04-02-01-黑骏马 [15]
跑过公路，撞着了丽奇的后腿。她猛地尥了个蹶子，险些把安小姐掀下来，然后立刻开始全速狂奔。
我长嘶了一声，并用脚刨地发出声音，直到布兰太尔先生从医生家里跑出来。他看见了丽奇和安小姐，她们现在已经在路的尽头了。他立刻跳上马鞍，我们追了过去。
有两公里的路是直的，然后右转，再分岔。我们离转弯还很远时，已经看不到安了。她走了哪条路呢？一个妇女站在她的花园中，抬头看着大道。“哪条路？”布兰太尔喊道。
“右边！”妇女喊。
我们转向右边的路。又看见她了，但接着她又在另一个弯道处消失了。有好几次我们看见了她，接着又看不见了。后来我们来到一片坑坑洼洼的地带，非常不平坦，地面上还有许多坑——是最不适合于疾驰的地方。
在这片开阔地带，我们现在又能清楚地看到安小姐了，她的长发在背后飘扬在风中。慢慢地，我们赶了上去。前方有一条很宽的壕沟，我肯定那沟能截住他们，可是丽奇停也没停就跳了过去，然后摔倒在地上。
我跃过壕沟并安全着地。安小姐躺在地上一动不动。布兰太尔跳下马蹲在她身旁叫着她的名字，可是没有回应。她脸色苍白，双眼紧闭。
“安妮，亲爱的安妮，说话呀！”他喊着。
近处有两个男人正在割草，他们看见背上无人的丽奇跑掉了，忙赶了过来。
“你会骑马吗？”布兰太尔问其中的一个。
“我骑得不好，先生。”他说，“但我会尽力的。”
“骑这匹马去医生那儿，叫他马上来，然后再去大宅，”布兰太尔说，“告诉他们你看到的一切，让他们带辆马车来。”
那人上了我的鞍，我们就飞奔而去。我尽量不使他摇晃得太厉害，他也很快发现对我根本不需用鞭子。
家里的人听说了发生的事情，都非常震惊。我被带回马厩，马鞍和笼头被卸了下来，一块布扔了过来盖在我身上。
两天后，布兰太尔过来拍了拍我。
“你干得不错，”他说，“我敢肯定当时你知道安妮有危险。从今往后只许她骑你。”
从这话我判断出我年轻的女主人已经脱离了危险，而且很快就可以骑马了。
■ 9 The accident and new masters
Aman called Reuben Smith looked after us while York was in London．He was gentle and clever with horses，and an excellent driver．But he had one fault——he sometimes drank too much．For weeks or months he was all right，but then without warning he would begin to drink heavily and be－have badly．But he was a useful man so York had kept quiet about Smith's drinking，saying nothing to Lord Gray．Then one night Smith drove some ladies and gentlemen home from a party and was so drunk that he could not hold the reins．York could not hide this and Lord Gray told Smith to leave．
However，some time later，York spoke again to Lord Gray，who was very kind－hearted，and he took，Reuben Smith back．Smith promised never to get drunk again and kept his promise，and because of this he was told to look after the stables while York was away．
One day the carriage needed some repairs so it was arranged that Smith would take it to town，leave it at the carriage-maker's，and then ride me back again．Mr Blantyre wanted to go to the station，so he went with us．
At the station，Mr Blantyre gave Smith some money and said，'Take care of Lady Anne，Reuben，and don't let anyone else except her ride Black Beauty．'
We left the carriage at the maker's，and Smith rode me to the White Lion hotel．He told the stableman to give me some food and have me ready for four o'clock．One of my front shoes was loose but the stableman did not see it until four o'clock．Smith came back at five and said he would now leave at six be－cause he'd met some old friends．The stableman told him about the loose shoe．
'It'll be all right until we get home，'said Smith．
He finally came back at nine o'clock，shouting loudly and in a very bad temper．We left and almost immediately he began to gallop，often giving me sharp cuts with the whip，although I was going at full speed．Before we were out of the town my shoe came off，but Smith was too drunk to notice．
It was very dark，and on the rough road at that speed，my foot was soon cut and bleeding from the sharp stones．I could not go on；the pain was too great，and I fell violently on both my knees．Smith was thrown off．He tried to get up but couldn't，then he lay still．
I could do nothing but wait．
It was nearly midnight when I heard a horse's feet and the wheels of a carriage．I neighed loudly，and was very happy to hear an answering neigh from Ginger，and men's voices．Then the carriage came out of the darkness and stopped．
Two men jumped down beside Smith．'It's Reuben，'said one，'and he's not moving，Robert．'
'He's dead，'said Robert，touching Smith．'His hands are cold and his head is covered with blood．'
They looked at me and saw my cut knees．
'The horse has been down and thrown him！'said Robert．He tried to lead me forward but I almost fell again．'He's bad in the foot，too．No wonder he went down，riding over these stones without a shoe！Reuben was drunk，Ned．He would nev－er ride a horse without a shoe unless he was drunk．'
Ned took Smith's body back in the carriage，and Robert tied his handkerchief round my foot and led me slowly home．No one blamed me for the accident．The owner of the White Lion hotel said that Reuben Smith was drunk when he left．
