"Violet, really--I know he will throw you or bolt with you.

I wish you wouldn't." Violet's laugh had a ring of scorn.

"My dear child, if I were afraid of that, I had better give up riding him altogether." "I wish you would," said Olga.

"He is much too strong for a woman to manage." Violet laughed again, this time with sheer amusement, and then, with dark eyes that flashed in the sunlight, she slashed the animal's flank with her riding-whip.

He uttered a snort that was like an exclamation of rage, and leaped clean off the ground.