with an emphatic demonstration of his heels against the bin:

"Ben Brown, I'll never forget what you've done for Celia this day, or
say 'bow-legs' again as long as I live!"

"George! I felt as if I had _six_ legs when we were going the pace. We
were all one piece, and had a jolly spin, didn't we, my beauty?" and
Ben chuckled as he took Lita's head in his lap, while she answered
with a gusty sigh that nearly blew him away.

"Like the fellow that brought the good news from Ghent to Aix," said
Thorny, surveying the recumbent pair with great admiration.

"What fellow?" asked Ben, wondering if he didn't mean Sheridan, of
whose ride he had heard.

"Don't you know that piece? I spoke it at school. Give it to you now;
see if it isn't a rouser."

And, glad to find a vent for his excitement, Thorny mounted the
meal-chest, to thunder out that stirring ballad with such spirit that
Lita pricked up her ears, and Ben gave a shrill "Hooray!" as the last
verse ended,

"And all I remember is friends flocking round,
As I sat with his head 'twixt my knees on the ground,
And no voice but was praising this Roland of mine,
As I poured down his throat our last measure of wine,
Which (the burgesses voted by common consent)
Was no more than his due who brought good news from Ghent."