ten o'clock before
Oh , it was glorious ! we all felt like a flock o ' birds -- hosses an ' all . In the first place it was spring , an ' that was excuse enough if the ' had n't been any other ; but two of us had gone into that day not on speakin ' terms , an ' now they were closer than ever , an ' the third one had brought 'em together . The old sayin ' is that three 's a crowd , but it took a crowd to hold all the joyfulness that we was luggin ' that night , an ' it was ten o'clock before we turned around on the velvet carpet an ' came swingin ' back to the house . We had to finish with a little race , an ' I was rejoiced to see that old Starlight had n't become a back number , even though the bay colt did make it a mighty close finish . As soon as we unsaddled , Barbie sort o ' whispered to me , `` I 'm awful glad you came back , Happy '' ; an ' then she ran into the house . Jabez shook hands an ' sez , `` It seems to me , Happy , that I 've been waitin ' for you for months .