violent temper, or a man possessed of a desire to get to a
particular spot not favoured by Jane, or by a wish to reach any spot
by a certain hour,--I can understand how such a man, carried away by
helpless wrath, might possibly ruffle Jane's sad-coloured hair with
the toe of his boot.

Jane is small, yet mighty. She is multum in parvo; she is the rock
of Gibraltar in animate form; she is cosmic obstinacy on four legs.
When following out the devices and desires of her own heart, or
resisting the devices and desires of yours, she can put a pressure
of five hundred tons on the bit. She is further fortified by the
possession of legs which have iron rods concealed in them, these
iron rods terminating in stout grip-hooks, with which she takes hold
on mother earth with an expression that seems to say,-

'This rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I.'

When I start out in the afternoon, Mrs. Bobby frequently asks me
where I am going. I always answer that I have not made up my mind,
though what I really mean to say is that Jane has not made up her
mind. She never makes up her mind until after I have made up mine,
lest by some unhappy accident she might choose the very excursion
that I desire myself.



Chapter XXI. I remember, I remember.