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Tale of Daddy Long Legs, The

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<h2>XIII</h2> <h3>A DANGEROUS BUSINESS</h3> Sandy Chipmunk did not tell Daddy Longlegs how he had been tied up in the sack of wheat and had had a ride in the wagon himself. He did not like riding in wagons. And he had been so glad to escape from the sack and jump into the bushes by the roadside that he had stopped to dance on Daddy's tree before scampering back home. His suggestion took Daddy Longlegs by surprise. At first he felt a bit timid about riding in a wagon. But Sandy Chipmunk assured him it was not half as bad as it was said to be. "Is it far to the road?" Daddy asked him. "Not if you hurry," Sandy told him. "If you start now you surely ought to be able to reach the road by the time old Ebenezer passes this field." "Ebenezer! Who's he?" Daddy inquired. "Oh! He's the horse that draws the wagon you're going to ride in," Sandy Chipmunk explained. Daddy Longlegs thought deeply for a few minutes—or as deeply as anybody could who had so small a head as he. And then he said: "I'll try your plan, for I want to go home. But it's very dangerous for me to do so much walking on such a windy day as this." "Come on!" cried Sandy. "I'll show you the way to the road." And having started Daddy in the right direction, he hastened off to the road himself, to wait for the wagon. Sandy waited by the roadside for a long, long time. And while he was lingering there, Daddy Longlegs was battling with the wind and having hard work to keep his feet. But by hurrying along fences, and dodging behind bowlders and bushes and every other sort of shelter that he could find, Daddy managed to reach the roadside at last, where he arrived quite out of breath. "Hurrah!" Sandy Chipmunk shouted, as soon as Daddy joined him. "Here you are—and you're just in time! For there's the wagon rattling down the next hill. And old Ebenezer (that's the horse, please remember!) he'll climb this rise as fast as he can, because he's in a hurry to get home." "He can't be half as anxious to reach home as I am," Daddy Longlegs remarked. "And if he doesn't go his fastest after I'm aboard the wagon I hope Johnnie Green will whip him hard." "Johnnie can't do that," said Sandy Chipmunk. "His father won't let him have a whip." "Well, he could cut a switch, I should think!" Daddy Longlegs exclaimed. But Sandy shook his head. "Johnnie's grandmother wouldn't let him do that," he replied. "But you don't need to worry. You'll get home soon enough." Soon the two watchers saw the old horse Ebenezer come jogging up the road. And then Sandy Chipmunk said something that sent Daddy Longlegs into a flutter of excitement. "Here they come!" cried Sandy. "You'd better stand right in the middle of the road, so you'll be sure to stop them." And the mere thought of doing such a dangerous thing as that made Daddy Longlegs turn quite pale. <hr class="chapter" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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