A thrill of delicious excitement ran through Rebecca's frame, from her
new shoes up, up to the leghorn cap and down the black braid. She
pressed Mr. Cobb's knee ardently and said in a voice choking with tears
of joy and astonishment, "Oh, it can't be true, it can't; to think I
should see Milltown. It's like having a fairy godmother who asks you
your wish and then gives it to you! Did you ever read Cinderella, or
The Yellow Dwarf, or The Enchanted Frog, or The Fair One with Golden
Locks?"
"No," said Mr. Cobb cautiously, after a moment's reflection. "I don't
seem to think I ever did read jest those partic'lar ones. Where'd you
get a chance at so much readin'?"
"Oh, I've read lots of books," answered Rebecca casually. "Father's and
Miss Ross's and all the dif'rent school teachers', and all in the
Sunday-school library. I've read The Lamplighter, and Scottish Chiefs,
and Ivanhoe, and The Heir of Redclyffe, and Cora, the Doctor's Wife,
and David Copperfield, and The Gold of Chickaree, and Plutarch's Lives,
and Thaddeus of Warsaw, and Pilgrim's Progress, and lots more.--What
have you read?"
"I've never happened to read those partic'lar books; but land! I've
read a sight in my time! Nowadays I'm so drove I get along with the
Almanac, the Weekly Argus, and the Maine State Agriculturist.--There's
the river again; this is the last long hill, and when we get to the top
of it we'll see the chimbleys of Riverboro in the distance. 'T ain't
fur. I live 'bout half a mile beyond the brick house myself."
Rebecca's hand stirred nervously in her lap and she moved in her seat.
"I didn't think I was going to be afraid," she said almost under her
breath; "but I guess I am, just a little mite--when you say it's coming
so near."
~~ Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
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