, she could not steal, or do
anything else that was bad; and the prospect was decidedly
pleasant. It was very agreeable to turn from Tom to Annie, and in a
moment his air castle was built again, and throned on clouds of gold
and purple. I do not know what impossible things he imagined, or how
far up in the clouds he would have gone, if the arrival of the train
at the city had not interrupted his thoughts, and pitched him down
upon the earth again.

Bobby was not one of that impracticable class of persons who do
nothing but dream; for he felt that he had a mission to perform which
dreaming could not accomplish. However pleasant it may be to think of
the great and brilliant things which one _will_ do, to one of
Bobby's practical character it was even more pleasant to perform
them. We all dream great things, imagine great things; but he who
stops there does not amount to much, and the world can well spare him,
for he is nothing but a drone in the hive. Bobby's fine imaginings
were pretty sure to bring out a "now or never," which was the pledge
of action, and the work was as good as done when he had said it.

Therefore, when the train arrived, Bobby did not stop to dream any
longer. He forgot his beautiful air castle, and even let Annie Lee
slip from his mind for the time being. Those towns upon the Kennebec,
the two hundred books he was to sell, loomed up before him, for it was
with them he had to do.

Grasping the little valise he carried with him, he was hastening out
of the station house when a hand was placed upon his shoulder.

"Got off slick--didn't I?" said Tom Spicer, placing himself by Bobby's
side.

"You here, Tom!" exclaimed our hero, gazing with astonishment at his
late companion.

It was not an agreeable encounter, and from the bottom of his heart
Bobby wished him anywhere but where he was. He foresaw that he could
not easily get rid of him.

"I am here," replied Tom. "I ran through the woods to the depot, and
got aboard the cars just as they were starting. The old man couldn't
come it over me quite so slick as that."

"But you ran away from home."

"Well, what of it?"

"A good deal, I should say."

"If you had been in my place, you would have done the same."

"I don't know about that; obedience to parents is one of our first
duties."

"I know that; and if I had had any sort of fair play, I wouldn't have
run away."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Bobby, somewhat surprised, though he
had