DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0118
108
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
or ■what had become of him, was a matter of the
vaguest conjecture. For an hour or two we anx-
iously expected him every moment, but at last we
concluded to "turn in" and await what another
day might reveal. Towards midnight Ave were
awakened by the sound of horses' feet and human
voices. It proved to be Mr. K-, and a guide he
had procured to show him the road. According to
his own account—I do not pretend to give his words
nor his manner, which was peculiar and inimitable,
but only the substance of his story:—When he was
about two hours' ride from Jerusalem, he had gone
a short distance from the direct route to visit a hill
or mountain with which were connected some inte-
resting associations. In descending a steep decli-
vity, he had dismounted, as was his wont, in order
to spare his horse ; whereupon, the ungrateful ani-
mal, taking advantage of the too generous confi-
dence which our friend had reposed in him, threw
up his heels and uttered a neigh or rather squeal
of exultation, which seemed to say, "Let's see which
can run the fastest—catch me if you can," and
galloped away over hill and plain. But Mr. K-
was not one to be dismayed by any difficulties of a
trifling nature. He seemed, indeed, often to court
difficulties, in order to show the skill with which he
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
or ■what had become of him, was a matter of the
vaguest conjecture. For an hour or two we anx-
iously expected him every moment, but at last we
concluded to "turn in" and await what another
day might reveal. Towards midnight Ave were
awakened by the sound of horses' feet and human
voices. It proved to be Mr. K-, and a guide he
had procured to show him the road. According to
his own account—I do not pretend to give his words
nor his manner, which was peculiar and inimitable,
but only the substance of his story:—When he was
about two hours' ride from Jerusalem, he had gone
a short distance from the direct route to visit a hill
or mountain with which were connected some inte-
resting associations. In descending a steep decli-
vity, he had dismounted, as was his wont, in order
to spare his horse ; whereupon, the ungrateful ani-
mal, taking advantage of the too generous confi-
dence which our friend had reposed in him, threw
up his heels and uttered a neigh or rather squeal
of exultation, which seemed to say, "Let's see which
can run the fastest—catch me if you can," and
galloped away over hill and plain. But Mr. K-
was not one to be dismayed by any difficulties of a
trifling nature. He seemed, indeed, often to court
difficulties, in order to show the skill with which he