Come." She put her foot in his hand, and was mounted in a second, the reins well in hand.

The horse reared, but a sharp downward pull to the right brought him to his feet again.

Then he plunged and kicked, but she sat as if a part of him, meanwhile speaking to him in firm, gentle tones.
His next unexpected freak was to run backward in a way that sent the neighboring group flying.

Instantly Madge gave him a stinging blow over the hind quarters, and he fairly sprang into the air.
"Get off, Madge," cried Mr.Muir, authoritatively, but the horse was speeding down the road toward the house, and Graydon, who had looked on breathlessly, followed.

Before they reached the hotel she had brought him up with the powerful curb, and prancing, curvetting, straining side-wise first in one direction, then in the other, meanwhile trembling half with anger, half with terror, the mastered brute passed the piazza with its admiring groups.