It had been arranged that Robert should borrow a horse from Doctor
John's stables, ride it over to Gault House, and keep it there till his
return to Second Westings. But as he was strolling down the village
street before breakfast, he saw, in a paddock beside an unpretentious
cottage, a splendid Narragansett pacer, a dark sorrel, one of the
handsomest of the breed that he had ever seen. He had long coveted one
of these horses, famous in all the thirteen colonies for their easy
gait, speed over rough country, and unparalleled endurance. With
characteristic promptness in getting to his point, he went in,
interviewed the owner, tried the horse, loved it, and asked the price.
The owner was not anxious to sell; but when he found out who the
would-be purchaser was, and the liberal price he was ready to pay, the
prospect of an immediate draft on the bank at Hartford proved
irresistible, and Robert rode off with his prize. He knew horse-flesh,
and did not grudge the price; and both Doctor John and Doctor Jim, who
knew this sorrel pacer well, were constrained to commend the purchase,
though to them it seemed that so weighty an action demanded, if but for
form's sake, the tribute of delay and pondering.
"Buy a horse like that, Robert, in three shakes of a ram's tail? It's
undignified!" roared Doctor Jim, eyeing the beast with unmixed
approbation. "It's an insult to the horse. And it's a slight upon the
value of our assistance, you cock-sure young rascal. But it's just the
mulish way your father would have gone and done it, so I suppose we
must forgive you."
Doctor John, meanwhile, had been handling the beast critically, and
looking at its teeth.
"Worth all you gave for him, Bobby; and not a day over five years old!"
was the verdict. "I see you're old enough to go about alone. Don't
you mind what Jim Pigeon says. He'd have had you run to him and ask if
you might have a horse of your own, and then get him and me to go down
and look at the beast, and come back here and talk it all over in
council, and then go back and bully Enoch Barnes some more about the
price, and then all three of us ride the beast up to Mistress
Mehitable's, to ask the opinion of her and Barbara on the subject, and
then--"
But Robert interrupted at this point in the tirade.
"That _would_ have been a good idea," he asserted, regretfully. "I
wish I had thought to consult the ladies. But, you know, I _knew_ that
horse was just the one I'd so long been wanting the moment I set eyes
on him. So I didn't dare wait, lest some one else should come along
and snap him up. Of course you both know a thousand times more about
horses than I do,--but I knew enough to know I wanted this one!"
"You _generally_ seem to know what you want, Master Gault!" said Doctor
Jim. "And you seem like to get it, generally, if I don't mistake the
cut of you,--eh, what?"
"Tut, tut," said Doctor John, scowling upon him quizzically. "That's
all very well as far as horses are concerned, and men! But wait till
it comes to women, Robert. You've a lot to learn, my son. If I'm not
much mistaken, you'll be taught a lot, and not spared in the teaching!"
"I'm always anxious to learn," answered Robert, modestly.
"You will! You will!" said Doctor John.
Breakfast was a substantial meal of boiled "Yokeag" with molasses, and
broiled salmon, and venison cutlets, and fried ham, and rich guava
jelly from the West Indies. Robert was surprised to see each of his
friends preface the repast with a quart mug of the hardest and headiest
old cider, he himself being accustomed to a small cup of light ale
merely, or a sip of claret, at this hour. Both Doctor John and Doctor
Jim assured him that there was nothing like sound cider to tone up the
stomach for its day's adventures; and on their advice he tried it,
though sparingly, and therefore with no tragic results.
After breakfast, he was so obviously restless that the big-hearted
brothers made no effort to detain him. With heavy hands upon his
shoulders, they told him to make the least possible delay in his
return, and to bear in mind how warm the welcome ever awaiting him at
Second Westings.
"How like to Richard in the saddle!" exclaimed Doctor John, when Robert
had mounted the sorrel pacer.
"And that's a compliment not many a lad of your age could win, my son!"
said Doctor John.
Robert's dark face flushed with pleasure.
"I try hard to be as like my father as possible," said he. "Don't you
think I might properly ride around and pay my respects to the ladies
before I leave?"
"Unquestionably you might! 'Pon my word a capital idea!" laughed
Doctor Jim, with huge derision.
"Unquestionably, my boy, you would find yourself in hot water if you
didn't!" said Doctor John.
So Robert, without more ado, turned the head of his Narragansett pacer
toward Westings House, whose wide white gables were partly visible
through the trees.
A very erect, graceful, and masterful young figure he made, as he
reined in his tall sorrel before Mistress Mehitable's porch. Mistress
Mehitable from her window above had seen him coming, and was on the
steps to greet him. He flung himself from the saddle, kissed her hand
deferentially, thanked her with fervour for her delightful
hospitality,--and at the same time cast a solicitous eye about the
walks and windows, wondering where Barbara could be. Mistress
Mehitable had an amused smile, but would not help him. She said polite
things, and assured him of the pleasure with which she would look
forward to his next visit,--and even added that he had better not
postpone that next visit beyond five or six days, or a week at most, as
Mr. Glenowen was expected at once, and might not be able to stay long
at Second Westings. But of Barbara she said not a word. Robert showed
her, with pride, his sorrel pacer, related with an abstracted air the
circumstances of its purchase, and enlarged upon the special merits of
the breed, while Mistress Mehitable patted the silky white nose, and
murmured boundless admiration. But still no sign, no word, of Barbara.
At last Robert could contain himself no longer.
"I ought to be on the road," he stammered, "but I should be sorry to
leave without making my adieux to Mistress Barbara. Is she within?"
"She went out about half an hour ago!" said Mistress Mehitable, "and
did not say where she was going!"
Robert's face fell so pathetically that Mistress Mehitable felt a
little flush of resentment against Barbara for her cruelty.
"She left kindest messages for you," she continued, hastily. "She told
me to say how sorry she was not to see you this morning, and that she
would never forgive you if you did not come again to Second Westings
very soon. And I was to say good-bye to you for her!"
"I thank you," said Robert, heavily. "Pray you give her my devotions,
and tell her how grieved I am to be denied the privilege of paying them
in person. I kiss your hand again, dear Mistress Ladd!" And with that
he rode off musingly, through a morning whose sunlight had on the
sudden lost its sparkle, whose spicy airs had all at once lost their
zest. His pride in the new pacer, which he had hoped to show off to
Barbara, was all fallen flat. He forced the restive beast to walk
soberly for some moments. Then a swift heat of anger, a sense of
undeserved injury, went over him. He swore he would come no more to
Second Westings all that summer; and setting spurs to the willing
sorrel, he tore away down the road at a pounding gallop.