"Are ye goin' to give me that paper?" Abner asked.
"Certainly," Jess replied as she acceded to his request. "But I think you might tell me what makes it so dangerous, daddy."
"High explosives, that's what 'tis. It's worse than nitro-glycerine, which goes off jist as soon as ye look at it."
"But you should not carry it, then, daddy. If it is not safe for me to touch, neither is it for you, so there."
"Oh, I know how to handle it," Abner chuckled, as he thrust the paper back into his pocket. "Climb up now, an' let's be off."
"There is something in it you don't want me to see; isn't that it?" Jess asked.
"Mebbe there is. Anyway, I don't want to be blown to bits. Whoa, there, Jerry. What's the matter with ye? Take the reins, Jess, an' hold that hoss. He's jist dyin' fer an explosion. I kin tell it by the way he twists his ears."
As soon as Abner had hoisted the trunk up into the express, he climbed over the wheel, took his seat by his daughter's side, seized the reins, and headed Jerry for home.
"You didn't take the truck back," Jess reminded him as soon as they had started.
"Well, neither I did! But, never mind, Sam'll git it. He might as well be doin' somethin', the lazy rascal. It's his bizness to wait on the public, an' we're as much the public as anybody. G'long, Jerry."