So as soon as the ponies had recovered their wind
they went on upward, and presently to their delight they saw far ahead
of them the horseman whom they had followed, no longer moving but
stopped still. They hustled the ponies into a gallop once more, when
to their dismay the man began to move slowly on away from them. They
called out at the top of their voices but could not make him hear, in
fact he seemed rather to quicken his pace. So they drove the ponies on
again, not noticing that tufts of grass were beginning to show
themselves in the heather over which they rode. Then the man suddenly
turned to his left and went galloping on, and the children turned also
to catch him by cutting off the corner; but the ponies seemed unable to
travel very fast, and presently Dick's pony after some desperate
floundering came right down on his nose, shooting the boy gently over
his ears, where he landed with his head and shoulders in a shallow pool
of brown peaty water.
Dick jumped to his feet at once, for he was not a bit frightened, and
caught the pony easily; but he felt a little humiliated, for he could
just see that his white collar was stained with brown mud, and he did
not like the trickling of the water down his back. It took him a few
minutes to repair damages, and when he put his foot into the stirrup to
jump up again, the saddle began to turn round on the pony's back, and
he had to jump down again hastily and try to set the saddle right while
Elsie held the pony's rein.
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