He gave his master a look
that was both imploring and reproachful.
"'I have served you day after day and done your bidding,' he seemed to
say. 'Will you not follow me this one night?'
"The dean was touched by the appeal in the animal's eyes. It was clear
that the horse needed his help to-night, in one way or another. Being a
man through and through, the dean promptly determined to follow him.
Without further delay he sprang into the saddle. 'Go on!' he said. 'I
will not desert you since you want me. No one shall say of the dean in
Delsbo that he refused to accompany any creature who was in trouble.'
"He let the horse go as he wished and thought only of keeping his seat.
It proved to be a hazardous and troublesome journey--uphill most of the
way. The forest was so thick that he could not see two feet ahead, but
it appeared to him that they were ascending a high mountain. The horse
climbed perilous steeps. Had the dean been guiding, he should not have
thought of riding over such ground.
"'Surely you don't intend to go up to Black's Ridge, do you?' laughed
the dean, who knew that was one of the highest peaks in Haelsingland.
"During the ride he discovered that he and the horse were not the only
ones who were out that night. He heard stones roll down and branches
crackle, as if animals were breaking their way through the forest.
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