more, if you please,' said the fellow, somewhat entertained. 'Eighty--a
hundred.' He shook his head and smiled. The officer at last came to two
hundred tomans. 'Well,' said the Arab, 'you need not tempt me farther.
You are a rich elchee (nobleman); you have fine horses, camels, and
mules, and I am told you have loads of silver and gold. Now,' added he,
'you want my mare, but you shall not have her for all you have got.' He
put spurs to his horse, and was soon out of the reach of temptation.

"Swift as the Arabian horses are, however, they are frequently matched
by those of our own country. I say nothing about _race horses_, because,
though some of them are recorded to have run at an amazing speed, the
effort is generally continued for but a short time. Here is an instance
of speed in a horse which saved its unworthy master from the punishment
due to his crime.

[Illustration: CATCHING WILD HORSES--Page 13.]

"One morning about four o'clock a gentleman was stopped, and robbed by a
highwayman named Nicks, at Gadshill, on the west side of Chatham. He was
mounted on a bay mare of great speed and endurance, and as soon as he
had accomplished his purpose, he instantly started for Gravesend, where
he was detained nearly an hour by the difficulty of getting a boat.
He employed the interval to advantage however in baiting his horse. From
thence he got to Essex and Chelmsford, where he again stopped about half
an hour to refresh his horse. He then went to Braintree, Bocking,
Weathersfield, and over the Downs to Cambridge, and still pursuing the
cross roads, he went by Fenney and Stratford to Huntingdon, where he
again rested about half an hour. Proceeding now on the north road, and
at a full gallop most of the way, he arrived at York the same afternoon,
put off his boots and riding clothes, and went dressed to the