Strout.
"I suppose you have travelled a great deal, Mr. Strout."
"Well, yes, I have. Since I got back from the war I've taught music,
and as my pupils were too lazy to come to me, I went to them. But
speaking of travelling, I was in a runaway once. It had been snowing
for about four days without a break and the roads were blocked up. I
had to go to Eastborough Centre and I hired a horse I'd never driven
before."
"Didn't you have to put snow-shoes on him?" asked Maude.
"Oh, no, because I waited until the roads were broken out."
"That's one on me," acknowledged Maude.
"Well, I nearly tipped over a dozen times, but I got to the Centre
where the roads had been cleared. But my sleigh went into a gully and
came down on the horse's heels. My, wasn't she off in a jiffy! I held
her in the road, the men, and women, and children, and dogs and hens
getting out of the way as fast as they could. She was a going
lickety-split, and although I wasn't frightened, I decided she'd got
to stop.
"I saw a house with an ell, and in the corner the snow was packed up
ten feet high. I had an idea. I put all my strength on to one rein,
turned her head, and she went into that snow bank out of sight, all
but her tail. I got out of the sleigh, sat down on the snow, and
laughed till I thought I'd die."
"And the horse?" queried Maude.
"It took half an hour to dig her out.
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