Scenes 15.16- Another Wayside House, Near the Norman Frontier.
On their way back to the Norman frontier Orion 
decides to take Hugo on another of his night rides. 
He gives Hugo a concoction of "Hellebore, Nepenthe, 
Upas, Dragon's Blood, Absinthe, Mandrake and 
Mandragore" to drink beforehand. 
Orion finds his own horses for them both to ride on.


ORION

Your eyes are hollow, your step is slow,
And your cheek is pallid as though from toil,
Watching or fasting, by which I know
That you have been burning the midnight oil.
HUGO
Aye, three nights running.
ORION
                       'Twill never do  
To travel all day, and study all night;
Will you join in a gallop through mist and dew,
In a flight that may vie with the eagle's flight?
HUGO
With all my heart. Shall we saddle 'Rollo'?
ORION
Nay, leave him undisturb'd in his stall;
I have steeds he would hardly care to follow,
HUGO
Follow, forsooth ! he can lead them all.
 
HUGO

See! the sparks that fly from our hoof-strokes make
A fiery track that gleams in our wake;
Like a dream the dim landscape past us shoots,
Our horses fly.
ORION
                 They are useful brutes,
Though somewhat skittish; the foam is whit'ning
The crest and rein of my courser 'Lightning';
He pulls to-night, being short of work,      
And takes his head with a sudden jerk;
Still heel and steady hand on the bit,
For that is 'Tempest' on which you sit.
HUGO
'Tis the bravest steed that ever I back'd;
Did'st mark how he crossed yon cataract?
From hoof to hoof I should like to measure
The space he clear'd.
ORION
                     He can clear at leisure
A greater distance. Observe the chasm
We are nearing. Ha! did you feel a spasm
As we flew over it?
HUGO
                   ........Not at all,
ORION
Nathless 'twas an ugly place for a fall.
HUGO
Let us try a race to yon mountain high,
That rears its dusky peak 'gainst the sky.
ORION
I won't disparage your horsemanship,
But your steed will stand neither spur nor whip,
And is hasty and hard to steer at times.
We must travel far ere the midnight chimes;
We must travel back ere the east is grey.
Ho! 'Lightning!' 'Tempest!' Away! Away!
                    Adam Lindsay Gordon
                     
They ride on faster.