Fiction > Book editions > London, 1885 - Prince Otto

46 PRINCE OTTO
bonny mare, friend ! ' And then, his curiosity
being satisfied about the essential, he turned his
attention to that merely secondary matter, his
companion's face. He started. ' The Prince ! '
he cried, saluting, with another yaw that came
near dismounting him. ' I beg your pardon,
3^our Highness, not to have reco'nised you at
once.'
The Prince was vexed out of his self-posses-
sion. 'Since you know me,' he said, 'it is
unnecessary we should ride together. I will
precede you, if you please.' And he was about
to set spur to the grey mare, when the half-
drunken fellow, reaching over, laid his hand
upon the rein.
' Hark you,' he said, ' prince or no prince,
that is not how one man should conduct himself
with another. What ! You'll ride with me
incog, and set me talking ! But if I know you,
you'll preshede me, if you please ! Spy ! ' And
the fellow, crimson with drink and injured vanity,
almost spat the word into the Prince's face.
A horrid confusion came over Otto. He
perceived that he had acted rudely, grossly
presuming on his station. And perhaps a little
shiver of physical alarm mingled with his re-
morse, for the fellow was very powerful and
not more than half in the possession of his
senses. 'Take your hand from my rein,' he