“I wouldn’t worry, Mollie,” Ralph replied kindly. “I am sure Bab is equal to any kind of horseback exercise. Remember the first time we saw her, Hugh? She was riding down the road in the rain, astride an old bareback horse. We nicknamed her ‘Miss Paul Revere’ then and there. There isn’t any use trying to keep Bab off a horse, Mollie, when she has the faintest chance to get on one.”
“Come on, then,” laughed Mollie, smiling at the picture Ralph’s remark had brought to her mind. “We will walk over to the Fair Grounds. You will find nearly everybody we know in Lenox over there. You remember that you boys gave Ruth and Bab liberty to put your names down for any of the games; come and find out what trouble they have gotten you into. You never dreamed of such absurd amusements as we are to have.”
“Oh, we are game for anything,” Hugh declared. “Lenox sports are the jolliest I have yet run across. Don’t think any other place can produce anything just like them. Certainly the amusements are a bit unconventional, but they are all the more fun. ‘Society Circus’ is a good name for the entertainment. Anything goes in a ‘Society Circus.’”
“What curious amusements people do have for the benefit of charities!” reflected Mollie. “But I expect the Lenox Hospital will receive a great deal of money from the sports this year. You see, they are in charge of the English Ambassador. That alone would make the entertainment popular.”
“Is Mollie growing worldly wise, Hugh?” asked Ralph, with mock horror.
“Looks like it, Ralph,” was the reply.
The boys and Mollie found Barbara in the midst of a gay circle of young people. Grace and Ruth were nowhere to be seen.
Aunt Sallie sat with Mrs. Morton in the grandstand. The Ambassador and Mr. Winthrop Latham wandered about near them. Many preparations were necessary for the next day’s frolic.
In front of the grandstand stretched a wide, green field, enclosed with a low fence. A little distance off stood the club house.
Bab came forward with both hands extended to greet her friends. She gave one hand to Ralph, the other to Hugh.