if his eyes can be bad?"

"I don't believe they are," said Will Palmer; "he is keen-sighted enough
about everything else. Absent-mindedness is his great trouble; every
once in a while he gets his eyes fixed on something as if he couldn't
move them."

"He gets into a brown-study, you mean," suggested Forbes.

"That's it," assented Will.

"He's thinking about the splendors of the royal home that he is being
kept away from," said Napoleon Nott. "You just ought to read what sort
of place a royal home is," continued Notty. "I'll bring up the book some
day and read it aloud to all of you fellows."

"No you won't, Notty," said Canning Forbes; "not if we have any legs
left to run away with."

Some internal hints that supper-time was approaching broke up the game,
and the boys moved off the ground, by twos and threes, until only Paul
and Benny remained. Paul seemed in no particular hurry to start, and as
Benny never seemed to imagine that Paul could see himself safely home
from any place, he remained too.

"Benny," said Paul, suddenly, "did you ever see any one in jail?"

"No," said Benny, "I never did."

"Neither did I," said Paul, "but I'm curious to do so now. You needn't
go with me; the sight might pain you too much."

"What? Just to go to the jail, and look up at the windows? Oh no; _that_
won't hurt me. I've done that lots of times."

[Illustration: THE WINDOW OF THE COUNTERFEITER'S CELL.]

"Very well," said Paul, moving toward the jail. He looked up at the
windows as he walked; finally he stopped where he could look fairly at
the small window of the cell where the counterfeiter was. The sun was
not shining upon that side of the jail, so Benny could barely see there
was a face behind the window. Evidently the prisoner was standing on a
chair, for the little window was quite high. Paul's eyes seemed better
than Benny's, however, for he continued looking at that window for some
moments. When he finally turned away, it was because he could not see
any longer, for his eyes were full of tears.

"Why, you're crying!" exclaimed Benny, in some astonishment. "What is
the matter?"

"I'm so sorry for the poor fellow," replied Paul.

"I am too," said Benny, "awfully sorry. I wish I could cry about it, but
somehow my eyes don't work right to-day. Some days I can cry real
easily. Next time one of those days comes, I'll come over here with you,
and let you see what I can do."

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

SANDY HOOK--