"Perhaps, Mr. Sanderson," she said, with a slight inclination of her head, "you would care to accompany us out on the harbor to-morrow afternoon. It is frozen over, you know, and the ice is very thick. There is no danger, I assure you. It doesn't happen every winter and we make the most of it." She laughed a little, lightly. "The men—the young men—race their horses there every afternoon. They usually race on the Cow Path—Washington Street, no doubt I should call it, but we still cling to the old names, among ourselves. These young men have taken advantage of the unusual condition of the harbor and it is a very pretty sight; all those horses flying along. We shall not race, of course."
If Sally had heard her, I doubt whether she would have been able to suppress her chuckles at the idea of the Hazens' stout horse—the identical horse that had drawn her on her first arrival—at the idea, I say, of that plethoric and phlegmatic and somewhat aged animal's competing with such a horse as Sawny, for example. Mrs. Ladue had some difficulty in doing no more than smile.
"Why, Patty," she began, in amazement, "were you—but I must not keep Fox from answering."
Patty had betrayed some uneasiness when Mrs. Ladue began to speak, which is not to be wondered at. She quieted down.
"I ought to have called you Doctor Sanderson," she observed, "ought I not? I forgot, for the moment, the celebrity to which you have attained." Again she inclined her head slightly.
Fox laughed easily. "Call me anything you like," he replied. "As to going with you to see the races, I accept with much pleasure, if you can assure me that there is really no danger. I am naturally timid, you know."
Patty was in some doubt as to how to take this reply of Fox's; not in much doubt, however. She laughed, too. "Are you, indeed?" she asked. "It is considered quite safe, I do assure you."
Mrs. Ladue looked very merry, but Patty did not see her.
"We will consider it settled, then," Patty concluded, with evident satisfaction.
On her way to her room, half an hour later, Mrs. Ladue met Patty on the stairs.