The great personages then took their places on the other tower, and Maghar got upon the back of the horse. Up to this moment he had been perfectly cool and self-possessed; but now, as he looked across the yawning chasm, forty feet wide, at the wall of the precipice opposite, a spasm of fear came over him. He did not see the cloud of fairies about him. His hand trembled, and he held the bridle so unsteadily that the horse stumbled on the narrow battlement. The stones of the old tower were loose, and several large ones went down into the abyss with a thundering sound, frightful to hear. One of the hind feet of the horse slipped over the edge of the wall, turning Maghar a little in the saddle, so that he looked down into the awful abyss. At this sight he made a superhuman exertion to right himself in the saddle, and, by this violent impetus he threw the horse over so much to the opposite side that it was able to regain its foothold on the tower. Perhaps, too, the fairies helped it a little. Maghar saw these friendly little people now, and the sight gave him new courage. The horse stepped carefully to the unbroken side of the tower. Maghar saw that the horse was standing firmly; and, then without allowing a moment for reflection, he urged the noble beast to the leap. It sprang frantically into the air; or so it seemed to the spectators. But really it was not frantic at all, but a steady, powerful impetus that carried it clear across the great chasm. Horse and rider landed safely on the opposite bank! Enemies and infidels though they were, the spectators cheered and shouted in admiration of this wonderful feat of horsemanship! Maghar dismounted for a few moments, taking care to put the cover of a thick copse between himself and any arrow shots that might be sent after him. He wished to compose his own nerves, for they had been terribly shaken. But he soon mounted again, and was off like the wind. He was not pursued. The infidels knew it to be useless, for he had a level country before him, and they must toil over rough ground, and high hills to reach his starting-place. And perhaps, too, they thought he had shown such courage and skill that he deserved his freedom. For they never knew anything about the magical powers of the horse; and, though the infidels were long ago driven out of the country, and the old castle is a heap of ruins, the story of the wonderful leap of the knight Maghar is still related in the neighborhood. THE SEA-COW. This is a queer name for a fish. But then you must admit, after a glance at its portrait, that it is a very queer fish. It is not shaped much like a cow, but it gives milk; and it gets the name of cow from that circumstance.