And here I
was, prone and helpless, being powwowed not for one ailment, but for
all the diseases known in Happy Valley. How I blessed Tip! When we
started he should have told me of the powers of our hostess. I would
rather have undergone a hundred runaways than one week with that old
woman muttering her Dutch over my senseless form. But I liked the good
soul. Her intentions were so excellent. She was so cheery. Even now
she was offering me a piece of gingerbread.
I ate it ravenously.
Then I asked, "Where is Tip?"
"He's gone down the walley to my brother-in-law, Harmon Shadrack's.
He's tryin' to borry a me-yule."
"A what?"
"A me-yule. The colt was dead beside you in the creek. Him and me
fixed up the buggy agin, and he's gone to borry Harmon's me-yule so as
you uns can git back to Black Log."
"Tip's left Black Log forever," I said firmly.
Then John Shadrack's widow laughed. She laughed so hard that she blew
the ashes out of her pipe, and they showered down over my face, and
made me wink and sputter.
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