The secret of the Mansion

controlling this horse as she would a steam engine. Faster and faster, he raced around the field, and as
    Honey, shouting, "Whoa, Jupe, whoa!" tried to cut him off, he swerved sharply and galloped out of the corral and up the path to the woods near the old Mansion.
    The stirrups, which had been adjusted to Regan’s long legs, swung free, but the big horse’s gallop was so smooth Trixie managed to keep her seat by leaning forward slightly and gripping his sides tightly with her legs and knees. Branches whipped against her face, and a spray of pebbles flew out from under the horse’s feet. Trixie was so frightened she couldn’t do anything but hang on and wonder what was going to happen when the trail ended at the hedge around Miser’s Mansion. Would Jupiter turn there and take the down trail to the hollow and Crabapple Farm?
    Trixie knew she wasn’t a good enough rider to stay on the horse’s back if he ran downhill. "I’ll be thrown over his head," she thought hopelessly, "and he won’t be able to stop, so I’ll be trampled under his feet."
    They flew around a bend in the trail, and there, smack in front of them, was the almost impenetrable hedge. For one awful second, Trixie was sure Jupiter planned to plunge right through the thick underbrush, but at that moment a gamecock, on the other side of the hedge, suddenly flapped its wings and burst into a loud, triumphant crow. Jupiter shied in astonishment, planted his forefeet, and stopped dead in his tracks.
    Trixie shot over his head as though she had been jet-propelled and landed in the bushes. Although she was dazed by the fall, she saw Jim slip silently from the hedge and grab Jupiter’s dangling reins. The big black horse reared once and came down dangerously close to where Trixie was sprawling, then quieted to a nervous standstill.
    "There, boy," Jim was saying soothingly, "it’s all right, boy. Nobody’s going to hurt you." And without changing the tone of his voice, he added to Trixie, "You’re a little fool to let a horse run like that on such a hot day." He patted Jupiter’s sweat-soaked neck. "There, boy."
    "Let him?" Trixie scrambled to her feet, rubbing a bruised hip. "He let me stay on his back, but that’s about all I had to do with it," she said sourly.
    Jim grinned. "I heard a horse pounding along the path, and it sounded like a runaway to me, so I slipped into the bushes to watch. I figured that, even if it wasn’t a runaway, whoever was riding the horse was going to have a nasty spill when the horse took the downhill fork." Jupiter nuzzled Jim’s shirt. "Gee, I’d like to ride this fellow," Jim said. "Is he yours, Trixie?"
    Trixie shook her head. "No, he belongs to Honey’s father. I had no business getting on his back at all. I’m just learning to ride, you see; but he’s so beautiful I couldn’t resist it."
    "I don’t blame you," Jim said as he handed Trixie the reins. "Someone’s coming along the trail on horseback now. Sounds like two horses. I’ll duck into the house. Whistle when it’s safe for me to come out."
    It was Regan on Strawberry, and in a minute Honey appeared on Lady. Regan looked very cross and red in the face. He paid no attention to Trixie, except to snatch Jupiter’s bridle from her, and went back down the trail without a word.
    "I’ve spoiled everything," Trixie wailed. "He’s furious—he’ll never give me any more riding lessons." Honey slid off Lady’s back. "Don’t worry about Regan, Trixie," she said comfortingly. "He gets over being mad very quickly, and I honestly think he admires you for daring to ride Jupiter. He was awfully worried when he came out of the house and saw you tearing into the woods. I was, too, Trixie," she added gently. "You could have been killed."
    "I guess nobody was as scared as I was," Trixie admitted. "But when I was flying through the air over Jupe’s head, all I thought of was that he might run down the hill, trip on the reins, and get a bad fall." She told Honey, then, about Jim appearing just in time, and both girls whistled bob-white! in unison.
    In a minute or two, Jim came through the bushes. He patted Lady and fed her a carrot he had pulled from the garden. "I may sound like I’m boasting," he told Honey, "but I bet I could ride your father’s horse. Dad had a big black gelding like that, and I could manage him when I was only five years old.
    I learned to ride bareback with nothing but a halter rope to guide him."
    "If you’re smart," Trixie said