she's forever riggin' and onriggin' that dirty Simpson baby! She
reminds me of a puppy that'll always go to everybody that'll have
him!"
It was thought very creditable to Mrs. Fogg that she sent for
Clara Belle to live with her and go to school part of the year.
"She'll be useful," said Mrs. Fogg, "and she'll be out of her
father's way, and so keep honest; though she's so awful homely
I've no fears for her. A girl with her red hair, freckles, and
cross-eyes can't fall into no kind of sin, I don't believe."
Mrs. Fogg requested that Clara Belle should be started on her
journey from Acreville by train and come the rest of the way by
stage, and she was disturbed to receive word on Sunday that Mr.
Simpson had borrowed a horse from a new acquaintance, and would
himself drive the girl from Acreville to Riverboro, a distance of
thirty-five miles. That he would arrive in their vicinity on the
very night before the flag-raising was thought by Riverboro to be
a public misfortune, and several residents hastily determined to
deny themselves a sight of the festivities and remain watchfully
on their own premises.
On Monday afternoon the children were rehearsing their songs at
the meeting-house. As Rebecca came out on the broad wooden steps
she watched Mrs. Peter Meserve's buggy out of sight, for in
front, wrapped in a cotton sheet, lay the precious flag. After a
few chattering good-byes and weather prophecies with the other
girls, she started on her homeward walk, dropping in at the
parsonage to read her verses to the minister.
He welcomed her gladly as she removed her white cotton gloves
(hastily slipped on outside the door, for ceremony) and pushed
back the funny hat with the yellow and black porcupine quills--
the hat with which she made her first appearance in Riverboro