"Yup; his trottin' record. Anybody can see he's built for speed, narrow in the beam and sharp fore and aft. Shall I get aboard the barouche?"The depot master, who was on hand to help with the trunk, grinned broadly. Mr. Lumley sulkily made answer that his passenger might get aboard if he wanted to. Apparently he wanted to, for he sprang into the depot wagon with a bounce that made the old vehicle rock on its springs.
"Jerushy!" he exclaimed, "she rolls some, don't she? Never mind, MY ballast 'll keep her on an even keel. Trunk made fast astern?
All right! Say! you might furl some of this spare canvas so's Ican take an observation as we go along. Don't go so fast that the scenery gets blurred, will you? It's been some time since I made this cruise, and I'd rather like to keep a lookout."The driver "furled the canvas"--that is, he rolled up the curtains at the sides of the carryall. Then he climbed to the front seat and took up the reins.
"Git up!" he shouted savagely. Dan'l Webster did not move.
The passenger offered a suggestion. "Why don't you try hangin' an alarm clock in his fore-riggin'?" he asked.
"Haw! haw!" roared the depot master.
"Git up, you--you lump!" bellowed the harassed Mr. Lumley. Dan'l pricked up one ear, then a hoof, and slowly got under way. As the equipage passed the Baker homestead, the whole family was clustered about the gate, staring at the occupant of the wagon. The stare was returned.
"Who lives in there?" demanded the stranger. "Who are those folks?""Ceph Baker's tribe," was the sullen answer.
"Baker, hey? Humph! new folks, I presume likely. Used to be Seth Snow's house, that did. Where'd Seth go to?"Gabe grunted that he did not know. He believed Mr. Snow was dead, had died years before.
"Humph! dead, hey? Then I know where he went. Do you ever smoke--or does drivin' this horse make you too nervous?"Mr. Lumley thawed a bit at the sight of the proffered cigar. He admitted that he smoked occasionally and that he guessed "'twouldn't interfere with the drivin' none.""Good enough! then we'll light up. I can talk better if I'm under a head of steam. There's a new house; who built that?"The "new" house was fifteen years old, but Gabe gave the name of its builder. Then, thinking that the catechising had been altogether too one-sided, he ventured an observation of his own.
"This is a pretty good cigar, Mister," he said. "Smokes like a Snowflake.""Like a what?"
"Like a Snowflake. That's about the best straight five center you can get around here. Simmons used to keep 'em, but the drummer's cart ain't called lately and he's all out.""That's a shame. I told the train boy that these smoked like somethin', but I didn't know what to call it. Much obliged to you.
Here's another; put it in your pocket. Oh, no thanks; pleasure's all mine. Who's Simmons?"Gabe described the Simmons general store and its proprietor. Then he added:
"I was noticin' that trunk of yours, mister; it's all plastered over with labels, ain't it? Cal'late that trunk's done some travelin', hey?""Think so, do you?"
"Yup. Gee! I'd like to travel myself. But no! I got to stay all my life in this dead 'n' alive hole. I wanted to go to Boston and clerk in a store, but the old man put his foot down, and here I've stuck ever sence. Git up, Dan'l! What's the matter with you?"The passenger smiled, but there was a dreamy look in his gray eyes.
"Don't find fault, son," he said. "There's worse places in the world than old Bayport, and worse judgment than mindin' your dad.
Don't forget that or you may be sorry for it some day." He sniffed eagerly. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "just smell that, will you? Ain't that FINE?""Humph! that's the flats. You can smell 'em any time when the tide's out and the wind's right. You see, the tide goes out pretty fur here and--""Don't I know it? Son, I've been waitin' thirty odd year for that smell and here 'tis at last. Drive slow and let me fill up on it.
Just blow that--that Snowstorm of yours the other way for a spell, won't you? Thanks."The request to be driven slow was so superfluous that Mr. Lumley paid no attention to it. He puffed industriously at the Snowflake and watched his companion, who, leaning forward on the seat, was gazing out at the town and the bay beyond it. The "depot hill" is not as high as Whittaker's Hill, but the view is almost as extensive.
