Now they came to a place where the stream, by which the road ran, had been dammed for a mill and had widened into a beautiful pond.

“There now!” cried Mr. Buller.  “That’s what I like.  William, you seem to have everything!  This is really a very pretty sheet of water, and the reflections of the trees over there make a charming picture; you can’t get that at the seaside, you know.”

Mr. Podington was delighted; his face glowed; he was rejoiced at the pleasure of his friend.  “I tell you, Thomas,” said he, “that——­”

“William!” exclaimed Buller, with a sudden squirm in his seat, “what is that I hear?  Is that a train?”

“Yes,” said Mr. Podington, “that is the ten-forty, up.”

“Does it come near here?” asked Mr. Buller, nervously.  “Does it go over that bridge?”

“Yes,” said Podington, “but it can’t hurt us, for our road goes under the bridge; we are perfectly safe; there is no risk of accident.”

“But your horse!  Your horse!” exclaimed Buller, as the train came nearer and nearer.  “What will he do?”

“Do?” said Podington; “he’ll do what he is doing now; he doesn’t mind trains.”

“But look here, William,” exclaimed Buller, “it will get there just as we do; no horse could stand a roaring up in the air like that!”

Podington laughed.  “He would not mind it in the least,” said he.

“Come, come now,” cried Buller.  “Really, I can’t stand this!  Just stop a minute, William, and let me get out.  It sets all my nerves quivering.”

Mr. Podington smiled with a superior smile.  “Oh, you needn’t get out,” said he; “there’s not the least danger in the world.  But I don’t want to make you nervous, and I will turn around and drive the other way.”

“But you can’t!” screamed Buller.  “This road is not wide enough, and that train is nearly here.  Please stop!”

The imputation that the road was not wide enough for him to turn was too much for Mr. Podington to bear.  He was very proud of his ability to turn a vehicle in a narrow place.

“Turn!” said he; “that’s the easiest thing in the world.  See; a little to the right, then a back, then a sweep to the left and we will be going the other way.”  And instantly he began the maneuver in which he was such an adept.

“Oh, Thomas!” cried Buller, half rising in his seat, “that train is almost here!”

“And we are almost——­” Mr. Podington was about to say “turned around,” but he stopped.  Mr. Buller’s exclamations had made him a little nervous, and, in his anxiety to turn quickly, he had pulled upon his horse’s bit with more energy than was actually necessary, and his nervousness being communicated to the horse, that animal backed with such extraordinary vigor that the hind wheels of the wagon went over a bit of grass by the road and into the water.  The sudden jolt gave a new impetus to Mr. Buller’s fears.