“Miss Sibby Bayard is here, you bet! Talk of the devil and you know what follows,” said a voice on the threshold, and the form of the lady in question appeared at the door. “When a thing is got to be done, sez I, the sooner the better, sez I! And so here I am, good folks.”
CHAPTER XXII
NEW HOPE
“Miss Sibby!” exclaimed the assembled party, in one breath, as they all arose to welcome her.
“Oh, yes!” said the good woman, after she had shaken hands all around, and had sunk breathless into the nearest easy chair. “It is all mighty fine to cry out ‘Miss Sibby,’ as if you were overjoled at the sight of me; but deeds speak louder than words, sez I. And them as runs away to the city and leave me behind, sez I, and then pretends to be glad to see me, sez I, is nothing but ‘sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal,’ sez I. Yes, it’s you I mean, Sam Grandiere!”
“But, Miss Sibby, I didn’t run away and leave you, ma’am,” pleaded the young fellow.
“And plenty of room in the carryall, too, as might have incommodated me very well. The old saying sez as ‘Where there is a will there is a way,’ and I sez, correspondimentally, sez I, ‘where there is a way, sez I, there out to be a will,’ sez I. Yes! I’m talking to you, Sam Grandiere. You had the way to take me, but you hadn’t got the will.”
“Indeed, Miss Sibby, I didn’t know you wanted to come. I should have been glad enough to take you.”
“Why didn’t you ask me, then? You might a knowed, soon as the news reached our neighborhood as all the folks had come back from furrin parts, and Gideon Grandiere among ’em, as I would want to come up and hear news of my lad. But you run away and left me behind. And when I found it out I just said to myself, sez I, I’ll just harness up my old mule, sez I, and I won’t be long behind ’em, sez I. And so here I am.”
“How did you find us out?” inquired Capt. Grandiere.
“In the funniest way as ever you see. As I was a-driving slowly up the Pennsylwany Avenue who should I see but that dog, Joshua, a-walking as majestical down the street as if the whole city belonged to him. I knowed him at once, and naterally looked to see who was along of him. And then who should I see but that nigger a-walking down the street behind the dog as if the whole country belonged to him, if you please. So I stopped the mule and hollered to him. And the wust of hollering after anybody on Pennsylwany Avenue is that everybody in hearing thinks as you’re hollering after them. So everybody had to turn and look at me and my mule. And the nigger stood and stared. And I had to holler after him again to ax him where his master was a-putting up. And he come to the side of the cart and told me, and axed me to let him get in and drive me to the hotel, ’cause, he said, every one was a-staring at me.”