He seemed to have something
the matter with his arm that would evidently have given him a good deal of
bother had his mind been on anything but the desire to attract Mr. King's
attention.
But that gentleman, violently jolted by the sudden pull-up of the horses,
not being in the best frame of mind, called out testily, "Bless me, what is
the man stopping for? Drive on, Thomas," and looked directly over his head.
Seeing which, the boy clambered up the carriage step and hung on with one
hand, but so much determination was in his eyes that old Mr. King fumed
out: "Make the scoundrel get down, Jasper."
"What do you want?" asked Jasper, trying to make it as pleasant as
possible, before the more summary treatment set in.
"I've got to speak to him," said the boy. Thomas, gathering up the reins in
one hand and the whip in the other, looked around with fury in his eye.
"Shall I give him a lick?" he asked.
"No, no," said Jasper hastily, "keep quiet, Thomas."
"I've nothing to say to you," cried Mr. King in his most pompous way, and
with a stately wave of his hand, "so take yourself off, boy."
"Father--" began Jasper, in a distressed tone.
"And be quick about it." The old gentleman fairly roared it out. "Thomas,
drive on."
That functionary, with a very dissatisfied expression that he hadn't been
allowed to use his whip when he got it all ready so nicely, now cracked it
at the horses.
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