`` Do n't you love to ride ? '' asked Grace of Amy , as they stood resting after a race round the field with the others , led by Ned . `` I dote upon it . My sister , Meg , used to ride when Papa was rich , but we do n't keep any horses now , except Ellen Tree , '' added Amy , laughing . `` Tell me about Ellen Tree . Is it a donkey ? '' asked Grace curiously . `` Why , you see , Jo is crazy about horses and so am I , but we 've only got an old sidesaddle and no horse . Out in our garden is an apple tree that has a nice low branch , so Jo put the saddle on it , fixed some reins on the part that turns up , and we bounce away on Ellen Tree whenever we like . '' `` How funny ! '' laughed Grace . `` I have a pony at home , and ride nearly every day in the park with Fred and Kate . It 's very nice , for my friends go too , and the Row is full of ladies and gentlemen . '' `` Dear , how charming ! I hope I shall go abroad some day , but I 'd rather go to Rome than the Row , '' said Amy , who had not the remotest idea what the Row was and would n't have asked for the world . Frank , sitting just behind the little girls , heard what they were saying , and pushed his crutch away from him with an impatient gesture as he watched the active lads going through all sorts of comical gymnastics . Beth , who was collecting the scattered Author cards , looked up and said , in her shy yet friendly way , `` I 'm afraid you are tired . Can I do anything for you ? '' `` Talk to me , please . It 's dull , sitting by myself , '' answered Frank , who had evidently been used to being made much of at home .
If he asked her to deliver a Latin oration , it would not have seemed a more impossible task to bashful Beth , but there was no place to run to , no XXXXX to hide behind now , and the poor boy looked so wistfully at her that she bravely resolved to try .
Author Beth Frank Jo Kate Meg Ned Papa Rome Row