Jack on the Box Read Online Free PDF Page A

agreement.
    Acutely aware that his inattention had been for that very reason, Jack was hard-pressed to answer her courteously, but he spoke with admirable restraint. “You are mistaken, madam. A rein on one of the leaders simply broke. I cannot imagine how a passenger on the box could be considered responsible for that. It is one of those things that happens from time to time. I am sorry the horses bolted and caused you all such a fright, but I assure you the matter will be corrected as soon as possible.”
    His politeness had its usual effect, for even though a murmur greeted his words, it was largely in approval of the justness of his remarks. Taking this as a sign that he might now get on with the unpleasant task of walking the horses to the next village, Jack went back to unharness them.
    Davies climbed back up on his seat to unlock the box that held the mail. But, as Jack approached the front of the coach with the intention of offering to help his mysterious passenger down, she hailed him.
    “Pardon me,” she said eagerly, and without a trace of her earlier embarrassment, “but I think I might be of assistance.”
    Jack smiled openly at the notion that such a slight girl could help him with his wearisome task. He offered his hand to help her alight. “Could you, miss?” he indulgently asked.
    “Oh, yes, I’m almost certain,” she said, and began to fumble in her reticule.
     Jack watched her with undisguised delight, thinking it was almost worth having the accident to see what she would produce. In a moment, she had pulled a strange object from her bag and was holding it up triumphantly for his inspection.
    “There! You see?”
    Jack reached out and took the object from her. It was a contraption of sorts, made of a short strap of leather with a buckle on each end. As he examined it, Jack began to feel that perhaps it could be of use to him. He looked up at his passenger, his curiosity fully aroused.
    “What is it, if you please? How does it work?”
    The lady took back the contraption and walked over to the horses, with Jack half a step behind.
    “I will show you,” she said. “You see, you must simply cut a hole in each end of the broken strap and then thread each of them through a buckle—like this.” She showed him how the two ends fit into the buckles, and Jack could see that the contraption would indeed provide a temporary solution to his problem.
    “I don’t suppose you should go very far without having the harness repaired,” she concluded, “for it wasn’t meant to do more than help one on to the next stop. But it ought to hold as far as that.”
    “That far and then some,” Jack agreed. “What a clever device! How did you come by it?”
    “My grandfather made it,” she said proudly “He copied it from a friend’s invention. And he has always insisted that I carry it with me whenever I travel.”
    “It’s a stroke of genius!” Jack declared. “I will set to work on those holes right away.” He handed the device back to her, and, taking his knife, began to cut small holes through the broken pieces of harness. The young lady stood waiting patiently, and even seemed pleased to be assisting in such a task.
    When he had finished, Jack took the buckles from her again. “I must confess”—he grinned—”I did not see what you could possibly have in that reticule that would help.”
    She laughed. “I suppose you wouldn’t. And I will confess, in turn, that this is the first time I have had the opportunity to use it. I have transferred it from one reticule to the next many times, wondering if I was just being foolish. But I could not bring myself not to carry it when my grandfather trusted me to. I have almost become superstitious about it.”
    “Well, it certainly proved useful today. You will have my undying gratitude.” Smiling broadly, he nearly extended his hand before recollecting his position.
    She must have noted his aborted gesture, for she coloured and looked away. “I