But I had to leave Earlshall
我长嘶了一声，并用脚刨地发出声音，直到布兰太尔先生从医生家里跑出来。他看见了丽奇和安小姐，她们现在已经在路的尽头了。他立刻跳上马鞍，我们追了过去。
有两公里的路是直的，然后右转，再分岔。我们离转弯还很远时，已经看不到安了。她走了哪条路呢？一个妇女站在她的花园中，抬头看着大道。“哪条路？”布兰太尔喊道。
“右边！”妇女喊。
我们转向右边的路。又看见她了，但接着她又在另一个弯道处消失了。有好几次我们看见了她，接着又看不见了。后来我们来到一片坑坑洼洼的地带，非常不平坦，地面上还有许多坑——是最不适合于疾驰的地方。
在这片开阔地带，我们现在又能清楚地看到安小姐了，她的长发在背后飘扬在风中。慢慢地，我们赶了上去。前方有一条很宽的壕沟，我肯定那沟能截住他们，可是丽奇停也没停就跳了过去，然后摔倒在地上。
我跃过壕沟并安全着地。安小姐躺在地上一动不动。布兰太尔跳下马蹲在她身旁叫着她的名字，可是没有回应。她脸色苍白，双眼紧闭。
“安妮，亲爱的安妮，说话呀！”他喊着。
近处有两个男人正在割草，他们看见背上无人的丽奇跑掉了，忙赶了过来。
“你会骑马吗？”布兰太尔问其中的一个。
“我骑得不好，先生。”他说，“但我会尽力的。”
“骑这匹马去医生那儿，叫他马上来，然后再去大宅，”布兰太尔说，“告诉他们你看到的一切，让他们带辆马车来。”
那人上了我的鞍，我们就飞奔而去。我尽量不使他摇晃得太厉害，他也很快发现对我根本不需用鞭子。
家里的人听说了发生的事情，都非常震惊。我被带回马厩，马鞍和笼头被卸了下来，一块布扔了过来盖在我身上。
两天后，布兰太尔过来拍了拍我。
“你干得不错，”他说，“我敢肯定当时你知道安妮有危险。从今往后只许她骑你。”
从这话我判断出我年轻的女主人已经脱离了危险，而且很快就可以骑马了。
■ 9 The accident and new masters
Aman called Reuben Smith looked after us while York was in London．He was gentle and clever with horses，and an excellent driver．But he had one fault——he sometimes drank too much．For weeks or months he was all right，but then without warning he would begin to drink heavily and be－have badly．But he was a useful man so York had kept quiet about Smith's drinking，saying nothing to Lord Gray．Then one night Smith drove some ladies and gentlemen home from a party and was so drunk that he could not hold the reins．York could not hide this and Lord Gray told Smith to leave．
However，some time later，York spoke again to Lord Gray，who was very kind－hearted，and he took，Reuben Smith back．Smith promised never to get drunk again and kept his promise，and because of this he was told to look after the stables while York was away．
One day the carriage needed some repairs so it was arranged that Smith would take it to town，leave it at the carriage-maker's，and then ride me back again．Mr Blantyre wanted to go to the station，so he went with us．
At the station，Mr Blantyre gave Smith some money and said，'Take care of Lady Anne，Reuben，and don't let anyone else except her ride Black Beauty．'
We left the carriage at the maker's，and Smith rode me to the White Lion hotel．He told the stableman to give me some food and have me ready for four o'clock．One of my front shoes was loose but the stableman did not see it until four o'clock．Smith came back at five and said he would now leave at six be－cause he'd met some old friends．The stableman told him about the loose shoe．
'It'll be all right until we get home，'said Smith．
He finally came back at nine o'clock，shouting loudly and in a very bad temper．We left and almost immediately he began to gallop，often giving me sharp cuts with the whip，although I was going at full speed．Before we were out of the town my shoe came off，but Smith was too drunk to notice．
It was very dark，and on the rough road at that speed，my foot was soon cut and bleeding from the sharp stones．I could not go on；the pain was too great，and I fell violently on both my knees．Smith was thrown off．He tried to get up but couldn't，then he lay still．
I could do nothing but wait．
It was nearly midnight when I heard a horse's feet and the wheels of a carriage．I neighed loudly，and was very happy to hear an answering neigh from Ginger，and men's voices．Then the carriage came out of the darkness and stopped．
Two men jumped down beside Smith．'It's Reuben，'said one，'and he's not moving，Robert．'
'He's dead，'said Robert，touching Smith．'His hands are cold and his head is covered with blood．'
They looked at me and saw my cut knees．
'The horse has been down and thrown him！'said Robert．He tried to lead me forward but I almost fell again．'He's bad in the foot，too．No wonder he went down，riding over these stones without a shoe！Reuben was drunk，Ned．He would nev－er ride a horse without a shoe unless he was drunk．'
Ned took Smith's body back in the carriage，and Robert tied his handkerchief round my foot and led me slowly home．No one blamed me for the accident．The owner of the White Lion hotel said that Reuben Smith was drunk when he left．
But I had to leave Earlshall