He was on
horseback, dressed in fur coat and cap. On the pommel of his saddle hung
a satchel in which he kept the communion service, the Prayer-book, and
the clerical robe. He had been summoned on a parochial errand to a
remote forest settlement, where he had talked with a sick person until
late in the evening. Now he was on his way home, but feared that he
should not get back to the rectory until after midnight.
"As he had to sit in the saddle when he should have been at home in his
bed, he was glad it was not a rough night. The weather was mild, the air
still and the skies overcast. Behind the clouds hung a full round moon
which gave some light, although it was out of sight. But for that faint
light it would have been impossible for him to distinguish paths from
fields, for that was a snowless winter, and all things had the same
grayish-brown colour.
"The horse the dean rode was one he prized very highly. He was strong
and sturdy, and quite as wise as a human being. He could find his way
home from any place in the township. The dean had observed this on
several occasions, and he relied upon it with such a sense of security
that he never troubled himself to think where he was going when he rode
that horse. So he came along now in the gray night, through the
bewildering forest, with the reins dangling and his thoughts far away.
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