"Isn't that Jeb riding along the road with two led horses?"
"Sure enough! Your mother must have remembered I had but one mount, and so Jeb was hurried here with extra horses for you," replied Mr. Brewster, running to the door and hailing his man.
On the way to Pebbly Pit, Tom rode alongside Mr. Brewster while John rode beside Jeb. The two latter riders had much to say to each other, for John had been Jeb's particular charge when the hired man first went to work at Pebbly Pit. Now John was a head taller than his erstwhile guardian, even if he was much the younger.
Jeb acted very morose and absentminded; instead of giving sensible replies to John's questions about the avalanche, he would mutter and say inconsequent things. Finally John said:
"Well, it must have been a narrow escape, anyway."
"That's just it, John. Ef Ah don't run away from Pebbly Pit she'll git me!" returned Jeb, greatly troubled.
"I'm talking about that land-slide—what do you mean?" laughed John, beginning to understand that Jeb was worried over something other than the Grizzly experience.
"Wh—y—Ah'm meanin' that widder! It's leap-year, you know."
John had never heard about Sary, so he was unprepared to offer any advice, but he thought best to agree in everything with Jeb, concerning this particular one, and all "widders" in general.
"Ye-es—siree! That Sary kin ketch any man she starts out to trap. Ef she laid eyes on enny of them farm-hands at Pebbly Pit, like-as-how she has on me, they'd roll right over and eat from her han's. But, you see, John, Ah ain't a marryin' man, so Ah wants to escape."