“Yes, I think so—once,� he drawled. “Yes, now I reflect upon the matter, I remember I was once, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I’d rather not repeat it, even to please you, Miss Tibby.�
The girl turned from him petulantly.
“I think it would please me very much,� she said. “Such even tempers are abominable. Good-by!� And Tibby backed out of the room, waving her hand dramatically toward him. “Dryden tells us to ‘Beware the fury of a patient man,’ and I will run before your wrath breaks forth.�
“Is Tibby more perverse than usual this morning?� Alice asked as Donald buttoned up his coat preparatory to departure.
“Yes, in tempting Providence by riding to the fort this morning. If I am not very much mistaken, we are to have a small blizzard before night.�
“O! I hope not,� sighed Mrs. Wylie. “I have never experienced one, but Alice has been telling me of blizzards, and of people perishing in them not far from their own doors. I cannot realize such a thing possible.�
“Wait until you’ve seen one,� said Donald soberly. He shook his head as he stepped out of doors. “Tell that wilful girl to take no chances,� he said, turning back. “There’s surely a storm coming. She will not listen to me.�
“Don’t forget, Mrs. Cramer, to take my cake from the oven in fifteen minutes,� Tibby said a little later, entering the room.
“Why do you go when there is a storm coming?� inquired Mrs. Wylie.
“Who says there is a storm coming? No one but Donald, and he is a croaker. I’m not afraid. Tempest will be a match for any storm that ever blew.� And a few moments afterwards Tibby tripped gaily down the path to the horse’s stable, her riding-skirt thrown over her arm, and her whole figure alert with joyous anticipation. As she emerged upon the back of her favorite horse and swept past the pedestrian, Donald, she called out saucily: