The dinner came to an end all too soon to suit the Pony Rider Boys, and the party moved towards the drawing room. Stacy, seating Miss Millicent, strolled to one of the broad, open windows which had been swung back against the wall on their hinges. The fat boy thought this window opened out on the veranda, so he stepped out for a breath of air, but his feet touched nothing more substantial than air. Stacy took a tumble into the side yard, landing on his head and shoulders. The young women of the family cried out in alarm when they saw the fat boy disappearing through the window.
"Are you hurt? Are you hurt?" cried the Clowneys, rushing to the window, the Major leaping out with the agility of youth.
"Hurt?" piped a voice from the darkness. "Certainly not. Just settling my dinner, that's all. I usually do this. Sometimes when I am out in the woods and there isn't a house to jump from, I just climb a tree after dinner and fall out."
"I think we had better get Stacy home before he gets into more serious difficulty," said Tad in a low tone to the Professor.
"I agree with you, Tad. However, he has done his worst, I guess. Look at his coat. It is ripped for six inches at the shoulder," groaned the Professor.
"That must have been where he hit the side yard," smiled Tad, after quiet had been restored.
After half an hour of pleasant conversation, during which the fat boy entertained Miss Millicent with stories of his prowess in mountain and on plain, the Pony Rider Boys took their leave, voting the Clowneys the most pleasant people they had ever met.
With this pleasant evening their social amusement was at an end. On the morrow they were to begin their rough life in the open again, and during their explorations in the canebrake they were destined to have many thrilling experiences and some adventures, the like of which had never befallen any of the hardy Pony Rider Boys.