"It is a long ride to the house of David," said Jacob. "Your horse is footsore; take Abra."  
But Ephraim broke in: "If you care for speed and wise feet beneath you, Tabari herself is there."
 
He whistled as Jacob had done before, but with another grace-note at the end.
 
"Those of my household answer when they are called," continued the old man proudly. "Listen!"
 
A soft whinny out of the darkness, and Tabari galloped² into the firelight, and stopped at the side of her master motionless.
 
"Choose," said Ephraim.
 
He smiled at Jacob, who in return was darkly silent.
 
The mare³ tugged⁴ at the heartstrings of Connor, but he answered, slipping carefully into the formal language which apparently⁶ was approved most in the valley.
 
"She is worthy⁷ of a king, but Abra was offered to me first. But will he carry a saddle?"
 
"He will carry anything but a whip," said Jacob, casting a glance of triumph at Ephraim. "You will see!" He was already busy at the knot under the flap of Connor's saddle, and presently he slipped the saddle from the back of the chestnut⁸. "Come!" he called.
 
Abra came, but he came like a fighter into the ring, dancing, ready for trouble.
 
"Fool!" shouted Jacob, stamping. "Fool, and grandson of a fool, stand!"
 
The ears of Abra flicked⁹ back along his neck and he trembled as the saddle was swung over him. Under its impact he crouched¹⁰ and shuddered¹¹, but the outbreak of bucking¹² for which Connor waited did not come. The jerk on the cinch brought a snort from him, but that was all.
 
"We may not put iron in his mouth," said Jacob, as Connor came up with the bridle¹³, "but a touch on this will turn him or stop him, as you wish."
 
As he spoke¹⁴ he picked up a small rope, which he knotted around the neck of Abra close to the ears, and handed the end to Connor.
 
"Look!" he said to the horse, pointing to Connor. "This is your master to-night. Bear him as you would bear me, Abra, without leaping or stumbling, smoothly¹⁵, as son of Khalissa should do. And hark," he added in the ear of the young stallion; "if the mare of Joseph outruns you, you are no horse of my household, but a mongrel, a bloodless knave¹⁶."
 
Joseph was already trotting¹⁷ through the gate and growing dim beyond, so Connor put his foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle. He landed as upon springs, all the lithe¹⁸ body of the stallion giving under the shock; and Connor felt a quivering power beneath him like the vibration¹⁹ of a racing²⁰ motor. Abra's eyes glinted as he threw his head high to take stock of the new master.
 
"Go," commanded Jacob; "and remember your speed, for the honor of him who trained you!"
 
The last words were whipped away from the ear of Connor and trailed into a murmur²¹ behind him, for without a preliminary step Abra sprang from a stand into a full gallop¹. That forward lurch²² swayed Connor far back; he lost touch with his stirrups, but, clinging desperately²³ with his knees, he was presently able to right himself. There was hard gravel²⁴ beneath them, but the gait was as soft as if Abra ran in deep sand without labor²⁵; there was no more wrench²⁶ and shock than the ghost of a man riding a ghost of a horse.
 
A column of black shot by on either hand; Connor was through the gate to the Garden of Eden and rushing down the slope beyond. He knew this dimly, but chiefly he was aware only of the whipping of the wind. Something Ephraim had said came into his memory: "If there were ten like Abra in one corral, and one like Tabari in another, a wise man—" But, no doubt, Ephraim had jested.
 
For, glancing up, he saw the tops of tall trees rushing past him against the sky, and for the first time he knew the speed of that gallop. In his exultation²⁷ he threw up his hand, and his shout rang before him and behind. That taught him a lesson he would never forget when he sat the saddle on an Eden Gray; for Abra lurched into a run with a suddenness that swayed Connor against the cantle again.
 
He steadied hims............