were at the door now. The light wagon had three seats in it,
but when Dab's trunk was in, there was only room left for the ladies;
Ham and Dab had to walk to the station.

It was a short walk, however, and a silent one, but as they came in
sight of the platform, Dab exclaimed:

"There they are, all of them!"

"The whole party?"

"Why, the platform's as crowded as our house was last night."

Mrs. Kinzer and her daughters were already the center of the crowd of
young people, and Ford Foster and Frank Harley, with Joe and Fuz Hart
were asking what had become of Dab, for the train was in sight.

A moment later, as the puffing locomotive drew up by the water-tank, the
conductor stepped out on the platform, exclaiming:

"Look a here, folks. This aint right. If there was going to be a picnic
you'd ought to have sent word, and I'd have tacked on an extra car.
You'll have to pack in, now, best you can."

He seemed much relieved when he found how small a part of the crowd were
to be his passengers.

"Dab," said Ford, "this is your send-off, not ours. You'll have to make
a speech."

Dab did want to say something, but he had just kissed his sisters and
his mother, and half a dozen of his school-girl friends had followed the
example of Jenny Walters, and then Mrs. Foster had kissed him, and Ham
Morris had shaken hands with him, and Dab could not have said a loud
word to have saved his life.

"Speech!" whispered Ford, mischievously, as Dab stepped upon the
platform; but Dick Lee, who had just escaped from the tremendous hug his
mother had given him, came to his friend's aid in the nick of time. Dick
felt that "he must shout, or he should go off," as he afterward told the
boys, and so at the top of his shrill voice he shouted:

"Hurrah for Cap'n Kinzer! Dar aint no better feller lef' along shore!"

And, amid a chorus of cheers and laughter, and a grand waving of white
handkerchiefs, the engine gave a deep, hysterical cough, and hurried the
train away.

The two homesteads by the Long Island shore were a little lonely for a
while, after the departure of all those noisy, merry young fellows. Mr.
Foster had enough to do in the city, and Ham Morris had his farm to
attend to, besides doing more than a little for Mrs. Kinzer. It was much
the better for both estates that he had that notable manager at his
elbow. The ladies, however, old and young, had plenty of time to come
together and wonder how the boys were getting along