Maybe it was a chance to gossip about Laddie,for he hadn't left them a thing to guess at,and mother says the reason gossip is so dreadful is because it is always GUESSWORK.Well,that was all fair and plain.He had told those people,our very best friends,what he thought about everything,the way they acted included.
He was carrying something to each member of the Pryor family,and he'd left a way to return joking and unashamed,if they wouldn't let him in.He had fixed things so no one had anything to guess at,and it would look much worse for the Pryors than it would for him,if he did come back.
I wondered if he had been born that smart,or if he learned it in college.If he did,no wonder Leon was bound to go.Come to think of it,though,mother said Laddie was always like that.
She said he never bit her when he nursed;he never mauled her as if she couldn't be hurt when he was little,he never tore his clothes and made extra work as he grew,and never in his life gave her an hour's uneasiness.But I guess she couldn't have said that about uneasiness lately,for she couldn't keep from looking troubled as all of us followed to the gate to see him start.
How they joked,and tried to tease him!But they couldn't get a breath ahead.He shot back answers as fast as they could ask questions,while he cut the branch and untied the horse.He gave the limb and basket to mother to hold,kissed her good-bye,and me too,before he mounted.With my arms around his neck--I never missed a chance to try to squeeze into him how I loved him--I whispered:"Laddie,is it a secret any more?"He threw back his head and laughed the happiest.
"Not the ghost of a secret!"he said."But you let me do the talking,until I tell you."Then he went on right out loud:
"I'm riding up the road waving the banner of peace.If I suffer repulse,the same thing has happened to better men before,so I'll get a different banner and try again."Laddie mounted,swept a circle in the road,dropped Flos on her knees in a bow,and waved the branch.Leon began to sing at the top of his voice,"Nothing but leaves,nothing but leaves,"while Laddie went flashing up the road.
The women went back to the house;the men stood around the gate,watched him from sight,talked about his horse,how he rode,and made wagers that he'd get shut out,like every one did,but they said if that happened he wouldn't come back.Father was annoyed.
"You heard Laddie say he'd return immediately if they wouldn't let him in,"he said."He's a man of his word.He will either enter or come home at once."It was pitch dark and we had supper before some of them left;they never stayed so late.After we came from church,father read the chapter and we were ready for bed;still Laddie hadn't come back.And father liked it!He just plain liked it!He chuckled behind the Advocate until you could see it shake;but mother had very little to say,and her lips closed tight.
At bedtime he said to mother:"Well,they don't seem in a hurry about sending the boy back.""Did you really think he WOULD be sent back?"asked mother.
"Not ordinarily,"said father,"no!If he had no brain,no wit,no culture,on an animal basis,a woman would look twice before she'd send him away;but with such fanatics as Pryors,one can't always tell what will happen.""In a case like this,one can be reasonably certain,"said mother.
"You don't know what social position they occupied at home.
Their earmarks are all good.We've no such notions here as they have.""Thank God for so much,at any rate,"said mother."How old England would rise up and exult if she had a man in line with Laddie's body,blood and brain,to set on her throne.This talk about class and social position makes me sick.Men are men,and Laddie is as much above the customary timber found in kings and princes,physically and mentally,as the sky is above the earth.
Talk me no talk about class!If I catch it coming from any of mine,save you,I will beat it out of them.He has admitted he's in love with the girl;the real question is,whether she's fit to be his wife.""I should say she appears so,"said father.
"Drat appearances!"cried mother."When it's a question of lifetime misery,and the soul's salvation of my son,if things go wrong,I've no time for appearances.I want to know!"He might have known he would make her angry when he laughed.She punched the pillow,and wouldn't say another word;so I went to sleep,and didn't miss anything that time.
Next morning at breakfast Laddie was beaming,and father hardly waited to ask the blessing before he inquired:"Well,how did you make it,son?"Laddie laughed and answered:"Altogether,it might have been much worse."That was all he would say until Miss Amelia started to school,then he took me on his lap and talked as he buttoned my coat.
"Thomas met me at the gate,"he said,"and held my horse while I went to the door.One of their women opened it,and I inquired for Mr.Pryor.She said he was in the field looking at the horses,so I asked for Miss Pryor.She came in a minute,so Igave her the branch,told her about it,and offered the jelly and cake for her mother.The Princess invited me to enter.I told her I couldn't without her father's permission,so I went to the field to see him.The dogs were with him and he had the surprise of his life when his man-eaters rolled at my feet,and licked my hands.""What did he say?"chuckled father.
"Told Thomas they'd been overfed and didn't amount to a brass farthing;to take them to the woods and shoot them.Thomas said he'd see to it the very first thing in the morning,and then Mr.
Pryor told him he would shoot him if he did.""Charming man to work for,"said mother.
"Then I told him I'd been at the house to carry a little gift to his wife and daughter,and to inquire if I might visit an hour,and as he was not there,I had come to the field to ask him.
Then I looked him in the eye and said:`May I?'
"`I'll warrant the women asked you to come in,'he said.
