. I hope you get it.

"WILL."

CHAPTER VII

OFF FOR FLORIDA

Grace was in tears when her father finished reading Will's pathetic
letter. Nor were the eyes of her chums altogether dry, for they all
liked Will, who seemed as much a brother to them as he did to his own
sister.

"We--we mustn't let mamma know this," announced Grace, when she had
regained control of herself. "It would prostrate her."

"Yes, we must keep it from her if we can," agreed Mr. Ford.

"To think of poor Will being in with--with criminals," went on his
sister. "It will be a terrible experience for him."

"Perhaps they are not desperate criminals," suggested Amy, as a sort of
ray of hope.

"No, I do not believe they are," said Mr. Ford, frankly. "The State
would not let contractors hire them if they were. I suppose they are
mostly young men who have been guilty of slight violations of the law,
and hard work is the best punishment for them. But I certainly am sorry
for Will.

"I had no idea that when, to punish him for what was more
thoughtlessness than anything else, I sent him South, it would turn out
this way. I regret it very much."

"But it wasn't your fault, Daddy," declared Grace. "It just couldn't be
helped. But Will is brave--his letter shows that. Oh, can you help him?"

"I certainly shall, daughter," and Mr. Ford put his hand on Grace's
head, now bowed in grief. "I will write to Uncle Isaac at once, and have
him get in touch with the authorities. They should be able to tell where
the different gangs of prisoners have been sent, and by investigating
each one we can, by elimination, find Will. Then it will be an easy
matter to get him home. And I think he will be very glad to see Deepdale
again, in spite of the fact that he wanted to start out for himself to
'make good.' I hope the lesson will not be too hard for him."

"If we could only do something!" exclaimed Betty.

"Yes, girls always seem so--so helpless at a time like this," murmured
Mollie. "Oh, I wish I were a--man!"

"Tut--tut!" exclaimed Mr. Ford, with a laugh, something he had seldom
indulged in of late. "We couldn't get along without our girls. You can
offer sympathy, if nothing else, and often that is something as real as
actual service. But I don't agree that you girls are helpless. You have
proved in the past that you outdoor lassies can do things, and I would
not be surprised in the future if you gave further evidence of it."

Though h