Explore "Out of the Depths" by Robert Ames Bennet on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The lash of the quirt fell with a swish on the flank of the girl's pony. He did not wait for a second hint, but started down the steep slope "on the jump. " Before Ashton realized what was happening, his own horse was following at the same breakneck pace.
Down plunged the two ponies -- down, down, down the sharply pitched mountain side, leaping logs and stones, crashing through brush, scrambling or slithering stiff-legged down rock slides. It was a wild race, a race that would have been utterly foolhardy with any other horses than these mountain bred cow ponies. A single misstep would have sent horse and rider rolling for yards, unless sooner brought up against tree or rock.