Mrs. Daggett stepped briskly out of the vehicle and seized the bridle.
“Ain’t you ashamed?” she demanded sternly. “You loosen up that there tail o’ yourn this minute!”
“I got ’em!” announced Miss Daggett, triumphantly. “He loosened right up.”
She handed the recovered reins to her sister-in-law, and the two ladies resumed their journey and their conversation.
“I never was so scared in all my life,” stated Lois Daggett, straightening her hat which had assumed a rakish angle over one ear. “I should think you’d be afraid to drive such a horse, Abby. What in creation would have happened to you if I hadn’t been in the buggy?”
“As like as not he wouldn’t have took a notion with his tail, Lois, if I’d been driving him alone,” hazarded Mrs. Daggett mildly. “Dolly’s an awful knowing horse.... Git-ap, Dolly!”
“Do you mean to tell me, Abby Daggett, that there horse of Henry’s has took a spite against me?” demanded the spinster.... “Mebbe he’s a mind-reader,” she added darkly.
“You know I didn’t mean nothin’ like that, Lois,” her sister-in-law assured her pacifically. “What I meant to say was: I got so interested in what you were saying, Lois, that I handled the reins careless, and he took advantage.... Git-ap, Dolly! Don’t you see, Lois, even a horse knows the difference when two ladies is talking.”
“You’d ought to learn to say exactly what you mean, Abby,” commented Miss Daggett.
She glanced suspiciously at the fresh striped muslin, which was further enhanced by a wide crocheted collar and a light blue satin bow.