Pratt a little copy of "Lamb's Tales from
Shakespeare" which I thought he could read without brain
fever. Then I lit my lantern and after a chorus of good-byes
Parnassus rolled away. "Well," I said to myself as I turned
into the high road once more, "drat the gingersnap, he seems
to hypnotize everybody... he must be nearly in Brooklyn by
this time!"
It was very quiet along the road, also very dark, for the sky
had clouded over and I could see neither moon nor stars. As
it was a direct road I should have had no difficulty, and I
suppose I must have fallen into a doze during which Peg took
a wrong turning. At any rate, I realized about half-past nine
that Parnassus was on a much rougher road than the highway had
any right to be, and there were no telephone poles to be seen.
I knew that they stretched all along the main road, so plainly
I had made a mistake. I was reluctant for a moment to admit
that I could be wrong, and just then Peg stumbled heavily and
stood still. She paid no heed to my exhortations, and when I
got out and carried my lantern to see whether anything was in
the way, I found that she had cast a shoe and her foot was
bleeding. The shoe must have dropped off some way back and
she had picked up a nail or something in the quick.
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