Before they had proceeded far, however, they encountered the peripatetic theatre of that inconvenient humourist, dear old Punch, with his private band pop-going-the-weasel like an harmonious steam-engine; whereof the horses (the identical pair which had run away with Harry and Alice in the early spring-time of their courtship, and which Mr. Crane still retained, although he carefully avoided driving them himself)--preferring probably a more classical style of music--began to express their disapprobation by plunging violently, nearly dashing the phaeton against a coal waggon, a catastrophe which nothing but the most consummate skill on the part of their driver could have averted. As Coverdale succeeded in reducing the rebellious steeds to order, he could not help involuntarily glancing at his companion to ascertain how the incident had affected her. She was leaning forward, her attitude and the expression of her features indicated excitement and interest rather than terror, while her fine eyes, dilated and sparkling with a more than ordinary lustre, were fixed upon his countenance with looks of unmistakable admiration. Courage, or as he would have termed it “pluck,” especially in a woman, where he considered it as an “additional attraction,” while in a man it was simply a _sine quâ non_, always delighted Harry Coverdale; and, being as innocent and natural as a child, he could no more help expressing his sentiments, than he could exist without inhaling vital air. “Well, I never did see such nerve in a woman!” he exclaimed; “why you look pleased rather than frightened! not that there was any danger, except of damaging Mr. Crane’s near hind wheel. They don’t bit these horses properly, and that white-nosed animal hasn’t the tenderest mouth at the best of times.” And as he spoke he administered a smartish cut across the ears as a practical comment on the delinquent’s oral insensibility. “You are such a good whip,” was the reply, “and it always interests me to see brute force controlled by skill, energy, and strength of will. You guide these fiery horses with such a calm sense of power, that I could never feel afraid when you were driving me.”