Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/382

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376
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.


A DANGEROUS RIDE.

taken his seat and the driver was about mounting to his place, when the horses made a sudden start and dragged the reins from the driver's hands.

"All that the Englishman could do was to hold on, and this he did to the best of his ability. The horses made straight for a ravine two or three hundred feet deep; the unfortunate passenger and his friends thought he was going to certain death, but as they reached the edge of the ravine the horses whirled about and ran in the opposite direction.

"The sledge in turning was swung over the abyss, and hung for an instant in the air; the team ran two or three miles before it was stopped by one of the horses stumbling among some logs. Severely bruised and with his hand half crushed, the Englishman got out of the sledge, and concluded he had had all the riding he desired for that day at least."