April Fools' Day -- Fiction; Humorous stories; Love stories
She made no answer, and at the risk of losing his straight course
he stole a rapid glance at her.
To his surprise she was crimson with what was obvious, even to his
fleeting view, as embarrassment. Her fingers twisted nervously; the
tears that suffused her eyes were certainly not tears of grief or
fright. She bit furiously at her under lip, and began more than one
sentence that faltered away into confusion. Indeed, they had
triumphantly climbed and descended a hill that sent Antony's heart
into his throat before she succeeded in the task she evidently
loathed but had as evidently determined to fulfil.
"Mr.--Mr. Tony," she began suddenly, alarmed in her turn at their
increased speed as they went down the hill, "in case, as you say,
anything should happen, I must tell you something. When I said
that about--about my running the car perfectly well----"
"You didn't, of course, put it in that way," he interjected, as she
seemed unable to go on.
"Oh, didn't I?" she asked. "I thought you said I did."
"You said that they ran themselves, you remember, and that you were
used to them," he reminded her, "and I took that to mean----"
"Oh, that's what I said," she repeated, thoughtfully.
"Don't you know what you said?" he demanded, a spasm of terror
catching him and quickening his heart-beat as a great waggon loomed
into sight horribly near them. Despairingly he glanced at the
shining metal paraphernalia that encompassed him--his eye fell upon
an unmistakable brass horn at his right, terminating in a rubber
bulb. This could be but one thing, and cautiously loosening one
clammy hand from the wheel, he pressed the bulb nervously. A loud,
harsh cry from its brazen throat relieved him inexpressibly and
sent a glow of confidence through him. He repeated the pressure,
the driver of the cart looked leisurely around, and with a
scowl drew off to one side of the road. Antony's blood resumed its
normal pace, and as the course was now clear for a moment, anyway,
he repeated his question:
"Don't you know what you said?"
The trees, the full brooks, the grazing cattle, unrolled behind
them like a painted ribbon for several seconds before she answered.
At length his ear caught a faint, short murmur.
"N--no."
"Why not?" he demanded briefly.
"I would rather not tell you," she replied with a return of her old
spirit.
"You must tell me," he said angrily. "Here come two carriages--oh,
why did I never notice how they stopped these things? Reach under
my arms and squeeze that horn--quick!"
The carriages separated and he went, quaking, between them.
"Now, go on--this luck can hardly last," he warned her. "I intend
to know for how much of this nightmare I am responsible."
"You are responsible for all of it, then," she cried recklessly.
"You had not the slightest excuse for making me drink all that
nasty, burning stuff!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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