spillin' any of 'em?"

No wonder he asked, for Gay was in such a wild state of excitement that
she could hardly be held.

"I can lift Gay up, if you'll please take her, sir," said Timothy; "and
if you're quite sure the horse will stand still."

"Bless your soul, she'll stan' all right; she likes stan'in' a heap
better 'n she doos goin'; runnin' away ain't no temptation to Maria
Cummins; let well enough alone 's her motto. Jump in, sissy! There ye
be! Now git yer baby-shay in the back of the wagon, bubby, 'n' we'll be
's snug 's a bug in a rug."

Timothy, whose creed was simple and whose beliefs were crystal clear,
now felt that his morning prayer had been heard, and that the Lord was
on his side; so he abandoned all idea of commanding the situation, and
gave himself up to the full ecstasy of the ride, as they jogged
peacefully along the river road.

Gay held a piece of a rein that peeped from Jabe's colossal hand (which
was said by the villagers to cover most as much territory as the hand of
Providence), and was convinced that she was driving Maria, an idea that
made her speechless with joy.

Rags' wildest dreams of squirrels came true; and, reconciled at length
to cleanliness, he was capering in and out of the woods, thinking what
an Arabian Nights' entertainment he would give the Minerva Court dogs
when he returned, if return he ever must to that miserable, squirrelless
hole.

The meadows on the other side of the river were gorgeous with yellow
buttercups, and here and there a patch of blue iris or wild sage. The
black cherry trees were masses of snowy bloom; the water at the river's
edge held spikes of blue arrowweed in its crystal shallows; while the
roadside itself was gay with daisies and feathery grasses.

In the midst of this loveliness flowed Pleasant River,

"Vexed in all its seaward course by bridges, dams, and mills,"

but finding time, during the busy summer months, to flush its fertile
banks with beauty.

Suddenly (a word that could seldom be truthfully applied to the
description of Jabe Slocum's movements) the reins were ruthlessly drawn
from Lady Gay's hands and wound about the whipstock.

"Gorry!" ejaculated Mr. Slocum, "ef I hain't left the widder Foss
settin' on Aunt Hitty's hoss-block, 'n' I promised to pick her up when I
come along back! That all comes o' my drivin' by the store so fast on
account o' the boys hectorin' of me, so 't when I got to the turn I was
so kind of het up I j