Henry Boyd remembered his promise to Mrs. Lindsay, and before the sun
was down the company were on their way home. The talk and clatter of
the morning were now hushed. Joshua whistled, while his horse plodded
lazily along, until Fanny peevishly bade him "hold his tongue."
"Anybody does that," said Joshua, "when he whistles!" but he
good-naturedly stopped.
Margaret Sliver undertook to repeat some poetry composed by Susan, upon
the setting sun:--
The setting sun is going down
Behind the western hills;
It glitters like a golden crown,----
"What is the last line, Susan?" asked Margaret; but Susan was not
flattered by the way her poetry had been handled at the dinner-table,
and now she refused to supply the missing rhyme.
The setting sun is going down
Behind the western hills,
pursued Margaret;
It glitters like a golden crown,
"_On top of Motley's Mills!_"
added Alice; while Fanny, calling out to Henry Boyd, repeated the whole
verse as Susan's poetry, bidding him ask Miss Lindsay if Montgomery
could beat that. Susan was highly offended, saying that she considered
herself insulted, and chose to walk the remainder of the way.
"O no, Miss Sliver," said Joshua; "never mind Fanny Brighton--she is
only one of the blunt sort, saying right to your face what other folks
would say behind your back."
This explanation from Joshua was rather more favorable than Fanny
deserved; for she had not the faithful Christian charity, which, while
it unflinchingly speaks truth to those whom it concerns, is careful to
speak no evil anywhere.
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