“S-s-ssh!”saidBree，ghisnedandtwitghisears。“Didyouhearsomething?Listen。”
“Itsouherhorse—betweenusandthewood，”saidShastaafterhehadlistenedforaboutaminute。
“Itisanotherhorse，”saidBree。“Andthat'swhatIdon'tlike。”
“Isn'titprobablyjustafarmerridie?”saidShasta>
“Don'ttellme!”saidBree。“That'snotafarmer&#。Norafarmer'shorseeither。'tyoutellbythesound?That'squality，thathorseis。Andit'sbeingriddenbyarealhorseman。Itellyouwhatitis，Shasta。There'saTarkaaheedgeofthatwood。Notonhiswarhorse—it'stoolightforthat。Onafinebloodmare，Ishouldsay。”
&'sstoppedis，”saidShasta。
“Yht，”saidBree。“Andwhyshouldhestopjustwhenwedo?Shasta，myboy，Idobelievethere'ssomeoneshadowingusatlast。”
“Whatshallwedo?”saidShastainalowerwhisperthanbefore。“Doyouthinkheseeusaswellashearus?”
“Notinthislightsoloayquitestill，”answeredBree。“Butlook!There'saingup。I'llwaittillthatgetsoverthemoon。Thenwe'llgethtasquietlyaswetotheshore。Wehideamongthesandhillsiftheworstestotheworst。”
&edtillthecloudcoveredthemooataadafterwardatage，madefortheshore。
Thecloudwasbiggerahadlookedatfirstandsoogrewverydark。JustasShastawassayingtohimself，“Wemustbehosesandhillsbynow，”hisheartleapedintohismouthbeappallingnoisehadsuddeofthedarknessahead;alroar，melandutterlysavage。InstantlyBreeswervedroundandbegangallopinginlandagainasfastashecouldgallop。
“Whatisit?”gaspedShasta。
“Lions!”saidBree，withoutghispainghishead。
&herewasnothingbutsheergallopingforsometime。Atlasttheysplashedacrossawide，shallowstreamaoastoponthefarside。Shastahewastrembliingallover。
“Thatwatermayhavethroweoffourst，”pantedBreeartlygain。“Wewalkforabitnow。”
AstheywalkedBreesaid，“Shasta，I'mashamedofmyself。I'mjustasfrightenedasabenehorse。Iamreally。Idon'tfeellikeaTalkiall。Idon'tmindswordsandlandarrowsbutI'tbear—thosecreatures。IthinkI'lltrotforabit。”
Aboutamier，however，hebrokeintoagallopagain，andheroarbrokeoutagain，thistimeohedireoftheforest。
“Twoofthem，”moanedBree。
&heyhadgallopedforseveralmianyfurtherhelionsShastasaid，“Isay!Thatallopingbesideusnow。Onlyastohro>
“Alltheb-better，”paarkaanonit—willhaveasword—protectusall。”
“But，Bree!”saidShasta。“Wemightjustaswellbekilledbylionsasight。They'llhangmeforhorsestealing。”HewasfeelienedoflionsthanBreebecausehehadalion;Breehad。
Breeonlysnortedihedidsheerawaytht。Oddlyeherhorseseemedalsotawaytotheleft，sothatihespathemhadwidenedagooddeal。Butassoonasitdidsothereorelions'roars，immediatelyafteroher，oaherohehandrawiher。So，apparently，didtheliofthebrutesoneachsidewashorriblydtheyseemedtobekeepingupwiththegallopieeasily。Thenthecloudrolledaway。Themoonlight，astonishinglybright，showedupeverythingalmostasifitwerebroadday。ThetwohorsesandtwallopioneeetokasiftheywereinaradeedBreesaid（afterward）thatafinerraeverbeenseeninen。
Shastanowgavehimselfupforlostaowoherlionskilledyouquicklyorplayedlayswithamouseandhowmuchitwouldhurt。Atthesametime（oimesdoesthisatthemhtfulmomeicedeverythitheotherriderwasaverysmall，slenderperson，mail-clad（themoohemail）andridingmagly。Hehadnobeard。
&hingflatandshiningreadoutbeforethem。BeforeShastahadtimeeveitwastherelashandhefoundhismouthhalffullofsaltwater。Theshiningthinghadbeenalohesea。BothhorseswereswimmiertoShasta'skherewasanangryrbehindthemandlookingbackShastasawagreat，shaggy，andterribleshapecrouthewater'sedge;butonlyohaveshakeherlio。
Theliolydidnotthihawetting;atamadeaketheursuit。Thetwohorses，sidebyside，elloutintothemiddleofthedtheoppositeshorecouldbeclearlyseearkaanhadspokenaword。“Buthewill，”thoughtShasta。“AssoonaswehavelaamItosay?Imustbeginthinkingoutastory。”
Thewovoicesspokeathisside。
“Oh，Iamsotired，”saidtheone。“Hue，Hwin，anddon'tbeafool，”saidtheother。
“I&#，”thoughtShasta。“Icouldhaveswornthatotherhorsespoke。”
Soontheherswimmingbutwalkingandsoonwithagreatsoundofftheirsidesandtailsandwithagreatgofpebblesuhoofs，theycameoutoherbeachoftheiarkaan，toShasta'ssurprise，showednowishtoaskquestioevenlookatShastabutseemedanxiehishhton。Bree，however，atonceshoulderedhimselfiherhorse's>
“Broo-hoo-hah!”heseadythere!Iheardyou，Idid。There'sn，Ma'am。1heardyou。You'reaTalkingHorse，aNarlikeme。”
“What'sitgottodowithyouifsheis?”saidthestrangeriderfiercely，layinghandonsword-hilt。ButthevoiwhichthewordswerespokeoldShastasomething。