The Journey.
One evening about a week after the occurrences related in the last chapter, when Phonny’s foot had got entirely well, Mrs. Henry went to the door which led to the back yard with a letter in her hand. She was looking for Stuyvesant.
Presently she saw him and Phonny coming through the garden gate with tools in their hands. They had been down to build a bridge across a small brook in a field beyond the garden.
“Stuyvesant,” said Mrs. Henry, “I have just received a letter from your father.”
Stuyvesant’s eye brightened as Mrs. Henry said this, and he pressed eagerly forward to learn what the letter contained.
“It is about you,” said Mrs. Henry, “and it is a very important letter indeed.”
“What is it?” said Phonny eagerly. “Read it to us, mother.”
So Mrs. Henry opened the letter and read it as follows,—the boys standing before her all the time, with their tools in their hands.
“New York, June 20.