“It’s enough to make any one ill. We’ll have to start the thing in some way. It was to be so effective with Pablo dressed as an Indian and mounted on Chico. He was to look off over the prairies, you know the way it is done.”
“I know—— Oh, Hal, Hal, look, look! There they are!” Joanne broke off her speech to point to three figures deliberately entering the grounds.
They set off on a run to meet Pablo leading Chico, and who but Unc’ Aaron?
“Pablo! Pablo!” cried Joanne, “what has happened?”
“Nothing, señorita.”
“But why are you late? Why did you not follow Hal?”
“It is this old one, señorita, this Unc’ Aaron. I see him arriving. I dismount. He comes to me. We turn the cornder. He say ‘I knows this place. I work here when boy! We will enter at back, is more shorter the way.’ There comes at once a leetle—what is it you call him? A alleys. There comes a gate which we cannot enter for is lock, so then we must go around. Now we are here.”
“That’s enough!” cried Hal. “Come along, Pablo. Hurry!”
Pablo sprang agilely upon Chico and dashed off in the direction Hal started. Joanne gave a great sigh of relief as she turned to Unc’ Aaron. “This certainly is a surprise,” she said. “I was so afraid something awful had happened. You shouldn’t have taken Pablo out of the way, Unc’ Aaron.”
“Lawsy, little lady, I ain’t tucken him outen de way,” protested Unc’ Aaron. “I knows dis ole place lak a book. When Mr. Ned tells me whar is de show, I says: Um-um, reckons I’ll go and see de ole place once mo’. Dey won’t deny de ole man adsmission ef so be I comes wid one o’ de reformers. I a leetle teensy bit late an’ I sholy were glad when I sees de boy ahaid. I ketches up wid him, and dat’s de way it are.”