True to her promise, Huldy made her toilet in the appointed time, and taking her seat beside Quincy, he took up the reins. Turning to Hiram he asked, "If I drive by Hill's grocery and take the road to the left, will it bring me round to the main road to Eastborough Centre again?"
"Yaas," said Hiram, "you take the road where Mis' Hawkins's boardin' house is on the corner. You remember that big yellow house. You know I told you Mandy's mother kept it."
"All right," said Quincy, and off they went.
Quincy gave a side glance at Huldy. He discovered she was throwing a side glance at him. They both smiled, but said nothing. He drove around the big tree that stood in the centre of the square in front of the grocery, which brought the team quite close to the store platform. No one was in sight, but just as he reached Mrs. Hawkins's boarding house the door opened and Obadiah Strout came out. Huldy placed her hand on Quincy's arm.
"Please hold up a minute, Mr. Sawyer."
Quincy brought the horse to a standstill with a jerk and looked straight ahead.
"Ah, good morning, Mr. Strout," said Huldy. "Did you get the letter I sent up by Hiram last evening about my taking music lessons?"
"Yes," said Mr. Strout, "and I was coming down this morning to settle on the best time for you taking them."
"Could you come to-morrow afternoon from two to three?" asked Huldy.
Strout took a well-worn memorandum book from his pocket and consulted it. "Three to four would be the best I could do," said he, "for I have a lesson from half-past one to half-past two."