next morning dawned fresh and fair, with clear sunshine,
and dust thoroughly laid on the roads, so that every thing seemed to
smile on the excursion. There was but one discord in the general joy,
which was that poor little Washington Wheeler must be left behind,
with his measles and his disappointment. Eyebright felt so sorry for
him that she told Wealthy she was afraid she shouldn't enjoy herself;
but bless her! no sooner were they fairly off, than she forgot
Washington and every thing else, except the nice time they were
having; and neither she nor any one beside noticed the very red and
very tear-stained little face, pressed against the pane of the upper
window of Mr. Wheeler's house, to watch the big wagon roll through the
village.

Such a big wagon, and packed so very full! There were twenty-three of
them, including Miss Fitch, and Ben, the driver, and how they all got
in is a mystery to this day. The big girls held the little ones in
their laps, the boys were squeezed into the bottom, which was made
soft with straw, and somehow every body did have a place, though how,
I can't explain. The road was new to them after the first two or three
miles, and a new road is always exciting, especially when, as this
did, it winds and turns, now in the woods, and now out, now sunshiny,
and now shady, and does not give you many chances to look ahead and
see what you are coming to. They passed several farmhouses, where boys
whom they had never seen before ran out and raised a shout at the
sight of the wagon and its merry load. A horse in a field, who looked
like a very tame, good-natured horse indeed, took a fancy to them, and
trotted alongside till stopped by a fence. Then he flung up his head
and whinnied, as if calling them to come back, which made the children
laugh. Soon after that they reached a bit of woodland, where trees
arched over the road and made it cool and shady, and there they saw a
squirrel, running just ahead of the wagon over the pine needles. He
did not seem to notice them at first, but the boys whooped and
hurrahed, and _then_ he was off in a minute, flashing up a tree-trunk
like a streak of striped lightning. This was delightful; and no less
so a flight of crows which passed overhead, cawing, and flying so low
that the children could see every feather in their bodies, which shone
in the sun like burnished green-black jet, and the glancing of their
thievish eyes.

"Going to steal from some farmer's wheat-c