arrival of the
telegram Uncle Dick had been expecting from Mountain Camp. Mrs. Jonathan
Canary had signed it herself and it was to the effect that the young
friends of Mr. Richard Gordon would be as welcome as that gentleman
himself.

Bob immediately saddled a horse and galloped to the Derbys and the Tuckers
to carry the news. Final plans were made for departure the next morning
and in spite of a rather threatening change in the weather the party left
Fairfields on time and in high spirits for upper New York State.

A few flakes of snow had begun fluttering down as the train pulled out of
Washington; and as it raced across the Maryland fields and through the
hills which grace that State the snow blew faster and faster and thicker
and thicker. But even in midwinter snow storms do not much obstruct
traffic so far south, and the gay party from Fairfields had no suspicion
that it was being borne into any peril or trouble. What was a little snow
which scarcely, at first, caught upon the brown fields?

They had engaged two whole sections for the young folks and an extra place
for Uncle Dick. The latter did not interfere at all with the fun and
frolic of his charges. He was--he should have been--used by now to the
ridiculous antics of the Tucker twins and the overflowing spirits of the
rest of the octette. Bachelor as he was, Mr. Richard Gordon considered
himself pretty well acquainted with young folks of their age.

The two sections occupied by the eight girls and boys were opposite each
other and they had that end of the car pretty much to themselves. Of
course, people sometimes had to go through the aisle--and others besides
the conductor and the porter; but after running the gauntlet of that
lively troop once the restless passenger usually tried to keep out of the
"line of fire."

The fun the party had was good-natured sport for the most part. Their
practical jokes were aimed at each other rather than at their fellow
passengers. But it was a fact that there was very little peace for a
nervous person in that Pullman coach.

"We're the live-wire octette, and we are going to let everybody know it,"
proclaimed Tommy Tucker vociferously. "Say! there's a chap up at the other
end of the car, sprawled all over his seat--fresh kid, he is. Did you
notice him?"

"I did," replied his twin. "I fell over his foot twice when I went for a
drink."

"Why didn't you look where you were walking?" grinned Bob Henderson
craning his n