"Silence, both of you! Randolph, do send them off."
"Very well, I will. Boys, you must go away from the house for an hour or two."
"Can we go fishing or swimming?" asked Tom.
"No, I don't want you to go near the river—you may get drowned."
"We can both swim," ventured Sam.
"Never mind—it is not safe—and your poor father left you in my care."
"Can we go down to the village?"
"No, you might get into bad company there."
"Then where shall we go?" came from both boys simultaneously.
Randolph Rover scratched his head in perplexity. He had never had any children of his own, and to manage his brother's offspring was clearly beyond him. "You might—er—go down to the cornfield, and study the formation of the ears——"
"Send them blackberrying," suggested Mrs. Rover. "We want the berries for pies to-morrow, and it will give them something to do."
"Very well; boys, you may go blackberrying. And mind you keep out of mischief."
"We'll mind," answered Tom. "But you might let me have that ball."
"I will give it to you in the morning," an-
