 'I should have

seen half-a-dozen things at once--that is to say, nothing'

'And I,' said Madge, 'should have settled it the wrong way: I am

sure I should, even if I had been a man I should have bolted'

Frank stayed to tea, and the evening was musical He left about ten,