She went into the house, so Elizabeth Ann couldn’t ask questions. But, dear me, she thought questions!
“I wonder what Aunt Jennie wrote!” thought Elizabeth Ann’s busy little brain. “I wonder if Doris is very sick. I wonder if Aunt Jennie wants Uncle Doctor to come and make Doris well. Uncle Doctor can cure anybody.”
Elizabeth Ann went around to the back porch. Jaspar was still waiting for his sugar.
“You spoil that horse,” said Lyn, watching as Elizabeth Ann stood on the top step and held out her hand, palm up, with a lump of sugar on it, as Lex had taught her.
“He likes sugar,” Elizabeth Ann declared, while Jaspar’s long nose came down to her little hand and he took the sugar daintily in his teeth.
“What will he do when you’ve gone home?” demanded Lyn. “Who will give him sugar then?”
“Mr. Hanson,” Elizabeth Ann answered promptly. “He promised me he would. He says he will take the best of care of Jaspar, because he knows I love him.”
Mr. Hanson owned the factory in Cally, and Lyn knew him, so he said he wouldn’t be surprised if Jaspar lived on sugar for the rest of his life.
Elizabeth Ann opened her mouth to say that no horse could live on sugar, but instead she cried, “Uncle Doctor!” and dived off the porch into the arms of a tall, white-haired man, as if it had been weeks since she had seen him. This was Uncle Doctor, and he and Elizabeth Ann had had breakfast together that morning; but his little niece was always perfectly delighted to see him.
“Cousin Nellie has a letter, Uncle Doctor,” said Elizabeth Ann. “Doris has been sick—maybe they want you to come and cure her. And how did you get here from town?”