CHAPTER II
I
IN SPITE of the festivities of the day before, the Colonel was up betimes. He liked the early morning and was never late abed; but to-day he had a duty to perform, a self-imposed duty that twice a week took him to town. Without breakfast he picked up his hat, kissed the bustling Allie, and took his stately way down toward the stables. The hat he picked up was not his customary flat brimmed Stetson. It was a silk hat of some queer vintage, also flat brimmed, very straight in the crown, a typical old "stove pipe." By it everybody from dogs and children up knew that the Colonel was going to drive to town.
He entered the stable and looked around, experiencing the same warm subconscious satisfaction in his surroundings as when he looked up through his Cathedral Oaks. It was a beautiful stable, high and clean, well lighted. The woodwork was all brightly varnished. Ornamental designs in straw and grain heads were laid cunningly above the doors; fancy tufts of the same material bound with red tape ornamented the tops of the posts between stalls. The drinking troughs were of white enamel. A huge cabinet with sliding glass panels and lined with red felt contained the well oiled harnesses with polished metal. Saddles were neatly arranged on trees projecting from the walls. Over each box-stall had been screwed a brass plate showing the name of the occupant.
This occupied one wing. The high central part of the stables was the carriage room with various equipages. Its floor was covered lightly with sand on which engaging patterns had been marked with a broom. Here two Mexicans were engaged in harnessing a fine pair of chestnuts to a light wagon. The other
49
