Connie's single bed was hastily brought downstairs, and Prudence deposited upon it. "There's no use to put me up-stairs," she assured them. "I won't stay there. I want to be down here where I can boss the girls."
The doctor came in, and bandaged the swollen purple ankle. Then they had dinner,—they tried to remember to call it luncheon, but never succeeded! After that, the whole parsonage family grouped about the little single bed in the cheery sitting-room.
"Whose coat is this, Prudence?" asked Connie.
"And where in the world did you get these towels and silk shirts?" added Fairy.
Prudence blushed most exquisitely. "They are Mr. Harmer's," she said, and glanced nervously at her father.
"Whose?" chorused the family. And it was plain to be seen that Lark was ready to take mental notes with an eye to future stories.
"If you will sit down and keep still, I will tell you all about it. But you must not interrupt me. What time is it, Fairy?"
"Two o'clock."
"Oh, two. Then I have plenty of time. Well, when I got to that little cross-cut through the hickory grove, about four miles out from town, I thought I would coast down the long hill. Do you remember that hill, father? There was no one in sight, and no animals, except one hoary old mule, grazing at the bottom. It was irresistible, absolutely irresistible. So I coasted. But you know yourself, father, there is no trusting a mule. They are the most undependable animals." Prudence looked thoughtfully down at the bed for a moment, and added slowly, "Still, I have no hard feelings against the mule. In fact, I kind of like him.—Well, anyway, just as I got to the critical place in the hill, that mule skipped right out in front of me. It looked as though he did it on purpose. I did not have time to get out of his way, and it never occurred to him to get out of mine, and so I went Bang! right into him. And it broke Mattie Moore's wheel, and upset me quite a little. But that mule never budged! Jerry—er Harmer,—Mr. Harmer, you know,—said he believed an earthquake could coast downhill on to that mule without seriously inconveniencing him. I was hurt a little, and couldn't get up. And so he jumped over the fence,—No, Connie, not the mule, of course! Mr. Harmer! He jumped over the fence, and put his coat on the ground, and made a pillow for me with the shirts and towels in his bag, and carried me over. Then he wanted to go for a wagon to bring me home, but I was too nervous and scared, so he stayed with me. Then Mr. Davis came along with his cart, and Jerry—er—Harmer, you know, helped put me in, and the cart was so small they both had to walk."
"Where is he now?" "Is he young?" "Is he handsome?" "Did he look rich?"