And that was just where he was mistaken. The old horse Ebenezer wanted a drink. That was why he had paused at the trough. He thrust his muzzle deep into the cool spring-water and drank so[p. 71] long that Johnnie Green began to be worried, for fear he would burst.
But old Ebenezer wouldn't budge until he had drunk his fill. When he was ready (and not before) the wagon went rumbling up the road again, taking Johnnie Green and his grandmother home to the farmhouse—and likewise bearing Daddy Longlegs back to the stone wall, where little Mr. Chippy lived in the wild grapevine.
XV
A CALL ON A NEIGHBOR
Daddy Longlegs was delighted to be at home again. And Mr. Chippy—as well as other neighbors—remarked that they had never seen him so happy and cheerful.
Perhaps one reason for Daddy's good spirits was the fact that the wind no longer blew and he could venture abroad without being buffeted about.
He was so relieved by the change in the weather that it seemed to him there could be no danger anywhere.
Little did Daddy Longlegs dream that a great army was even then making plans to capture him. And still less did he[p. 73] imagine that he was going to meet with a real adventure before the day was done.