"How is she now, Betty?" he said anxiously, as he caught the sound of a heavy footstep behind him.
"Powerful bad, master. Ain't the doctor came?"
"Not yet. I'll have out the gig and go for him myself, if he don't come soon," he added.
"I doubt whether that limb of Satan ever went near him. He knows my missis always had a sharp eye on him and his wicked ways; and if he could—"
"There, go in, Betty, you know nothing about it," said Tyler sharply; and yet, as he spoke, he began to wonder whether he had not better give in to the popular notion, and get rid of Eric before the summer came round again.
A minute or two later Eric peeped round the gateway, and seeing his master said, "Will you want Peggy this morning, sir?"
"Is she fit? This weather has been hard on the poor brutes." And the landlord sighed as he thought of the broken-down condition of his horses.
"Peggy could do it, sir," said Eric; "she picks up quicker than the others do."
"Well, put her in and bring the gig round," said his master; and then he went into the house and called to Betty, took his three-cornered hat from its peg, and his heavy driving coat out of the recess, and when Eric brought round the gig, he stood in the porch, ready equipped for his journey.
"Jump in, lad; I shall take you with me, and we can kill two birds with one stone. We shall soon meet the doctor, and then I can ride back with him while you go on and see Thompson about that harness again, and tell Wilson I shall want the oats a week earlier than I expected. You're sure the doctor said he was coming round by Leaburn?"