The farmer looked at her for a moment, and then, mildly urging the patient steed on, he drove in a circle as wide as the lane would permit, saying, meanwhile:
"It seems to me, Dorcas Milford, I'd send some word by telegraph, rather than get into sich a pucker. I never knowed you to be so kinder flighty as you're appearin' now."
"I shall be a good deal worse, Mr. McArthur, if you don't start very soon," aunt Dorcas replied, in a matter-of-fact tone, which alarmed her neighbour more than a threat from some other person would have done.
"Take good care of the princess; don't get crumbs on the floor, an' be sure to eat all you need," aunt Dorcas cried, as the vehicle was whirled almost rapidly around the corner of the lane into the highway. And Plums shouted:
"When'll you be back?"
"I can't say; be good boys, an' I'll come as soon as ever it's possible."
Then the little woman had disappeared from view, and Master Plummer, turning to his friend, asked, seriously:
"Do you s'pose there's anything gone wrong with aunt Dorcas's head? It seems to me she don't act as if she was jest straight."
"Now don't be foolish, Plums. If everybody in this world was as straight as she is, us boys would have a snap."
"But she seems to think she can fix all this, else why did she rush off so?"