"Hold on there, or you"ll break your neck," roared Mr. Tisbett.
"What you want to get down for?" and he scratched his head, his habit when in perplexity.
"I want to kiss my Mamsie," stammered Joel, and now the tears began to come.
"Sho!" cried Mr. Tisbett, "so you shall. There. Now then!" Joel, in some way, was lifted up and swung clear of the wheel, when he set out for a run to the little brown house. Mrs. Pepper and Polly and Ben were standing still in the front yard and watching them, while Phronsie was making cheeses, holding out her little pink calico frock to sink slowly in a puff on the gra.s.s.
"Good-by, Mamsie," cried Joel, flinging his arms around her neck, "I"ll be good, I truly will."
"I know you will, Joel," said Mrs. Pepper, drawing him close to her, while she kissed and fondled him to his heart"s content.
Then he rushed back again. Mr. Tisbett leaned down and gave him his brawny hand once more, and up he flew. "Crack! snap!" went the whip--off pranced the horses--round went the wheels--and away they all went!
Joel hung to the railing of the seat against which he leaned, with a blissful feeling that he was rushing through the air, and he saw nothing but those black horses below him. As for little Davie, he didn"t dare to breathe, but peered out from his place between Mr. Tisbett"s long, square figure and Joel, seeing nothing, only conscious that everything was perfectly beautiful.
Mr. Tisbett slackened up after about a mile of this sort of driving. He always liked to give a good impression in going through the town. Folks invariably rushed to the windows, and said, "The stage is going by," and they never seemed to be tired of such amus.e.m.e.nt. So Mr. Tisbett always gratified them to the fullest extent. To-day, as he hadn"t many pa.s.sengers till he came to the Four Corners, he let the horses go at their utmost speed, occasionally glancing at the rapt faces of the Pepper boys, when he would roll his quid from one cheek to the other, and smile in great satisfaction.
"Easy there, now," he said to the black horses, holding them up a bit. "Well now, that"s something like, eh, Joel?" And he leaned over to see Joel"s face.
Joel was slow in finding his tongue. At last he answered, "Yes, sir," but continued to stare at the horses.
"I guess this ere boy likes it, if you don"t," exclaimed Mr.
Tisbett, somewhat disappointed at Joel"s lack of appreciation, and peering down at Davie. "Eh, David?"
"I think it"s just like Heaven," said little David, with a long-drawn sigh of bliss.
"That"s a fact," cried Mr. Tisbett, well pleased. "And so you liked it?"
"I loved it, Mr. Tisbett," declared David, solemnly.
"And you"ve said it about right," declared Mr. Tisbett, the smile dropping away from his jolly face, but the satisfaction remaining. "And I love them two horses"s if they was folks.
Fact!" And Mr. Tisbett slapped the toe of his big boot with his whip. "Now Jerry"s a trifle the smartest, and--"
"No! No!" howled Joe, in protest, and leaning clear over David so abruptly that the stage-driver started and involuntarily pulled up his horses smartly. "I like Bill the best."
"Hey--sho, now!" exclaimed Mr. Tisbett, relaxing his tight grip on the reins. "You"ve waked up, have ye? Well, you set back and hang on to that there railing, or you"ll break your neck. Then what would your Ma say to me? and I shouldn"t never take you again."
"Mr. Tisbett," said little Davie, deliberately, "I like Jerry the best, too. I do."
"No, you don"t," screamed Joel, with a nudge in Davie"s side, "Bill"s the best. Say so, Dave."
"I can"t," said little David, quite decidedly, ""cause I think just as Mr. Tisbett does."
"They"re both good; good as gold," Mr. Tisbett here made haste to say. "An" sometimes I think one"s better"n t"other, an" then again I don"t know. So, boys, the only way to fix it up straight is to like "em both best. Well, we"re comin" to my first pa.s.senger," and the stage-driver chirked up the horses. "Now step lively there." And presently the turn of the road brought them to a white house with green blinds and a big piazza across one end.
There was a tall woman walking up and down in front of the house, and by the roadside a great collection of boxes, and a huge carpet bag, two baskets, and a bird-cage.
"Beats all how women act," exclaimed Mr. Tisbett, in vexation.
"Why can"t she set in th" house and wait for me? I ain"t never been late. Now I s"pose she"ll take my head off."
David glanced up in terror at Mr. Tisbett"s s.h.a.ggy head under the big straw hat, and then at the tall woman who was to take it off. "Joel," he whispered, "we mustn"t let her." But Joel had no ears for anything that Davie might say, but was occupied in seeing the stage-driver flourish up to meet the pa.s.senger.
