"He's got you, Tom!" cried the youngest Rover. "Better cry quits and talk about something else. We all like those girls amazingly, and that's the end of it;" and then the subject was changed. It was almost dark when Oak Run was reached. Here a carriage, driven by Jack Ness, the Rovers' hired man, was in waiting for them. "Hullo, Jack!" cried Tom. "All well at home?" "Very well, Master Tom," was the answer. "And how are you, and how is Master Dick and Master Sam?" "All O. K. and top side up, Jack," said Sam. They were soon in the carriage, and then the hired man whipped up the team and away they sped across Swift River, through the village of Dexter's Corners, and then along the highway leading to the farm. "I see the lights of home!" sang out Sam, as they made the last turn. "I can tell you, it makes a fellow feel good, doesn't it?" "It's a true saying that there is no place like home," returned Dick. "Here we are!" The carriage made a turn around a clump of trees and then dashed up to the piazza. From the house rushed several people. "Here we are, father!" sang out Dick. "How are you, Uncle Randolph, and how are you, Aunt Martha?" "Dick!" cried Mr. Anderson Rover, and embraced his oldest son. "And Tom and Sam! I am glad to see you looking so well!" "My boys!" murmured their aunt, as of old, and gave each a sounding kiss. "Getting to be big young men," was their uncle's comment. "They won't be boys much longer." "I'm going to stay a boy all my life, Uncle Randolph," answered Tom, promptly. "By the way," he went on, with a merry twinkle in his eye, "how is scientific farming getting on?" "Splendidly, Thomas, splendidly." "Not losing money any more, then?" "Well--er--I have lost a little, just a little, this summer. But next summer I expect grand results." "Going to grow a new kind of turnip?" "No I--" "Or maybe it's a squash this time, uncle." "No, I am trying--" "Or a parsnip. I have heard there is a great call for parsnips in New Zealand. The natives use them for dyeing--" "Thomas!" interrupted his father, sternly. "Please don't start to joke so early. To-morrow will do." "All right, I'll subside," answered Tom. "But really, do you know, I'm bubbling all over, like an uncorked soda-water bottle." "Don't you feel hungry?" "Hungry! Just you try me and see." "I made a big cherry pie for you, Tom," said his aunt. "I know you like it." "Oh, Aunt Martha, that's worth an extra hug." He gave it to her. "Your pie can't be beat!" "And I've got some fried chicken. Dick likes that." "And I like it, too," said Sam. "Yes, I know it, Sam. But I made some spice cakes too--" "Oh, aunt, just my weakness!" cried the youngest Rover. "There's another kiss for you, and another! You're the best aunt a boy ever had!"