"Not that
your opinion matters any to me, Lucinda."
Then she leaned forward and poked the driver.
"Joshua!" she said.
Joshua jumped in his seat at the asperity of her poke and her tone.
"What is it?" he said hastily.
"Jus' 's soon as we get home I want you to take the saw--that little, sharp
one, you know--and dock Billy's tail. Cut it off as close as you can; do
you hear?"
"I hear," was the startled answer.
"Did you have a good time?" Lucinda had the temerity to ask, after a
minute.
"I guess I could if I tried," the lady replied; "but I'm too tired to try
now."
"How did you leave Mr. Jack?"
"I couldn't stay forever, could I?" asked the traveler impatiently. "I
thought that a week was long enough for the first time, anyhow."
Lucinda subsided and the rest of the drive was taken in silence. When they
reached the house Aunt Mary enveloped everything in one glance of blended
weariness, scorn and contempt, and then made short work of getting to bed,
where she slept the luxurious and dreamless sleep of the unjust until late
that afternoon.
"My, but she's come back a terror!" Lucinda cried to Joshua in a high
whisper when he brought in the trunk. "She looks like nothin' was goin' to
be good enough for her from now on."
"Nothin' ain't goin' to be good enough for her," said Joshua calmly.
"What are we goin' to do, then?" asked Lucinda.
"We'll have enough to do," said Joshua, in a tone that was portentous in
the extreme, and then he placed the trunk in its proper position for
unpacking and went away, leaving Lucinda to unpack it.
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