[Gutenberg 36740] • Peggy Owen, Patriot: A Story for Girls

"Oh, gracious!" The exclamation burst from the lips of a slender girl mounted upon a small black mare, and she drew rein abruptly. "What is it, Peggy?" asked a sweet-faced matron, leaning from the side of a "one horse chair" drawn up under the shade of a tree by the roadside. "What hath happened? Thee seems dismayed." "I am, mother," answered the girl, springing lightly from the back of the horse. "My saddle girth hath broken, and both Robert and Tom are back with the wagons. There is a breakdown. What shall I do? This will cause another delay, I fear." "Thee can do nothing, Peggy, until Robert returns. Try to content thyself until then." "I could repair it myself, I believe, if I only had a string," said the maiden. "I wonder if there isn't one in the chaise. Let's look, mother." Throwing the bridle over her arm the girl joined her mother, and the two began a hasty search of the vehicle.