"Drive on!" she pleaded desperately. "Drive on quickly!"
"But how can I?" he returned with a gesture of futility.
At that instant the colonel caught sight of the lion. His mouth fell open. He drew back in surprise. Then he did something that he had not done in years. He put aside all the care and sadness of the world; he surrendered what little dignity the downpour had left him, and throwing back his head, he bellowed with laughter.
A sudden shift in the jam of vehicles let the hearse move out of their sight, but the colonel followed it with his eyes as far as he could see it, leaning out of the carriage for one last look, and roaring and chortling until he was weak.
By the time the carriage had reached the Cane homestead Mr. Cane was beaming, in spite of his disheveled appearance.
"Yes, sir," he boasted, "that boy of mine is certainly a skeezix! Great sense of humor; he can get fun out of anything--even a funeral! What do you think of that boy of mine anyway, Colonel?"
"_Ours!_" Mrs. Cane corrected. "_Our_ boy!"
Cane's Marital Band never formally disbanded. Except as it was dissolved by the rain it is still legally extant. But it never assembled again after its initial appearance in public. However, its short term of activity furnished the town with a topic of conversation for some time to come; and although the subject was studiously avoided in the Cane household, it was freely discussed in the barn.
Sube was unable to explain just how he happened to get into the hearse. He didn't know, himself. And when pressed for particulars he instantly took the defensive.
"I guess I didn't want to get wet, did I?" he demanded.
"Wet! Say, you was soaked before you ever went near that hearse!" cried Gizzard, who was still suffering from a slight twinge of envy.
"Well, Hi Wilbur, who was drivin' it, hollered to me to shut the doors, and when I was shuttin' 'em I saw how nice and dry it was inside, so I told Biscuit to bring the drum down here to the barn, and I climbed in and slammed the doors and had a bully ride! And say! I didn't tell you about the drum, did I?"
"No, you didn't," muttered Gizzard, as there materialized before his eyes a sadly ruptured drumhead. "What you goin' to do about it, anyway?"