"Gee! Gee! Gee there, blast—s'cuse me. Gee! Whoa! Git-ap!"
All the boarders of the inn were upon its porches waiting for the dinner gong. There was a surge toward the railing as a middle-aged woman passed the word along her middle-aged friends that Miss Fanhall, accompanied by Mr. Hawker, had arrived on the ox cart of Mr. Hawker's father.
"Whoa! Ha! Git-ap!" said the old man in more subdued tones. "Whoa there, Red! Whoa, now! Wh-o-a!"
Hawker helped the girl to alight, and she paused for a moment conversing with the old man about the oxen. Then she ran smiling up the steps to meet the Worcester girls.
"Oh, such a lovely time! Those dear old oxen—you should have been with us!"
CHAPTER XV.
"Oh, Miss Fanhall!"
"What is it, Mrs. Truscot?"
"That was a great prank of yours last night, my dear. We all enjoyed the joke so much."