Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/75

 the same conclusion. So did their fathers and mothers; and so it came about that a couple of Mr. Wayring's handsome cottages, on the other side of the lake, were rented until such time as Mr. Farnsworth and his brother-in-law could erect houses on the grounds they had leased in the village.

Tom and his cousins lost no time in getting ready to enjoy themselves. Before another week had passed away, they had the finest sail and row boats, and the most expensive canoes on the lake; and in anticipation of their immediate admittance to the ranks of the Toxophilites, they sent for a supply of bows and arrows and ordered uniforms of their tailor. But the old saying, that there's many a slip, held good in their case; and this was the way they found it out:

One afternoon they and their parents were invited to a lawn party, at which the Toxophilites, girls as well as boys, appeared in force and in uniform, the girls wearing white dresses, green sashes and badges, and light straw hats, turned up at the side and fastened by a tiny silver arrow, which, at