“You never know what may happen,” returned Elizabeth, giving rein to her imagination.
CHAPTER VI
Scared
FOR once Elizabeth’s imagination did not lead her very far astray, as was shown a few days later. She had mentioned the subject of the painted umbrella to her sister Kathie but met with such mocking laughter that she did not follow out her intention of mentioning it to Miss Jewett, too.
“I declare, Elizabeth, you do have the craziest ideas,” said Kathie. “One would suppose we lived in the backwoods. Who ever heard of anyone’s being attacked by wild animals around here? There may be a fox or two away off in the far woods, but that is all. You’re not afraid of cows, are you? You’ll not meet anything worse on the road, I can assure you.”
Elizabeth felt a trifle ashamed of her fancies but answered, “Bess is afraid of cows and goats and things with horns.”
“Well, you needn’t be,” replied Kathie. “This all comes of the wild stories you children have been writing. I think you’d better stop it. You are such a notional, emotional sort of child that you are carried beyond all reason once you get started on a subject. I think you had better let up on ‘Wild Animals I Have Known.’”
“They weren’t all wild animals,” returned Elizabeth, ready to argue; “only a very few were. Crickets aren’t wild, are they?”
“Would you call them tame?” laughed Kathie.
“They don’t bite nor sting,” continued Elizabeth. “Maybe you could call field-mice wild. Besides, I don’t mean harmless wild animals, I mean fierce things like wild-cats and bears.”
“One would suppose you were no older than Babs—to be afraid of bears.” Kathie was scornful. “I suppose you imagine one might scramble up the stairs after you in the dark. You are like the baby in the picture.”