"See that old sorrel shake himself!" yelled the loafers.
The doctor came tearing down with a spirited bay, a magnificent stepper.
As he drew along so that Bert could catch a glimpse of the mare"s neck, he thrilled with delight. There was the thoroughbred"s lacing of veins; the proud fling of her knees and the swell of her neck showed that she was far from doing her best. There was a wild light in her eyes.
These were the fast teams of the town. All interest was centred in them.
"Clear the track!" yelled the loafers.
"The doc"s good f"r "em."
"If she don"t break."
Albert was pulling at the sorrel heavily, absorbed in seeing, as well as he could for the flung s...o...b..a.l.l.s, the doctor"s mare draw slowly, foot by foot, past the blacks. Suddenly Brann gave a shrill yell and stood up in his sleigh. The gallant little bay broke and fell behind; Brann laughed, the blacks trotted on, their splendid pace unchanged.
"Let the sorrel out!" yelled somebody.
"Let him loose!" yelled Troutt on the corner, quivering with excitement.
"Let him go!"
Albert, remembering what the fellow had said, let the reins loose. The old sorrel"s teeth came together with a snap; his head lowered and his tail rose; he shot abreast of the blacks. Maud, frightened into silence, covered her head with the robe to escape the flying snow. The sorrel drew steadily ahead and was pa.s.sing the blacks when Brann turned.
"Durn y"r old horse!" he yelled through his shut teeth, and laid the whip across the sorrel"s hips. The blacks broke wildly, but, strange to say, the old sorrel increased his speed. Again Brann struck, but the lash fell on Bert"s outstretched wrists. He did not see that the blacks were crowding him to the gutter, but he heard a warning cry.
"Look _out_, there!"
Before he could turn to look, the cutter seemed to be blown up by a bomb. He rose in the air like a vaulter, and when he fell the light went out.
The next that he heard was a curious soft murmur of voices, out of which a sweet, agonized girl-voice broke:
"Oh, where"s the doctor? He"s dead--oh, he"s dead! _Can"t_ you hurry?"
Next came a quick, authoritative voice, still far away, and a hush followed it; then an imperative order:
"Stand out o" the way! What do you think you can do by crowding on top of him?"
"Stand back! stand back!" other voices called.
Then he felt something cold on his scalp: they were taking his cap off and putting snow on his head; then the doctor--he knew him now--said:
"Let me take him!"
A dull, throbbing ache came into his head, and as this grew the noise of voices became more distinct, and he could hear sobbing. Then he opened his lids, but the glare of the sunlight struck them shut again; he saw only Maud"s face, agonized, white, and wet with tears, looking down into his.
They raised him a little more, and he again opened his eyes on the circle of hushed and excited men thronging about him. He saw Brann, with wild, scared face, standing in his cutter and peering over the heads of the crowd.
"How do you feel now?" asked the doctor.
"Can you hear us? Albert, do you know me?" called the girl.
His lips moved stiffly, but he smiled a little, and at length whispered slowly, "Yes; I guess--I"m all--right."
"Put him into my cutter; Maud, get in here, too," the doctor commanded.
The crowd opened as the doctor and Troutt helped the wounded man into the sleigh. The pain in his head grew worse, but Albert"s perception of things sharpened in proportion; he closed his eyes to the sun, but in the shadow of Maud"s breast opened them again and looked up at her. He felt a vague, child-like pleasure in knowing that she was holding him in her arms; he thought of his mother--"how it would frighten her if she knew."
"h.e.l.lo!" called a breathless, hearty voice, "what the deuce y" been doing with my pardner? Bert, old fellow, are you there?" Hartley asked, clinging to the edge of the moving cutter, and peering into his friend"s face. Albert smiled.
"I"m here--what there is left of me," he replied, faintly.
"Glory! How did it happen?" he asked of the girl.
"I don"t know--I couldn"t see--we ran into a culvert," replied Maud.
"Weren"t you hurt?"
"Not a bit. I stayed in the cutter."
Albert groaned, and tried to rise, but the girl gently yet firmly restrained him. Hartley was walking beside the doctor, talking loudly.
"It was a devilish thing to do; the scoundrel ought to be jugged!"
Albert tried again to rise. "I"m bleeding yet; I"m soaking you; let me get up!"
The girl shuddered, but remained firm.
"No; we"re "most home."
She felt no shame, but a certain exaltation as she looked into the faces about her. She gazed unrecognizingly upon her nearest girl friends, and they, gazing upon her white face and unresponsive eyes, spoke in awed whispers.
At the gate the crowd gathered and waited with deepest interest. It was enthralling romance to them.
"Ed Brann done it," said one.
"How?" asked another.
"With the b.u.t.t end of his whip."
"That"s a lie! His team ran into Lohr"s rig."
"Not much; Ed crowded him into the ditch."
"What fer?"
"Cause Bert cut him out with Maud."
"Come, get out of the way! Don"t stand there gabbing," yelled Hartley, as he took Albert in his arms and, together with the doctor, lifted him out of the sleigh.
"Goodness sakes alive! Ain"t it terrible! How is he?" asked an old lady, peering at him as he pa.s.sed.
On the porch stood Mrs. Welsh, supported by Ed Brann.