Side Saddle for Dandy

When Cordelia rode up to Long Meadow in her fine coach and announced that Dandy had no more manners than a mongrel puppy, the young Clarks feared the worst. And sure enough, Papa decided that it was high time for Dandy to stop being another of the Clark boys and learn to take his place as mistress of the plantation household. The future, as he and Aunt Cordelia mapped it out, looked grim.

Side saddle and long skirts for Dandy, who had ridden like a buckskinned frontiersman ever since she could remember! Dainty cousin Polly Smythe to come from Williamsburg and teach the steps of the minuet, the fingering of the spinet. Bemba, the stately housekeeper, to instruct the slippery-fingered Dandy in the use of herbs and poultices. Small wonder she nearly decided to join the militia with her brother Chris.

How events conspired to change her mind is a delightful story. A Shawnee raid and a secret cave provide excitement and a handsome young Bill Rutherford lends the final impetus for Dandy's transformation.