"Then I guess I'd better tell the truth—seein' as how you'll find it out in the end," Hitch said. "I walked around through the woods to watch you do the circus stunts. While I was lookin', I seen a feller lyin' on the ground by the fence. The next thing I knew he threw somethin' at your horse. Then when I seen you fall off I got so scared I beat it. That's when I tripped and fell down in the dirt."

"Have you any idea who the man was?" Señor Roberto inquired in a cold voice.

Hitch said that he had not seen the man's face and was sorry now he had not waited to find out.

"I'm mighty glad you're all right, Miss Drew," Hitch added, and walked back to the stable.

There was nothing more Nancy could do. Despite the groom's story, she felt sure that he was the person who had thrown the stone. But why had he tried to harm her and Belgian Star?

"I'll certainly watch him from now on," Nancy decided.

She told Señor Roberto that she felt fully recovered from her spill, and if Belgian Star were all right, she wanted to continue her riding lesson.

The riding master was about to demur, then changed his mind. He was a firm believer in the idea that a rider who has fallen off should immediately mount his horse again if he has not been injured.

Hitch brought Belgian Star from the stable. Nancy and the riding master carefully examined the mare's nose, and though there was a bruise on it, the horse did not seem to be suffering any pain.

"Are you game to go on with our lesson?" Nancy asked the mare, putting her arms around the animal's gracefully arched neck.

For answer, Belgian Star went into the ring and waited for Nancy to climb on. This time she circled the ring several times before attempting to stand up on the horse's back.

"Am I imagining it or is someone peering at me from among those trees?" she asked herself, trying to shrug off a distrustful mood.

As she rounded the curve on the next lap, Nancy was sure she was not wrong—someone was watching her. A feeling of uneasiness came over her.