“Oh, there you are, my boys! I was delayed down the road by a blow-out or I would have been here when the train pulled in.”
The boys grinned and looked at each other. Were they going to ride in that swell car?
“Jump in now, and we’ll soon be whisked back to Happy Hills where your friends are waiting to greet you.”
So the two over-worked little newsboys scrambled in and dropped upon the soft leather cushions with a sigh.
“Hully gee! Dis is de life, all right, Mister Uncle Ben,” gurgled Micky.
“While we are passing this lovely country-side you can look about and see what an ideal place it is for boys and girls. See the big lake for the older boys where they can fish and swim? Over there is a stretch of forest land where we often go to hunt up wild flowers and other interesting things in Nature. And just a few miles on the other side of the station there is quite a town where we can buy anything we might need during the summer. Now when we reach Happy Hills you will see how complete everything is there for an outdoor life for Little Citizens.”
The boys paid attention to the remarks and agreed with Uncle Ben that the location was ideal for everyone. Then the car neared the woods from whence rose a noisy babel of sound—happy laughter and singing, or calling, of many children.
“Here we are, boys—and there comes Nelly!”
Micky could not believe his eyes. Was that rosy, plump little girl who was running to meet him, his sickly, crippled little sister? Even the precocious, hardened little Skelly was impressed by the great improvement in the little girl.
“Oh, Micky, I’m so glad you are here! And Micky I kin make pickshers of ladies’ dresses all de time now, and make money for you and me, some day!” cried Nelly, flinging her arms about her brother’s neck.