The Outdoor Girls in Florida | Page 6

heavier punishment, now that he was away from home, no one knew where.
Mr. Ford came down from his wife's room. Grace glided out to him.
"How is she?" the girl inquired.
"I have made her feel a little easier," he announced. "Now we will hear what Uncle Isaac has to say."
It was not a great deal.
"I put Will right to work, as you directed me, Jim," the visitor said to his brother. "Work is good for boys, and I started him at the bottom of the ladder. That's what you wanted; wasn't it?"
"Well, I did think so at the time, after he got into that scrape," said Mr. Ford. "I was pretty well provoked, but I begin to think now I was a bit too harsh with him."
"Nonsense!" snorted Uncle Isaac. "Harshness is good for boys. I wasn't any harsher on him than on any of the boys that work in my mill. I made him toe the mark--that's all."
"But Will has a sensitive nature," said his father slowly. "Did he give any intimation that he was going to leave?"
"Not a bit. He did his work well--that is, as well as any boys do. None of 'em are much good."
Grace caught her breath. She started to say something, but her father, by a slight motion of his head, stopped her.
"Will stayed at my home, you know," went on Uncle Isaac. "I did the best by him I knew. I didn't let him out nights, I made him read good and helpful books like 'Pilgrims Progress,' and others of the kind, and I kept him from the moving pictures.
"Well the first thing I knew he wasn't in his room when I went to call him one morning, and there was this note."
He held it out. Mr. Ford read it eagerly. All it said was:
"I can't stand it any longer. I'm going to quit."
"And he had packed up his things and left," went on Uncle Isaac. "I was dumbfounded, I was. I didn't think it was much use to hunt for him as I thought he'd come right home. He had some money--you know you gave him some."
Mr. Ford nodded.
"I didn't write, as I calculated on coming up North," went on Uncle Isaac. "Then when I telephoned, and found Will hadn't come home, I didn't know what to think."
"Nor I either," said Mr. Ford, "when you stopped in at my office and told me. When did he leave your house?"
"It will be a week to-morrow."
"And never a word from him in all that time," mused the father. "I don't like it."
Grace felt her eyes filling with tears. Betty patted her hand.
"Well, something will have to be done," said Mr. Ford with a sigh. "Isaac, let's talk this over, and see what we can do. I may have to go to Atlanta to straighten this out. I don't believe Will would deliberately set out to cause us worry."
"I'm sure he wouldn't!" declared Grace, eagerly.
Her father and uncle left to go to Mr. Ford's private office in the house, for he was a lawyer, and kept a large library at home. The girls sat in the main library, looking at one another with sad eyes.
"Oh, isn't it too bad--just after we had such fun in our winter camp!" exclaimed Grace. "Poor Will! It does seem as if there was nothing happy in this world any more."
"Oh, don't feel that way!" protested Betty. "Come, have you girls no good news to cheer her up with?" she asked, looking at Mollie and Amy.
"I'm afraid I haven't--unless it's to tell the latest funny thing Dodo and Paul did," spoke Mollie. "And I detest telling of children's pranks."
"How about you, Amy? Can't you cheer up Grace?"
"Well, I did mean to tell you when I came in; but seeing Grace so upset I almost forgot it," said Amy.
"Forgot what?" asked Betty with a smile. "Girls, I am almost sure it's something good, Amy has such a quiet way with her that she always has unexpected pleasure for us."
"I don't know whether this will be pleasure or not," went on Amy with a blush, "but Uncle Stonington (I'm going to call him that, though he is no relation)" she interjected, "Uncle Stonington has bought an orange grove in Florida, and we can have all the oranges we want. If that's good news," she finished.
"It is--fine!" declared Mollie.
"And we were talking about it to-day," resumed the quiet girl, "and he said perhaps he would take Aunty down there to stay until spring, as her health is not very good. And I'll probably go----"
"Oh, Amy!"
It was a protesting chorus.
"And I mentioned you girls, and Uncle Stonington said I could bring you down--if you'd come--all of you--to a Florida orange grove."
"Amy Stonington--I mean Blackford--I'm just going to hug you!" cried Betty. "Go! Of course we'll