Connor stood up, and though at his rising Glani started back, he came to Connor again, following that elusive scent. To David it seemed the last struggle of the horse before completely submitting to the rule of a new master. He rose in turn, trembling with shame and anger, while Connor stood still, for about this stranger drifted a perfume of broad green fields with flowering tufts of grass, the heads well-seeded and sweet. And when a hand touched his withers, the stallion merely turned his head and nuzzled the shoulder of Connor inquisitively. With his hand on the back of the horse, the gambler realized for the first time Glani's full stature. He stood at least fifteen-three, though his perfect proportions made him seem smaller at a distance. No doubt he was a giant among the Eden Grays, Connor thought to himself. The gallop on Abra the night before had been a great moment, but a ride on Glani was a prospect that took his breath. He paused. Perhaps it was the influence of a forgotten Puritan ancestor, casting a shade on every hope of happiness. With his weight poised for the leap to the back of the stallion, Connor looked at David. The master was in a silent agony, and the hand of Connor fell away from the horse. He was afraid. "I can't do it," he said frankly. "Jump on his back," urged David bitterly. "He's no more to you than a yearling to the hands of Abraham." Connor realized now how far he had gone; he set about retracing the wrong steps. "It may appear that way, but I can't trust myself on his back. You understand?" He stepped back with a gesture that sent Glani bounding away. "You see," went on Connor, "I never could really understand him." The master seized with eagerness upon this gratifying suggestion. "It is true," he said, "that you are a little afraid of Glani. That is why none of the rest can handle him." He stopped in the midst of his self-congratulation and directed at Connor one of those glances which the gambler could never learn to meet. "Also," said David, "you make me happy. If you had sat on his back I should have felt your weight on my own shoulders and spirit." He laid a hand on Connor's shoulder, but the gambler had won and lost too often with an impenetrable face to quail now. He even managed to smile. "Hearken," said David. "My masters taught me many things, and everything they taught me must be true, for they were only voices of a mind out of another world. Yet, in spite of them," he went on kindly, "I begin to feel a kinship with you, Benjamin. Come, we will walk and talk together in the cool of the morning. Glani!" The gray had wandered off to nibble at the turf; he whirled and came like a thrown lance. "Glani," said David, "is usually the only living thing that walks with me in the morning; but now, my friend, we are three." _CHAPTER FIFTEEN_