"Gone! Who's gone?" asked Billy.

"Jenny," was Mary's reply. "She's gone to Boston, and won't come back
till next May; and I loved her so much."

"Oh, yes, I know," returned Billy. "I met them all on their way to the
depot; but I wouldn't feel so badly. Jenny will come again, and
besides that, I've got some real good news to tell you.

"About Ella?" said Mary.

"No, not about Ella, but about myself; I'm coming here to live with
you."

"Coming here to live!" repeated Mary with astonishment. "What for?
Are your folks all dead?"

Billy smiled and answered, "Not quite so bad as that. I went to school
here two years ago, and I know I learned more than I ever did at home
in two seasons. The boys, when Henry Lincoln is away, don't act half
as badly as they do in the village; and then they usually have a lady
teacher, because it's cheaper I suppose, for they don't pay them half
as much as they do gentlemen, and I think they are a great deal the
best. Any way, I can learn the most when I go to a woman."

"But what makes you come here, and what will your mother do?" asked
Mary.

"She's got a sister come from the West to stay with her, and as I
shall go home every Saturday night, she'll get along well enough. I