“I stayed at home from school this afternoon,” said Ben, springing to his feet and looking as if his sturdy body would burst out from the tight little blue jacket. “Alice has hurt her ankle, and she wants the Club to meet at our house, and so does my mother, and will you come? I’ve brought Jerry and the double-seated sleigh. See?” And Ben drew aside the lace curtain of the hall window to display his steed and chariot.
“Yes, I will go with pleasure,” Ruth Warren answered, after one swift, amused glance at the big-boned horse and the sleigh.
“Then I’ll just wait here till the other children come, if you please,” Ben said, unbuttoning his jacket and drawing a long breath.
“Will your horse stand?” asked Ruth Warren, wondering if Ben meant to include her as one of the children.
“O, yes, he’s glad enough to have a chance to stand,” the boy said with a twinkle of humour.
Ruth Warren went up-stairs to tell her aunt of the change of plan.
“You are not going off with a crowd of children in that old sleigh, Ruth, are you? Some of your friends will be sure to see you,” objected Miss Virginia, in great and sudden distress.
“Only three children, Aunt Virginia; and what if my friends do see me?”
“But it looks so queer—the sleigh, I mean,—like a country grocery sled, with an extra seat put in.” Miss Virginia grew quite excited.
“I believe it is called a pung,” said Ruth; “never mind, Aunt Virginia, nobody whom I care for will like me any the less for going in it. Good-bye,—there come Betty and Elsa now, and you can watch us start,” she added, for her aunt’s chair was always drawn close to the front window. “You will have a quiet house all to yourself this afternoon.”