Then the wheels stopped at
the gate, and Blossom and Mr. Mullen entered, bearing a small basket,
which contained disordered remains of the wedding feast.
"Whar's Abel?" inquired Sarah, bowing stiffly to the young clergyman.
"We passed them in the road. My horse for once outstripped his mare,"
replied Mr. Mullen, who felt a crawling sensation in the back of his
neck whenever Sarah was present, as if he were called upon to face in
her single person an entire parsimonious vestry. "I had the pleasure of
driving your granddaughter home, and now I must be going back to bring
mother. It was a delightful occasion, Mrs. Revercomb, and you are to be
congratulated on the charming addition to your family." He hadn't
meant to use the word "charming"--he had intended to say "estimable"
instead--but Sarah embarrassed him by her expression, and it slipped out
before he was aware of it. Her manner annoyed him excessively. It was as
bad as looking up suddenly in the midst of one of the finest paragraphs
in his sermon and meeting a supercilious look on a face in his
congregation.
"Humph!" observed Sarah shortly, and when he had gone, she emitted the
sound again, half to herself, half to her audience, "humph!"
"What's the matter, grandma?" inquired Blossom listlessly, "you don't
look as if you were pleased.
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