Joe laughed to his utmost capacity, which was not small. The old garret fairly rang again.
Florence uttered a horrified exclamation; and Kit said,—
"I'll go with you!"
"Girls don't run away," remarked Hal gravely.
"But I mean to, and it'll be royal fun," was the confident reply.
"Where will you go? and will you beg from door to door?" asked Joe quizzically.
"No: I'm going out in the woods," was the undaunted rejoinder. "I mean to find a nice cave; and I'll bring in a lot of good dry leaves and some straw, and make a bed. Then I'll gather berries; and I know how to catch fish, and I can make a fire and fry them. I'll have a gay time going off to the river and rambling round, and there'll be no lessons to plague a body to death. It will be just splendid."
"Suppose a bear comes along and eats you up?" suggested Joe.
"As if there were any bears around here!" Charlie returned with immense disdain.