"Bring me some pussy willows, if you find them," said Miss Davis, when
she heard what they were planning to do. "Miss May wants some pussy
willows to root in water and then she will plant them in the yard and
perhaps they will grow." Sunny Boy promised to bring back pussy
willows, if they found any.
Friday came at last, and that meant he could leave his rubber boots
beside his bed where he could see them the first thing in the morning.
Somehow, Sunny Boy never felt that he was going on a long trip till he
saw the big trunk standing in the hall, waiting to be packed, and he
never felt that he was going on a little trip till he could put the
things he was to wear in neat piles ready to hop into.
"So you're going exploring to-day, are you?" said Daddy Horton, when he
kissed him good-bye the next morning. "Well, good luck to you, old
man. I hope you have an exciting adventure. And don't lose either of
your handsome boots!"
Sunny Boy laughed and went out on the front steps to wave to Daddy.
"It feels so nice," he said to his mother, when she came to tell him
that Mrs. Dunlap had telephoned that Oliver was going to call for Sunny
Boy. "I like spring, don't you, Mother?"
"I love the spring, precious," she answered, smiling. "Now come and
get your cap and the lunch Harriet has packed for you. I believe Mr.
Nelson is going to walk out to the car with you. Where are you going
to meet the other boys?"
"At the corner," replied Sunny Boy, snatching up his cap and struggling
into his sweater as he heard Oliver's whistle. "Thank you for making
me the lunch, Harriet," he cried, running toward the door. "Good-bye,
Mother," he said, running back to kiss her.
Oliver and Nelson and Mr. Baker were waiting for him on the sidewalk,
and when they reached the corner where the interurban trolley car
stopped to take on passengers, they found Perry Phelps and Jimmie
Butterworth and Leslie Bradin and Carleton Marsh, each with a box of
lunch under his arm.
"Going to Europe?" said the conductor, as he watched them climb into
his car. "Let them off at Lane's Corners," he repeated, as Mr. Baker
told him how far the boys were going. "All right, sir. Lane's Corners
it is. All aboard."
He pulled the bell and the car started. The seven little boys found
seats together at one end of the car, and the conductor made them laugh
all the way to Lane's Corners. There were only two other people in the
car, an elderly man and a
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