re."

"Does your grandma have any money now?" asked Flossie.

"A little. She sews and I run errands for the groceryman after school,
and earn a little. But it isn't much. I was glad when the fresh air
folks took me to the farm. I had lots to eat, and my grandmother had
more too, for she didn't have to feed me. She is going to the fresh air
farm some day, maybe."

"That will be nice," said Flossie. "We're going to Uncle Dan's farm
again next year, maybe, and perhaps your grandma can come there."

"I don't believe so," returned Tommie. "But anyhow I had fun, and I
weigh two pounds more than 'fore I went away, and I can run errands
faster now for Mr. Fitch."

"Why, he's our grocery man!" cried Freddie. "Do you work for him,
Tommy?"

"Sometimes, and sometimes I work for Mr. Schmidt, a butcher. But I don't
earn much. When I get through school I'll work all the while, and earn
lots of money. Then I'm going to hire a ship and go to look for my
father."

"I thought you said he was drowned in the ocean!" exclaimed Flossie.

"Well, maybe he is. But sometimes shipwrecked people get picked up by
other vessels and carried a long way off. And sometimes they get on an
island and have to stay a long time before they are taken off. Maybe
that happened to my father."

"Oh, maybe it did!" cried Freddie. "That would be great! Just like
Robinson Crusoe, Flossie! Don't you remember?"

"Yes, mother read us that story. I hope your father is on Robinson
Crusoe's island," she whispered to Tommy.

"I'll tell you what we'll do," said Freddie to the new boy. "When I get
home, I'll take all the money in my bank, and help you buy a ship. Then
we'll both go off together, looking for the desert island where your
father is; will you?"

"Yes," said Tommy, "I will, and thank you."

"I'm coming, too," said Flossie.

"No. Girls can't be on a ship!" said Freddie.

"Yes they can too! Can't they, Tommy?"

"Well, my mother was once on the ship with my father, I've heard my
grandma say."

"There, see!" cried Flossie. "Of course I'm coming! I'll do the cooking
for you boys."

"Oh, well, if you want to cook of course that's different," said
Freddie, slowly, as he thought about it.

"I'm going to ask my father how much I got saved up," he went on to
Tommy. "And how much it costs to buy a ship. He'll know for he sells
lumber. You wait here and I'll ask him."

Freddie slipped from the seat into the aisle of the car. Flossie stayed
to talk