then the augur was raising his lituus , and a silence fell over the raceground for a moment as the crooked stick seemed to still time itself , the augur 's arm outstretched , in the way time seemed to freeze in a statue or a painting , and master saw , for a moment , the whole scene immobile and lifeless in an eternity of waiting ; and then the lituus had fallen , and the horses had already leapt forward into their first pace , and he felt like a man falling from a mountain peak , or a bird learning to fly , and he was leaning forwards and gripping his mount , urging him on with his whole body , with heels and calves and knees , and the calm he 'd spread over himself like a drug was gone and replaced by a single drive .