"Thank you." It sounded more like a command than anything else.
The doctor laughed.
"She is rather alarming," he said, "she is evidently not accustomed to say anything she does not really mean. I like that. But come, I must be off," and handing the medicine to Gertrude he left the room quickly so as to avoid her repeated thanks.
The little boy was standing where his mother had left him, still staring at the restless horse. The doctor looked kindly at the little fellow.
"Would you like to take care of a horse?" he asked, as he got into his wagon.
"No, I should like to drive one of my own," replied the child without hesitation.
"Well, you are quite right there: stick to that, my boy," said the doctor, and drove away.
As Gertrude, holding a child by each hand, climbed the hillside, the boy said gaily,
"Say, mother, I can have one, can't I?"
"Do you mean to be a gentleman like the doctor, and own a horse, Dietrich?" asked the mother.