“You bet,” says Mark, so we all had a lunch that Mrs. Tidd got for us, like she always does whenever anybody is there, and I went home. I promised to be there bright and early to go out to Rock’s with Mark.
CHAPTER XI
Mark was around at my house, whistling for me, before I was through breakfast, so I gobbled down my last four pancakes and hustled out. He had another lunch as big as a trunk, so it was safe to say we wouldn’t starve before noon.
About a half a mile from the Wigglesworth place we saw a buggy coming toward us like the horse was running away, but it wasn’t. A man was driving, and the man was Jethro. When he saw us he pulled up so short he almost snapped his horse’s head off, which was mighty poor driving.
“Hey!” says he. “Seen a kid down that way anywheres?”
“L-lots of ’em,” says Mark.
“Don’t git fresh,” says Jethro.
“I wasn’t,” says Mark. “I was t-t-tellin’ the truth.”
“Did you see a kid,” says Jethro, “that looked like he was runnin’ away?”
“How does a kid l-look that’s runnin’ away?” Mark asked.