I'll warrant Kitty will detain us when
we stop for her, and we must hasten, for the sun will not stay up much
longer. Just let me find my muffler and my skates," and off tore Peter,
while Betty tucked up her gown preparatory to an afternoon on the
Collect Pond, whose frozen surface was the resort of all fashionable New
York, both those who joined the skaters, and others who watched them
from the surrounding banks, making a gay, bright winter scene for the
spectators as well as the participants.
It was some three weeks since Betty's eventful journey, and as the
strangeness of her new home and surroundings wore off she was beginning
to enjoy herself. First of all, the dear happiness of being once more
with Clarissa, who had brightened and strengthened each day since her
arrival; then Grandma Effingham's storehouse of anecdotes and pleasant
stories, to which Betty listened with delight and the respectful
deference that youth of those days paid to age; and last (though Betty
would have denied it stoutly) the frequent visits to the Verplancks of a
certain tall soldier, whose red coat made her eyes sparkle with disdain,
even while her heart beat quicker at sound of his voice.
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