Then followed the line of
carriages and the straggling groups on foot; but the girls paid
little heed to them, for Polly said, in a sudden whisper,--"Just
look at Job!"
For a long time the old horse had been quietly grazing, without so
much as raising his head to take breath and look about him, so
greedy was he for the first tender grass-blades of the spring.
Suddenly he heard the roll of the drums and threw up his head to
listen, with eager ears and dilating eyes, as if the sound
recalled to him some vague memory of his far-off youth. So proud
and spirited he looked as he stood there, that it was evident
that, in fancy, he was living over his former days, perhaps
listening to the triumphant strains of music which heralded the
close of the rebellion. As the sound came nearer, and yet nearer,
he appeared to be under its spell and slowly moved down towards
the street, arching his glossy neck and stepping high, in perfect
time to the music. Fifty feet from the fence, he stopped and gazed
at the scene before him, still spellbound by the martial sounds
and the memories they called up in his mind, while the group in
the Adams's windows watched him intently, amazed at the life and
fire in the old creature's pose and manner.
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