"There's too much of it coming," was Ham's response; and there was no help for it after that, not even when the mail brought word from "Aunt Maria" that both of her dear boys would arrive in a day or two.
"Our last chance is gone, Annie," said Ford, when the news came.
"O mother!" she said despondingly, "what shall we do?"
"Have your sail, just the same, and invite your cousins."
"But the Kinzers"—
"Why, Annie! Mrs. Kinzer will not think of neglecting them. She's as kind as kind can be."
"And we are to pay her with Joe and Fuz," said Ford. "Well, I wish Ham
Morris's storm would come along."
He only had to wait until the next day for it, and he felt quite contented to be safe on shore while it lasted. There was no call for any laughter at the prophecies of the fishermen after it began to blow. Still the blow was not a long one, and Ham Morris remarked,—
"This is only an outside edge of it. It's a good deal worse than this out at sea. I'm glad we're not out in it."
Ford Foster thought that about the worst of that weather was when the afternoon train came in, and he had to show a pair of tired, moist, and altogether unpleasant cousins to the room set apart for them. The clouds in his mind did not clear away perceptibly even when, just after supper, a note came in from Mrs. Kinzer, inviting the Hart boys to join the yachting-party next morning.