strict application, and only at rare intervals was it possible for him to
find a few leisure moments for Randy, and when October came it was with
regret that he said "good-bye," although his heart was full of
anticipation.

"You will miss me, Randy?" he had asked, and Randy had answered frankly,

"I shall, indeed. Every one who has ever known you will miss you, Jotham."

At the village school the weeks had passed with cheerful monotony. Lessons
were learned and recited with a regularity which failed to be tedious
since the pupils possessed much enthusiasm.

The little ones, especially Prue Weston and Hi Babson furnished amusement
for the older classes, Prue with her unique answers, and Hi with his
countless pranks.

Upon one occasion, Miss Gilman, thinking to make a little problem clear by
using names of well known objects asked, "If I had five pears and gave
you two, Prue, how many would that leave?"

"'Twouldn't be half," said Prue, "so 'twouldn't be fair."

At another time Prue was much interested in a little picture in her
arithmetic which represented a man walking beside a horse and cart.

"If it takes a horse two hours to drag a load of stones to town," said
Miss Gilman, "how long--"

"But," interrupted Prue, "if it took the horse as long as that, why didn't
the man hitch on another horse?"

Laughter greeted this original solving of the problem by practical little
Prue, and Miss Gilman decided that examples expressed in ordinary numbers
would be far better for this little girl who found an odd question for
every pictured problem.

Thus the days passed. The Sundays spent at the old meeting-house, and the
week-days filled with work at home and at school, with a running
accompaniment of gossip filling the spaces.

But one morning something occurred which filled the scholars with
excitement, and aroused the interest or curiosity of nearly every one in
the village.

Randy Weston had received a letter from Boston, and such a letter, too!

CHAPTER V

RANDY'S JOURNEY

"Jest the moment I git these dishes done and a few other little chores
that I can't leave standin', I'll run over to Almiry's and see 'f she's
heerd 'bout the Boston letter that Randy Weston got. My! but that was a
letter wuth gittin'.

"I don't b'lieve Almiry's heerd 'bout it, an' I'm baound to be the fust
one ter tell her," said Mrs. Sophrony Hodgkins.

Soon her tasks were completed, and she went the shortest way across the