I think two men of your age ought to be ashamed of
yourselves. I'm going off to sell books." And with that I
climbed up to the seat and clucked to Pegasus. Andrew and
Mifflin and Bock remained standing in the road.
I was mad all the way through. I was mad at both men for
behaving like schoolboys. I was mad at Andrew for being so
unreasonable, yet in a way I admired him for it; I was mad at
Mifflin for giving Andrew a bloody nose, and yet I appreciated
the spirit in which it was done. I was mad at myself for
causing all the trouble, and I was mad at Parnassus. If there
had been a convenient cliff handy I would have pushed the old
thing over it. But now I was in for it, and just had to go
on. Slowly I rolled up a long grade, and then saw Port Vigor
lying ahead and the broad blue stretches of the Sound.
Parnassus rumbled on with its pleasant creak, and the mellow
sun and sweep of the air soon soothed me. I began to taste
salt in the wind, and above the meadows two or three seagulls
were circling. Like all women, my angry mood melted into a
reaction of exaggerated tenderness and I began to praise both
Andrew and Mifflin in my heart. How fine to have a brother so
solicitous of his sister's welfare and reputation! And yet,
how splendid the little, scrawny Professor had been! How
quick to resent an insult and how bold to avenge it! His
absurd little tweed cap was lying on the seat, and I picked it
up almost sentimentally.
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