LITMIR.BIZ

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“We don’t have such things where I come from. But it sounds interesting.”

      “Doesn’t it?” assented Rachel absently, counting the ham sandwiches. “Do you suppose the hills are very steep, Betty?”

      “Oh, I guess not. Anyhow Katherine and I told the man we were going there and wanted a sure-footed horse.”

      “Who’s going to drive?” asked Roberta.

      “Why, you, of course,” said Katherine quickly. “You said you were used to driving.”

      “Oh, yes, I am,” conceded Roberta hastily and wondered if she would better tell them any more. It was true that she was used to horses, but she had never conquered her fear of them, and they always found her out. It was a standing joke in the Lewis family that the steadiest horse put on airs and pranced for Roberta. Even old Tom, that her little cousins drove out alone–Roberta blushed as she remembered her experience with old Tom. But if the girls were depending on her–“Betty drives too,” she said aloud. “She and I can take turns. Are you sure we have enough gingersnaps?”

      Everybody laughed, for Roberta’s fondness for gingersnaps had become proverbial. “Half a box apiece,” said Rachel, “and it is understood that you are to have all you want even if the rest of us don’t get any.”

      When the horse arrived Roberta’s last fear vanished. He was meekness personified. His head drooped sadly and his eyes were half shut. His fuzzy nose and large feet bespoke docile endurance, while the heavy trap to which he was harnessed would certainly discourage all latent tendencies to undue speed. Alice Waite, Rachel and Katherine climbed in behind, Betty and Roberta took the front seat, and they started at a jog trot down Meriden Place.

      “Shall we go through Main Street?” asked Roberta. “He might be afraid of the electric cars.”

      “Afraid of nothing,” said Betty decidedly. “Besides, Alice wants to stop at the grocery.”

      The “beastie,” as Katherine called him, stood like a statue before Mr. Phelps’s grocery and never so much as moved an eyelash when three trolley cars dashed by him in quick succession.

      “What did you get?” asked Katherine, when Alice came out laden with bundles.

      “Olives – ”

      “Good! We forgot those.”

      “And bananas – ”

      “The very thing! We have grapes.”

      “And wafers and gingersnaps – ”

      Everybody laughed riotously. “What’s the matter now?” inquired Alice, looking a little offended. Rachel explained.

      “Well, if you have enough for the lunch,” said Alice, “let’s keep these out to eat when we feel hungry.” And the box was accordingly stuffed between Betty and Roberta for safe keeping.

      Down on the meadow road it was very warm. By the time they reached the ferry, the “beastie’s” thick coat was dripping wet and he breathed hard.

      “Ben drivin’ pretty fast, hain’t you?” asked the ferryman, patting the horse’s hairy nose.

      “I should think not,” said Katherine indignantly. “Why, he walked most of the way.”

      “Wall, remember that there trap’s very heavy,” said the ferryman solemnly, as he shoved off.

      Beyond the river the hills began. The “beastie” trailed slowly up them. Several times Roberta pulled him out to the side of the road to let more ambitious animals pass him.

      “Do you suppose he’s really tired?” she whispered to Betty, as they approached a particularly steep pitch. “He might back down.”

      “Girls,” said Betty hastily, “I’m sick of sitting still, so I’m going to walk up this next hill. Any of you want to come?”

      Relieved of his four passengers the horse still hung his head and lifted each clumsy foot with an effort.

      “Oh, Roberta, there’s a watering trough up here,” called Betty from the top of the hill. “I’m sure that’ll revive him.”

      By their united efforts they got the “beastie” up to the trough, which was most inconveniently located on a steep bank beside the road; and while Betty and Alice kept the back wheels of the trap level, Katherine unfastened the check-rein. To her horror, as the check dropped the bits came out of the horse’s mouth.

      “How funny,” said Alice, “just like everything up here. Did you ever see a harness like that, Betty?” Betty left her post at the hind wheel and came around to investigate.

      “Why he has two bits,” she said. “Of course he couldn’t go, poor creature. And see how thirsty he is!”

      “Well, he’s drunk enough now,” said Roberta, “and you’ll have to put the extra bits in again–that is, if you can. He’d trail his nose on the ground if he wasn’t checked.”

      The “beastie” stood submissively while the bits were replaced and the check fastened. Then he chewed a handful of clover with avidity and went on again as dejectedly as ever. Presently they reached a long, level stretch of road and stopped in the shade of a big pine-tree for a consultation.

      “Do you suppose this is the top?” asked Rachel.

      Just then a merry tally-ho party of freshmen, tooting horns and singing, drew up beside them. “Is this the top of the notch?” asked Betty, waving her hand to some girls she knew.

      “No, it’s three miles further on,” they called back. “Hurrah for 190-!”

      “Well?” said Betty, who felt in no mood for cheering.

      “Let’s go back to that pretty grove two hills down and tie this apology for a horse to the fence and spend the rest of the day there,” suggested Katherine.

      Everybody agreed to this, and Roberta backed her steed round with a flourish.

      “Now let’s each have a gingersnap before we start down,” she said. So the box was opened and passed. Roberta gathered the reins in one hand, clucked to the horse, and put her gingersnap into her mouth for the first bite. But she never got it, for without the slightest provocation the “beastie” gave a sudden spring forward, flopped his long tail over the reins, and started at a gallop down the road. Betty clung to the dashboard with one hand and tried to pluck off the obstructing tail with the other. Roberta, with the gingersnap still in her mouth, tugged desperately at the lines, and the back seat yelled “Whoa!” lustily, until Betty, having rearranged the tail and regained her seat, advised them to help pull instead. They had long since left the little grove behind, had dashed past half a dozen carriages, and were down on the level road near the ferry, when the “beastie” stopped as suddenly as he had started. Roberta deliberately removed the gingersnap from her mouth, handed the reins to Betty to avoid further interruption, and began to eat, while the rest of the party indulged in unseemly laughter at her expense.

      “We’ve found out what that extra bit was for,” said Rachel when the mirth had subsided, “and we can advise the liveryman that it doesn’t work. But what are we going to do now?”

      “Murder the liveryman,” suggested Katherine.

      “But the horse is sure-footed; he didn’t lie,” objected Alice so seriously that everybody burst out laughing again.

      “He told the truth, but not the whole truth,” said Rachel. “Next time we’ll ask how many bits the horse has to wear and how it takes to hills. Now what can we do?”

      “We can’t go back to the woods, that’s sure,” said Katherine. “And it’s too hot to stay down here. Let’s go home and get rid of this sure-footed incubus, and then we can decide what to do next.”

      The ferryman greeted them cheerfully. “Back so soon?” he said. “Had your dinner?”

      “Of course not,” replied Katherine severely. “It’s only twelve o’clock. We’re just out for a morning drive. Do you remember saying that this horse was

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