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Tarkington, Booth, 1869-1946

"The Gentleman from Indiana"

"
"I know."
"I was sorry and ashamed about all that conspicuousness and shouting. It
must have been very unpleasant for you; it must have been so, for a
stranger. Please try to forgive me for letting you in for it."
"But I liked it. It was 'all in the family,' and it was so jolly and good-
natured, and that dear old man was so bright. Do you know," she said
softly, "I don't think I'm such a stranger--I--I think I love all these
people a great deal--in spite of having known them only two days."
At that a wild exhilaration possessed him. He wanted to shake hands with
everybody in the tent, to tell them all that he loved them with his whole
heart, but, what was vastly more important, _she_ loved them a great deal
--in spite of having known them only two days!
He made the horses prance on the homeward drive, and once, when she told
him that she had read a good many of his political columns in the
"Herald," he ran them into a fence. After this it occurred to him that
they were nearing their destination and had come at a perversely sharp
gait; so he held the roans down to a snail's pace (if it be true that a
snail's natural gait is not a trot) for the rest of the way, while they
talked of Tom Meredith and books and music, and discovered that they
differed widely about Ibsen.
They found Mr. Fisbee in the yard, talking to Judge Briscoe.


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