"The chaise. Ketch it."

Her gestures expressed more than her words; and, Atkins's horse and
wagon, with which he had been drawing out brush, being in the yard
near-by, he ran to them, leaped to the seat, drove into the road, took
Mrs. Ducklow aboard, and set out in vigorous pursuit of the slow
two-wheeled vehicle.

"Stop, you, sir! Stop, you, sir!" shrieked Mrs. Ducklow, having
recovered her breath by the time they came up with the chaise.

It stopped, and Mr. Grantly, the minister, put out his good-natured,
surprised face.

"You've robbed my house! You've took--"

Mrs. Ducklow was going on in wild, accusatory accents, when she
recognized the benign countenance.

"What do you say? I have robbed you?" he exclaimed, very much
astonished.

"No, no! not you! You wouldn't do such a thing!" she stammered forth,
while Atkins, who had laughed himself weak at Mr. Ducklow's plight
earlier in the morning, now laughed himself into a side-ache at Mrs.
Ducklow's ludicrous mistake. "But did you--did you stop at my house?
Have you seen our Thaddeus?"

"Here I be, Ma Ducklow!" piped a small voice; and Taddy, who had till