"But I do not look upon them as some narrow-minded people do.
Whiskers-on-the-moon says the Government should be turned out of office
for permitting them to run on the Island at all. He foams at the mouth,
they tell me, when he sees one. The other day he saw one coming along
that narrow side-road by his wheatfield, and Whiskers bounded over the
fence and stood right in the middle of the road, with his pitchfork. The
man in the machine was an agent of some kind, and Whiskers hates agents
as much as he hates automobiles. He made the car come to a halt, because
there was not room to pass him on either side, and the agent could not
actually run over him. Then he raised his pitchfork and shouted, 'Get
out of this with your devil-machine or I will run this pitchfork clean
through you.' And Mrs. Dr. dear, if you will believe me, that poor agent
had to back his car clean out to the Lowbridge road, nearly a mile,
Whiskers following him every step, shaking his pitchfork and bellowing
insults. Now, Mrs. Dr. dear, I call such conduct unreasonable; but all
the same," added Susan, with a sigh, "what with aeroplanes and
automobiles and all the rest of it, this Island is not what it used to
be."
The aeroplane soared and dipped and circled, and soared again, until it
became a mere speck far over the sunset hills.
"'With the majesty of pinion Which the Theban eagles bear Sailing with
supreme dominion Through the azure fields of air.
Pages:
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326