Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/250

222, many of his possessions were stowed away in its depths; books, games, his air-rifle, several  yards of mosquito netting for butterfly-nets, a  choice collection of fish-hooks, and an odd  assortment of strings and small articles of hardware that filled it to the brim, leaving room for  not so much as a single handkerchief. Each day he added to his hoard, to the amusement of  his mother, who let him have his way until the  final packing, when she should bring order out  of chaos.

Fred scarcely looked forward to their going with as much pleasure as Rob, for at the idea  of the journey and of meeting so many  strangers, his shy sensitiveness returned in all  its force, and he would gladly have spent the  time alone with the servants at his father’s  house, rather than run the gauntlet of the  curious and thoughtless, though not unkind  comments that always met him when he went  among strangers.

However, it was a merry party that, one cloudy August morning, Mr. Carter escorted as  far as Boston, and settled in the train for  Albany, where they were to change to a