On the other side of the wall the ground fell suddenly to a depth of twenty feet.
She caught up Saïd's head in time only by a moment; he stood erect on his hind legs a second, but she kept her seat unshaken; she thought he would lose his balance and fall back on her; but she stilled and controlled him with the coolest nerve. As he descended on his front feet, Della Rocca came through a high iron gate on the left, leapt a ditch, and sprang to the horse's head.
"How can you do such mad things?" he said, with a quiver in his voice. "That gate was locked; I could only shout to you. I thought I was too late———"
His face was pale as death; her colour had not even changed. She looked at him and smiled a little.
"So many thanks—it is a silly habit taking walls; I learned to like it when I was a child, and rode with my brother. Saïd is not frightened now; you may let him alone. Where are we?"
"On the ground of Palestrina."
