Sary went out of the room, and when Polly called for a cup, no one
replied. So she had to jump up and go to the kitchen for her own cup,
but the kitchen was empty--no Sary to be seen, anywhere. Polly reported
this discovery when she came back to the table, and Mrs. Brewster spoke
impatiently to her husband.
"You haven't any judgment about love affairs, Sam! Don't you know that
you are actually throwing Jeb at Sary's head by saying such things, as
you did--about giving Jeb enough vacation to allow him to go to the
city and find a pretty girl for himself?"
Mr. Brewster sat back in his chair and dropped his fork upon the table
in surprise. He turned wondering eyes at his wife as he said: "Ah only
said that to show Sary that she must bide her time with Jeb, and give
him a chance to make an honest choice for a wife."
"That's what you _wanted_ to do, Sam, but what you actually
accomplished was to give Sary a fright over having Jeb get out of her
snare, and now she'll move heaven and earth to consummate her own
schemes to get Jeb. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if we should find
out that she is, even now, helping Jeb at the barn and trying to
wheedle him into an out and out proposal. There!" was Mrs. Brewster's
reply.
At that, Sam Brewster jumped up, and without asking to be excused,
rushed away and down the road that led to the barns. Mrs. Brewster,
with the girls, laughed at his sudden departure, and when supper was
over, with the master of the house still absent, they all cleared away
the meal and piled up the dishes for Sary to wash in the morning. Then
Mr. Brewster came back.
"Well, Mary! You must have second sight, is all Ah can say. Sary was
out helping Jeb with the horses, sure enough. And Ah overheard her
sayin', when Ah came up to the door: 'Jeb, if you-all ever has time to
go visitin' to Denver, or any such place, it would be a fine honeymoon
for me and you, woulden' it?'"
As Mr. Brewster repeated Sary's words, he glanced at his wife, but
every one laughed heartily at his expression and Sary's clever
anticipation of Jeb's vacation. Mrs. Brewster wagged her head wisely,
as she said:
"Didn't I tell you so, Sam? Now Sary will have no rest, nor indeed give
poor Jeb any peace of mind, until she has him firmly attached to her by
vows. Once the bans are announced at church, she knows Jeb will not try
to dodge them and his responsibility."
"Well, Mary, after this experience Ah swear Ah shall have nothing more
to do in trying to break up any matches. No, not even if my own
children plan to marry without having due time to judge what is best
for them!" His sigh of sacrifice in such a dire case made all eyes turn
to Anne, and her companions laughed teasingly at her blush.
"Now, girls--all off to bed at once, if you expect to go with us at
daybreak," was Mrs. Brewster's advice that cut the conversation short.
"I have no objections to tumbling into bed," confessed Polly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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