"Well, I should say so!" ejaculated Sidney. "And now I needn't wait for
father. I can use this money to buy my ammunition, and tell him about it
at dinner time."

He restored the letter to its envelope, and then let himself out at the
alley door. In five minutes he was in the nearest hardware store,
bargaining for his shot.

His mind was full of the sport he expected to have that afternoon in the
woods with his gun, and when he reached home he sprang up the steps two
at a time.

He was about to ring, with no gentle hand, when the door was thrown open
by his sister Fannie.

"We've been watching for you, Sidney," she said, in some excitement.
"Uncle Charles is here, and wants you to go home with him for two or
three days. He says he can promise you a splendid time. You'll have to
hurry, though, for the train leaves at twelve o'clock, and it is
half-past eleven now. We were _so_ afraid you wouldn't get back in
time."

"Hurry, Sidney," said his mother, appearing at the parlor door. "Change
your clothes as quickly as possible. I have packed your valise for you."

"No time to waste, my boy," said his uncle, from the dining-room, where
he was snatching a hasty lunch, attended by Clara. "The train won't wait
for us."

Sidney was soon ready, and, with a hasty good-by to his mother and