he pipes being
completely full and solid with rust. It is a miracle that some of us
were not killed by the explosion. Mary cheerfully declared her regret
that Mr. Close had not been bending over the stove with his lie in his
throat when the water-back remonstrated. Mary is quite firm in her
ideas of making "the punishment fit the crime--the punishment fit the
crime."

But we enjoyed it--that is, Aubrey and I enjoyed it. Mary wanted us to
go to an hotel and stay until things were in order, and send the bill
to Mr. Close. But even though her suggestion was made at two o'clock
in the afternoon and no vans had yet appeared, I was firm in my
decision to sleep in Peach Orchard that night.

My courage had in the meantime been buoyed up by the fact that the
telephone had been put in, and my friend, the grocer's boy, had brought
me reinforcements in the shape of plates, tumblers, pots, pans, brooms,
buckets, and supplies, and had further completed my rapture by
promising me a kitten.

About three o'clock, I, as lookout, descried the big red vans, each
drawn by four horses, at the foot of the hill.

Now Clovertown is not full of hills, rather it consists of hills. It
is not quite as bad as Mt. St. Michel, for that is all one, but
Clovertown consists of a series of small Mt. St. Michels, equally
steep, precipitous, and appalling to climb, also equally lovely and
bewitching when once you have climbed.

The moving men seemed to realize their steepness, for they put all
eight of the horses to one van and bravely started up the hill. But
alas, they were New York horses, and only capable of dodging elevated
pillars and of keeping their footing on icy asphalt. They were not
used to climbing trees, as we afterward discovered Clovertown horses to
be quite capable of doing. So, after straining and pulling and being
cruelly urged to a feat beyond their strength, we had our first taste
of the neighbourliness of the people on the next estate. Their head
man, called familiarly Eddie Bannon, came to our rescue.

"Take all them horses off," he said, "and I'll pull you up the hill
with my team of blacks."

We were grateful, but politely incredulous. What! One pair of horses
accomplish a feat which eight had been unable to do.

I grew feverishly excited in watching the exchange. It was a picture
to see the incredulity on the countenances of the van men. They tried
not to show it, for that would have been impolite, but Eddie