my head as
high as it would go, and step in too, and ride all the way to
Groveville between her and Peter, and instead of holding his hand, she
held mine, just gripped it tight. She gripped so hard she squeezed all
the soreness at her from my heart, and when she kissed me good-bye the
very last of all, I whispered in her ear that I wouldn't ever be angry
any more, and I wasn't, because after she had explained I saw how it
had been. It wasn't ME she didn't want; it was just no baby.

After our carriage came Peter's people, then one father borrowed for
the Ohio relatives, then the other children, and all the neighbours
followed, and when we reached the high hill where you turn beside the
woods, I saw father gather up the lines and brace himself, for Ned and
Jo were what he called "mettlesome." "Then came a burst of thunder
sound," as it says in "Casablanca," and the horseback riders came
sweeping around us, Laddie and the Princess leading. These two rode
ahead of us, and the others lined three deep on either side, and the
next carriage dropped back and let them close in behind, so Sally and
Peter were "in the midst thereof." Instead of throwing old shoes, as
always had been done, the Princess coaxed them to throw rice and roses,
and every other flower pulled from the bouquets at home, and from the
gardens we had passed. Every one was out watching us go by, and when
William Justus rode beside the fences crying, "Flowers for the bride!
Give us flowers for the bride!" some of the women were so excited they
pulled things up by the roots and gave him armloads, and he rode ahead
and supplied Laddie and the Princess, and they kept scattering them in
the road until every foot of the way to Groveville was covered with
flowers, "the fair young flowers that lately sprang and stood." He
even made side-cuts into swampy places and gathered armloads of those
perfectly lovely, fringy blue gentians, caught up, and filled the
carriage and scattered them in a wicked way, because you should only
take a few of those rare, late flowers that only grow from seed.

Sally looked just as if she had come into her own and was made for it;
I never did see her look so pretty, but Peter sweated and acted awful
silly. Father had a time with the team. Ned and Jo became excited and
just ranted. They simply danced. Laddie had braided their manes and
tails, and they waved like silken floss in the sunshine, and the
carriage was freshly washed and