he
garment. "If you'd only held that lantern steady, instead of jigglin' it
round and round so, I might have done better."

Mr. Hammond said nothing, but struggled into his coat, and picked up the
reins. He sighed, heavily, and his sigh was echoed from the back seat of
the carryall.

The road was now very rough, and the ruts were deep and full of holes.
George Washington seemed to be stumbling through tall grass and bushes,
and the carryall jolted and rocked from side to side. Miss Parker grew
more and more nervous. After a particularly severe jolt she could not
hold in any longer.

"Land of love, Caleb!" she gasped. "Where ARE you goin'! It doesn't seem
as if this could be the right road!"

"I don't know whether 'tis or not; but it's too narrow and too dark to
turn 'round, so we've got to go ahead, that's all."

"Oh, heavens! What a jounce that was! Seems to me you're awful reckless.
I wish Kenelm was drivin'; he's always so careful."

This was too much. Mr. Hammond suppressed his feelings no longer.

"I wish to thunder he was!" he roared. "I wish Kenelm or some other dam'
fool was here instead of me."

"Caleb HAMMOND!"

"I don't care, Hannah. You're enough to drive a deacon to swearin'.
It's been nothin' but nag, nag, nag, fight, fight, fight ever since this
cruise started. If--if we row like this afore we're married what'll
it be afterwards? Talk about bein' independent! Git dap there!" this a
savage roar at George Washington, who had stopped again. "I do believe
the idiot's struck with a palsy."

Hannah leaned forward and touched her fellow-sufferer on the arm. "Sshh,
shh, Caleb!" she said. "Don't holler so. I don't blame you for hollerin'
and--and I declare I don't know as I much blame you for swearin', though
I never thought I'D live to say a thing like that. But it ain't the
horse deserves to be sworn at. He ain't the idiot; the idiots are you
and me. We was both of us out of sorts this mornin', I guess--I know I
was--and then you come along and we talked and--and, well, we both went
into this foolish, ridiculous, awful piece of silliness without stoppin'
to figger out whether we really wanted to, or whether we was liable to
get along together, or anything else. Caleb, I've been wantin' to say
this for the last hour or more--now I'm goin' to say it: You turn that
horse's head around and start right home again."

Mr. Hammond shook his head.

"No," he said.

"I say yes. I don't want to marry you an