“Am I?” he asked, putting the reins into her hands. “Now let me see how well you can drive?”
She succeeded very nicely in guiding and controlling her small steeds; so well indeed that her father said she might try it alone in a day or two.
They made the circuit of the grounds, then drew up in fine style before the veranda, where Rose and Mr. Travilla sat watching them.
“Well and bravely done, my little friend!” exclaimed the latter, springing down the steps to hand her from the phaeton, as John took the reins, she resigning them a trifle reluctantly.
“Oh, it’s so nice!” she cried. “Please, papa, mayn’t I drive round once more?”
“No, daughter, this is enough for to-day. Let Mr. Travilla lift you out. You must remember you have already had a long drive, beside the fatigue of shopping.”
Mr. Dinsmore spoke kindly but with decision, and the little girl submitted without so much as a pout or frown. A moment or two spent in petting and caressing the new ponies, her father and Mr. Travilla looking on and listening with pleasure and amusement, and she ran gayly into the house, eager to show her friend the books and toys just brought from the city.
He was a frequent visitor at the Oaks, made much of Elsie, and always showed as keen an interest in her childish pleasures as Mr. Dinsmore himself.
“Isn’t she a beauty, Mr. Travilla?” Elsie asked, exhibiting the doll.
“That she is. She will be your favorite child, I presume.”