At last all was ready, and the vehicle got under way. At first it moved
slowly, and the loud, merry laugh of the girls rang out on the clear, cool
air; but each moment it increased in swiftness, and by the time it was
half-way down the hill, was moving at an astonishingly rapid rate. Fanny
lost her presence of mind and, with it, her ability to guide the sled, so
that they passed the point where they should have turned and made directly
for the schoolhouse door, which flew open, as once did the gates for the
famous John Gilpin. There was no entryway to the building, but as the sled
struck the door the jolt threw off all the girls except Fanny, who
manfully kept her seat; and so made her grand entrance into the
schoolroom, stopping not till she reached the stove, and partially
upsetting it, to the great astonishment of the teacher, visitor, and boys,
the latter of whom set up a loud huzza. Poor Fanny! 'Twas her first sled
ride, and she felt sure it would be her last; but she resolved to make the
best of it, so she looked up from under her curls and said very demurely,
"Please, Mr. Wilmot, may I stop at this station? I do not like being so
near the engine!" meaning the stove, whose proximity made her quarters a
little uncomfortable.
Mr. Wilmot gave her permission to take her seat, which she readily did,
wondering why it was that she always managed to do something which made
her appear ridiculous, just when she wanted to appear the best. Her mishap
gave secret pleasure to Julia, who delighted to have Fanny appear as badly
as possible, and she felt particularly pleased when she saw that Fanny's
strange ride had scattered all the ideas from her head, for the
afternoon's lessons were but little better recited than the morning, and
at its close Julia gave her a look of malicious triumph, which Mr. Miller
observing, said, as if apologising for Fanny, that he was sure that she
had every word of her lesson before recess, but it was no wonder she was
somewhat disconcerted at the unexpected termination of her ride. Fanny
smiled gratefully upon him through her tears, which she could not
restrain; but her tears were like April showers--they did not last long,
and that night, at the supper table, when Mr. Miller related her adventure
to her father, she joined as gayly as any one in the laugh which followed.
Julia was much displeased to think that Fanny's "ridiculous conduct," as
she called it, should be told of and laughed at as if it were something
amusing. She was anxious, too, that Mr. Miller should draw his visit to a
close, but as he did not seem inclined to do so, she resolved to make the
most of it, and give him a few new ideas. She knew that Fanny had ever
been his favorite and she very naturally supposed that the reason of his
preference was because he thought she possessed a very lovely, amiable
disposition. She determined to make him think otherwise, and set herself
at work to execute a plan, which fully showed the heartless deception
which almost always characterized her actions.