r of Alice Fern. The Major had no
objections to the students of Wellington and Exmoor using his woods for
picnics, but the Exmoor boys were not given to such excursions and it
was a long drive from Wellington, six miles over a rough road. However,
Fern Woods it was to be this time, and away went the two vans, Judy
blowing her trumpet with a grand flourish as they passed out of the
Wellington grounds.

The Ramble was always the occasion for the most childish behavior among
the seniors; a last frenzied outburst, as it were, before putting away
childish things for all time and settling down to the serious work of
life.

And now the seniors in the first wagon stood up and began singing back
to the girls in the second wagon:

"Seniors, do you hear the call?
Great Pan has blest the day.
Heed the summons, one and all,
_Voulez vous danser?_"

The seniors behind answered:

"We will make the welkin ring,
_Voulez vous danser?_
Sound the trumpet, shout and sing,
_Voulez vous danser?_"

"I think this should be called the 'Senior Rumble,' and not ramble,"
some one said, as the wagon groaned and creaked on the hilly road.

"What's the matter with 'Grumble'?" asked Mabel Hinton.

But there was no real grumbling, although the six miles that lay between
Fern Woods and Wellington included some rough roads. They were jolted
and shaken and tumbled about and there were shrieks of laughter and
cries of "Wait, wait! I'd rather walk!" But the stolid driver went
calmly on without taking the slightest notice.

"One would think we were a lot of inmates in a crazy wagon," cried
Molly, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.

A box of salted nuts had come open and the contents were scattered all
over the bed of the wagon, and some apples had tumbled out of a hamper
and were rolling about under people's feet.

"If I had known--if I had only known that this was going to be the rocky
road to Dublin, wild horses couldn't have dragged me," cried Jessie.

At last after a time of infinite confusion the wagons drew up at the
edge of a forest and there was sudden quiet in the noisy company. It was
as if they stood at the threshold of a great cathedral, so still and
majestic were the woods. Through the dense greenness of the pines there
was an occasional flash of a silver birch. The scarlets and yellows of
oak and maple trees gleamed here and there, making a rich background for
the somber com