uccess was so little, that I lost my temper entirely.
First they insisted upon playing on a part of the lawn which the sun
had not yet reached. Then, while I had gone into the house for a match
to light my cigar, Toddie had gone with his damp shoes into the middle
of the road, where the dust was ankle deep. Then they got upon their
hands and knees on the piazza and played bear. Each one wanted to pick
a bouquet for his mother, and Toddie took the precaution to smell every
flower he approached--an operation which caused him to get his nose
covered with lily-pollen, so that he looked like a badly used
prize-fighter. In one of their spasms of inaction, Budge asked:--

"What makes some of the men in church have no hair on the tops of their
heads, Uncle Harry?"

"Because," said I, pausing long enough to shake Toddie for trying to
get my watch out of my pocket, "because they have bad little boys to
bother them all the time, so their hair drops out."

"I dess MY hairs is a-goin' to drop out pitty soon, then," remarked
Toddie, with an injured air.

"Harness the horses, Mike," I shouted.

"An' the goat, too," added Budge.

Five minutes later I was seated in the carriage, or rather in Tom's
two-seated open wagon. "Mike," I shouted, "I forgot to tell Maggie to
have some lunch ready for the folks when they get here--run, tell her,
quick, won't you?"

"Oye, oye, sur," said Mike, and off he went.

"Are you all ready, boys?" I asked.

"In a minute," said Budge; "soon as I fix this. Now," he continued,
getting into his seat, and taking the reins and whip, "go ahead."

"Wait a moment, Budge--put down that whip, and don't touch the goat
with it once on the way. I'm going to drive very slowly--there's plenty
of time, and all you need to do is to hold your reins."

"All right," said Budge, "but I like to look like mans when I drive."

"You may do that when somebody can run beside you. Now!"

The horses started at a gentle trot, and the goat followed very
closely. When within a minute of the depot, however, the train swept
in. I had intended to be on the platform to meet Tom and Helen, but my
watch was evidently slow. I gave the horses the whip, looked behind and
saw the boys were close upon me, and I was so near the platform when I
turned my head that nothing but the sharpest of turns saved me from a
severe accident. The noble animals saw the danger as quickly as I did,
however, and turned in marvelously small space; as they