_R.M._ Now, Captin--not _you_, Captin CROPPER--Captin 'EDSTALL, _I_ mean, will you show them the way over, please? [_Captain H. rides at it; the cob jumps too short, and knocks the hurdle down--to his rider's intense disgust._ _Mr. S._ I say, Guv'nor, that was a near thing. I wonder you weren't off. _Capt. H._ I--ah--don't often come off. _Mr. S._ You won't say that when you've been 'ere a few times. You see, they've put you on a quiet animal this journey. _I_ shall try to get him myself next time. He be'aves like a gentleman, _he_ does! _Capt. H._ You won't mount him, if you take my advice--he has rather a delicate mouth. _Mr. S._ Oh, I don't mind that--I should ride him on the curb, o' course. [_The Class ride at the hurdle, one by one._ _R.M._ Now, Mr. SNIGGERS, give 'im more of 'is 'ed than that, Sir--or he'll take it.... Oh, Lor, well, it's soft falling luckily! Mr. JOGGLES, Sir, keep him back till you're in a line with it.... Better, Sir; you come down true on your saddle afterwards, anyway!... Mr. PARABOLE!... Ah, _would_ you? _Told_ you he was tricky, Sir! Try him at it again.... Now--over!... Yes, and it _is_ over, and no mistake! _Mrs. B.-K._ Now it's ROBERT's turn. I'm afraid he's been overtiring himself, he looks so pale. BOB, you won't let him jump too high, _will_ you?-- Oh, I daren't look. Tell me, my love,--is he _safe_? _Her Friend._ Perfectly--they're just brushing him down. AFTERWARDS. _Mrs. B.-K._ (_to her Son_). Oh, BOB, you must never think of jumping again--it _is_ such a dangerous amusement! _Robert_ (_who has been cursing the hour in which he informed his parent of the exact whereabouts of the school._) It's all right with a horse that knows _how_ to jump. Mine didn't. _The Friend._ I _thought_ you seemed to jump a good deal higher than the horse did. They ought to be trained to keep close under you, oughtn't they? [ROBERT _wonders if she is as guileless as she looks._ _Capt. Cropper_ (_to the R.M._). Oh, takes about eight months, with a lesson every day, to make a man efficient in the Cavalry, does it? But, look here--I suppose four more lessons will put _me_ all right, eh? I've had _eight_, y'know. _R.M._ Well, Sir, if you _arsk_ me, I dunno as another arf dozen'll do you any 'arm--but, o'course, that's just as _you_ feel about it. [_Captain CROPPER endeavours to extract encouragement from this Delphic response._ * * * * * [Illustration: THE RUSSIAN WOLF AND THE HEBREW LAMB. (_After a well-known Picture._)] * * * * * TIT-WILLOW. (_A NEW VERSION._)