"Good mornin", Miss Beaseley," said Mr. Tisbett, in his pleasantest way, springing over the wheel the moment the horses stopped.
"I"ve been a-waitin" here," said Mrs. Beaseley, tartly, "the longest time. I thought you never"d come."
""Twould "a" been a sight easier to "a" waited in th" house,"
observed Mr. Tisbett, composedly, proceeding to pack the array of boxes and bags in the coach, "bein"s I warn"t schedooled to reach here till quarter past seven. And it"s just three minutes to that time now, Marm." He stopped to pull out an immense silver watch, the only thing that could draw Joel"s attention from the black horses. Now he stared at it until it disappeared again in Mr. Tisbett"s waistcoat pocket.
"Well, you needn"t waste the time now," said Mrs. Beaseley, in asperity. "I"m sure there"s little enough left. Put that carpet bag in careful, Mr. Tisbett; it"s got some cups and sa.s.sers in I"m a-takin" to my daughter in Strawberry Hill."
"All right, Marm," said Mr. Tisbett, setting the carpet bag, that seemed in danger of bursting, so full was it packed, on one of the seats. "I hain"t never broke any o" my pa.s.sengers"
belongings yet, and I"m too old to begin to-day." To which Mrs.
Beaseley deigned no reply, only to say, "You put "em all in, and I"ll get in last."
So Mr. Tisbett put in the bandbox and a smaller box, and one two or three sizes larger, and the rest of the bags and the two baskets, and a bundle. Then he picked up the birdcage.
"You let that be!" screamed Mrs. Beaseley. "I"m a-goin" to take that in my hand; you"ll scare that bird to death."
"You get in and set down, and I"ll hand it in to you," said Mr.
Tisbett. "I ain"t a-goin" to scare your bird. I"ve seen "em before, and handled "em, too, for that matter."
"I shan"t set foot in that stage till all my things is in, and packed to suit me," declared Mrs. Beaseley, positively. "You gimme the bird;" with that she seized the bird-cage, and holding it well before her, she stepped up the first step. The next minute she was precipitated on the floor of the stage, with the birdcage under her. When she was helped up, and the bird-cage was set on the seat opposite, Mr. Tisbett slammed to the stage door quickly, and hopped nimbly to the box, leaving her straightening her bonnet. All the while she was giving vent to a torrent of abuse because the stage-coach steps were too high, the bird screaming and fluttering wildly in fright.
"Didn"t I tell you she"d take my head off?" said Mr. Tisbett, with a sly wink at the boys, and a little chuckle as he resumed the reins and they started off.
Little David drew a long breath of relief, and gazed again at the s.h.a.ggy head under the old straw hat. "It isn"t off, Mr.
Tisbett," he said, "and I"m so glad."
"Hey?" exclaimed Mr. Tisbett, staring at him. "What"s the boy mean? Oh,--my soul an"--body!" And he slapped his thigh with his brawny hand, and burst out into a hearty laugh that seemed to echo on every side, as the stage-coach spun along.
"I sh"d think you"d laugh," exclaimed Mrs. Beaseley, in withering scorn, inside the vehicle, "when I"ve smashed my best bonnet, and shook that bird to death--like enough he"ll die--and tromped all up the front breadth to my dress." But as there was no one to hear her, and Mr. Tisbett still laughed on, seeming unable to stop himself, the stage-coach contributed a very merry spectacle to those privileged to see it, as they bowled along to the next pa.s.senger for Strawberry Hill.
"So you thought she"d really took my head off, did ye?" asked Mr.
Tisbett at last, and mopping his face with his bandanna. "O dear me! Hee-hee-hee!"
"You said she was going to, Mr. Tisbett," said little David, gravely.
"So I did. I see I must be careful what I say, after this. Well, David, she"d like to "a" took my head off, an" would, if she"d had her way."
"O dear!" exclaimed little David, greatly shocked.
"But she hain"t, yer see," finished Mr. Tisbett, cheerfully, "it"s on, an" set stiddy. Sho, now, easy there, Bill and Jerry!
We must stop for Mr. Filbert."
The next pa.s.senger was a thin, wiry little man, who seemed to beg pardon constantly for being in somebody"s way. And after Mr.
Tisbett had slung his hair trunk on the rack, Mr. Filbert stepped gently into the stage-coach. "Excuse me, Marm," he said to the woman. "Did I step on your toes?"
"You hain"t hurt me none," said Mrs. Beaseley, "and you hain"t teched my toes. Goodness me, after the treatment I"ve had, an"
th" sa.s.s I"ve took, I guess I won"t complain."