“That, my dear, is because he reaches farther and farther. You know some breeds of horses gain speed by quickening their gait. This horse gains it by a lengthened reach. He is a remarkable animal. Actually, my dear, we are overtaking a locomobile.”
“Oh, John, is he used to these horrid steam-wagons?”
“Nothing will frighten this horse, Martha. You can rest assured of that.”
A minute later they passed the locomobile. If Mrs. Tucker could have seen the codfish eyes of the occupant of the vehicle when he saw a hobby-horse going by at the rate of twenty miles an hour, she would have questioned his sanity. If she could have seen the scared looks and the scared horse of the people in the approaching buggy she would have begun to wonder what possessed her new possession. But her goggles saved her from present worry, and the buggy was passed in a flash.
“Oh, I do wish I could take off my glasses for a minute so that I could enjoy this rapid motion to the full! How the trees must be spinning by!”
“Don’t touch your glasses,” said Mr. Tucker, hurriedly. “If a speck of dust or a pebble were to get into your eye, you might become permanently blind. Positively, you are like a child with a new rocking-horse. This turn-out will keep until your eyes are fully recovered, and I hope we may enjoy many a spin in this easy carriage, with or without this horse.”
“Never without him, dear. After the delight of this swift motion I never would go back to lazy Roanoke or skittish Charley. I have never ridden in any carriage that pleased me like this one.”
“She’s a convert already without knowing it,” said her husband to himself, but her next remark dispelled his illusion.
“How can any one like a noisy automobile better than this? You can’t improve on nature. By the way, I forgot to ask you if you rode in one the other day in New York.”
“To be sure. I didn’t tell you, did I? It was really almost as nice as this, although the traffic impeded us some. Oh, James, look out!”