Just this side of Groveville we passed a man on horseback. He took off
his hat and drew his horse to one side when Laddie and the Princess
rode toward him. He had a big roll of papers under his arm, to show
that he had been for his mail. But I knew, so did Laddie and the
Princess, that he had been compelled to saddle and ride like mad, to
reach town and come that far back in time to watch us pass; for it was
the Princess' father, and WATCH was exactly what he was doing; he
wanted to see for himself. Laddie and the Princess rode straight at
him, neck and neck, and then both of them made their horses drop on
their knees and they waved a salute, and then they were up and away.
Of course father and mother saw, so mother bowed, and father waved his
whip as we passed. He sat there like he'd turned the same on horseback
as Sabethany had in her coffin; but he had to see almost a mile of us
driving our best horses and carriages, wearing our wedding garments and
fine raiment, and all that "cavalcade," father called it, of young,
reckless riders. You'd have thought if there were a hint of a smile in
his whole being it would have shown when Sally leaned from the carriage
to let him see that her face and clothes were as good as need be and
smiled a lovely smile on him, and threw him a rose. He did leave his
hat off and bow low, and then Shelley, always the very dickens for
daring, rode right up to him and laughed in his face, and she leaned
and thrust a flower into his bony hands; you would have thought he
would have been simply forced to smile then, but he looked far more as
if he would tumble over and roll from the saddle. My heart ached for a
man in trouble like that. I asked the Lord to preserve us from secrets
we couldn't tell the neighbours!
At the station there wasn't a thing those young people didn't do.
They tied flowers and ribbons all over Sally's satchel and trunk.
They sowed rice as if it were seeding time in a wheatfield. They
formed a circle around Sally and Peter and as mushy as ever they could
they sang, "As sure as the grass grows around the stump, You are my
darling sugar lump," while they danced. They just smiled all the time
no matter what was done to them. Some of it made me angry, but I
suppose to be pleasant was the right way. Sally was strong on always
doing the right thing, so she just laughed, and so did all of us.
Going home it was wilder yet, for all of them raced and showed how they
could ride.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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