"Anything that's human flesh is good enough for her!" Miranda
groaned to Jane. "She'll ride with the rag-sack-and-bottle
peddler just as quick as she would with the minister; she always
sets beside the barefooted young ones at Sabbath school; and
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.
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