“’Twas a terrible sight to see prince after prince fall dead

But the dragon only laughed with glee and said he’d have me to wed,”

to the happy ending of:

“I gazed out of my turret,—it was my wedding day

When suddenly I saw some one riding who was not far away

I watched the shine of his armour glitter in the sun’s bright ray

Then nimbly and quickly I saw him dismount. He had stopped to pray.

Then slowly arising I saw him make the sign of the cross

While grasping his sword in his right hand, he mounted upon his hoss.

“You know, Grandma, that worries me, to have to say ‘hoss.’ It isn’t just right but neither is ‘horse’ with ‘cross’.”

And so they discussed it seriously, Abbie who knew that one may laugh with a child but not at him, and Laura, who knew that Grandma was one unfailing source of sympathy and understanding in a world which was beginning to be critical.

“Now, tell me about when you were young, Grandma . . . some of the things you’ve never told me.”

“Well, there is something I never told one of my children . . . but now I’ll tell it to you. Before I married your grandfather, another young man wanted to marry me. He was quite the catch of the community.”

“Why didn’t you, Grandma . . . why didn’t you marry him?”

“I had a very pretty voice and he wanted me to marry him and go to New York to study music while he took some medical work. I was anxious to cultivate my voice and the whole thing was a very wonderful opportunity for me so I very nearly married the young man. But something happened that made me realize it was just the thought of the New York opportunity that was influencing my decision, rather than love for the young man himself.”

“What happened, Grandma?”

“I saw Will Deal coming down the lane.”

“Just coming down the lane, Grandma? Was that all?”

“Just coming down the lane.”

“What became of the young man, Grandma?”

“He became a big New York surgeon . . . so . . . if I had married him . . . my life would have been very different. I guess women have done that from time immemorial. A young man walks down a lane . . . and a whole life changes.”

“And you had to tell the other young man you wouldn’t marry him, Grandma?”

“Yes, . . . I told him.”

“Was he sad?”

“A little sad . . . and a little angry . . . and terribly surprised.”

“Why was he so surprised, Grandma?”

Abbie Deal smiled reminiscently. “I think it had never occurred to him that any girl would refuse him.”

“And what did he say?”

Abbie Deal pondered a moment. “That I cannot tell you.”

“Because it was too romantic, Grandma?”

“No . . .” said Abbie Deal. And by this, quite suddenly she knew that she was an old woman. “No . . . because I have forgotten.”