"Johnny! Johnny!" yelled a slip of a girl to her bigger brother. "Come right off the grass this minute! Do youse want a cop to put you out? He don't know no better, mister," she said, turning to Dick. "He didn't mean nothin'. Johnny, do you hear me? Come off that grass right away, or the man will have youse arrested."
"No, no! Nothing of the sort!" exclaimed Dick, with a laugh. "You can eat the grass if you want to. Do just as you please. There isn't a policeman within twenty miles."
Then there was a mad rush over the big lawn that led up to Sunnyside. The children yelled, laughed, shouted, and fairly tumbled over each other in the very joy of being in the country. Pale cheeks reddened as the little lungs breathed in the pure, fresh air, dull eyes lighted up with pleasure, and little hands trembled with eagerness as they plucked buttercups, dandelions and daisies that grew on the far edges of the lawns.
"Wow!" yelled one lad. "Wow! I've got to do somethin' or I'll bust!"
And that is the way most of them felt it seemed, for they raced, ran, jumped and tumbled like children just let out after being kept in after school.
And such a supper as Mrs. Foster had provided for the waifs! Their eyes bulged as they came to the table that was fairly groaning under the weight of good things.
"Now," called Dick, when they sat down, "let me see how you can eat."
"They do not need any coaxing," replied the matron, and Dick soon saw that she was right.
That was only the beginning of a happy two weeks for the youngsters. They fairly went wild on the farm, for it had a hundred delights for them, from watching the cows being milked, to hunting for eggs in the big barn. Dick took them for automobile rides in relays, bringing several over to Hamilton Corners to see his father, who further delighted the childish hearts by gifts of dimes and nickels. On one of these trips the millionaire's son brought Tim Muldoon, the boy who had commented on Dick's riches that day the two met.
"An' does your governor own dat bank?" Tim asked, as Dick stopped the runabout in front of the institution.