At the same time there
appeared, from behind the bend, the goat, then the carriage
dragging on one side, and lastly, the boy Budge, grasping tightly
the back of the carriage body, and howling frightfully. A direct
collision between the carriage and a stone caused Budge to loose
his hold, while the goat, after taking in the scene, trotted
leisurely off, and disappeared in a road leading to the house of
his late owner.
"Budge," I shouted, "stop that bawling, and come here. Where's
Mike?"
"He--boo--hoo--went to--hoo--light his--boo--hoo--hoo--pipe, an' I
just let the--boo--hoo--whip go against to the goat, an' then he
scattooed."
"Nashty old goat scaddooed," said Toddie, in corroboration.
"Well, walk right home, and tell Maggie to wash and dress you,"
said I.
"O Harry," pleaded Alice, "after they've been in such danger! Come
here to your own Aunt Alice, Budgie dear,--and you, too, Toddie,--
you know you said we could pick the boys up on the road, Harry.
There, there--don't cry--let me wipe the ugly old dirt off you,
and kiss the face, and make it well."
"Alice," I protested, "don't let those dirty boys clamber all over
you in that way."
"Silence, sir," said she, with mock dignity; "who gave me my
lover, I should like to ask?"
So we drove up to the boarding-house with the air of people who
had been devoting themselves to a couple of very disreputable
children, and I drove swiftly away again, lest the children should
dispel the illusion.
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