Without the slightest change in her action his mare flew over it; the palings vanished, and he heard only a crash behind him.

The mare, excited by Gladiator's keeping ahead, had risen too soon before the barrier, and grazed it with her hind hoofs.

But her pace never changed, and Vronsky, feeling a spatter of mud in his face, realized that he was once more the same distance from Gladiator.

Once more he perceived in front of him the same back and short tail, and again the same swiftly moving white legs that got no further away.