Their
destination was the nearer of the two mountains, a drive to the
foot and then a scramble to the tip-top house, for the sake of one
last look down upon the beautiful valley, before winter should
shut it in. Unfortunately, Job was in one of his languid moods
that day, and in spite of warning checks and flapping of lines,
and even a mild application of the whip, he refused to break into
a trot; but, with bowed head and discouraged mien, he plodded
onward with as much apparent effort as if each motion of his aged
frame were to be his last. In vain Katharine again and again
reined in Cob, to wait for his companion; the old horse lagged
farther and farther in the rear. At length Mrs. Adams called,--
"This is unbearable, Katharine! I am afraid we shall have to give
up and go home. Job acts as if he couldn't crawl another step. I'm
sorry," she added to her passengers, "to spoil our plan, but I
dare not drive this old fellow any further, for fear he might
never get home."
But even the turning back again failed to inspire Job as it
usually did. In her secret heart, Mrs. Adams regarded this as an
ominous symptom, and felt an ever-increasing anxiety lest he
should never reach home alive.
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