Suddenly he straightened up. “Boys,” he exclaimed. “I’ll blot out the past so far as I can. I’ll start new, if Mary will. I haven’t been any too good myself. I know where she’ll go to-day. I’ll hunt her up on the way back.” With this resolution made he became quite jovial and talked very cheerfully all the distance to the depot. “Boys,” said he, as he shook hands at parting, “I’m glad you’ve been up here. You’re good fellows. I like to talk with you. Birdie, I know, will miss you a good deal, now you’re gone. She told me only yesterday, ‘I wish Mr. Clayton and Mr. Holmes would stay up here a long time, so I could learn to talk nice, the way they do.’ If you ever get around this way again be sure to come and see Jules the Frenchman.” The train rumbled into the station at that moment, and the campers hastily bade a last adieu and were off. [Illustration: AFTER A STORM] [Transcriber’s Note: Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.] End of Project Gutenberg's The New England Country, by Clifton Johnson