HENRY.

THE Hut Club went out on a picnic the next Saturday, and had a jolly
time. They camped upon an island in the middle of a shallow stream,
and while there made coffee and cooked their dinner, having brought
most of the necessary apparatus from the Hut. They fished a little,
and hunted for turtles in the water, and altogether had a good time,
if nothing exciting did occur. It was after nine o'clock at night when
they reached town again, footsore and weary, and Archie Dunn had
hardly entered the house before he was on the dining-room lounge,
half-asleep. His mother seemed to be out, and as he lay there he
wondered how long it would be before she came back. Archie truly loved
his mother, but of late he had often thought that he would like to
leave home and go to the famous city, where he felt sure he could get
something to do. But he disliked the idea of leaving his mother.

"I'm getting to be a big boy, now," he often said to himself, "and
it's time that I began to look out for myself. I'm nearly seventeen,
and I think I ought to be earning some money. This thing of belonging
to Hut Clubs and spending my time in going to picnics and to circuses
ought to stop. It's all right for boys, but I'm getting to be a man,
now."

All these thoughts were flying through his mind when his mother came
in. "Oh, Archie," she exclaimed, "I've been so worried about you. I've
just been over to Mrs. Sullivan's to see if Dannie had come home, and
whether he had seen you. Wherever have you been?"

"We didn't think it would take so long to walk home," said Archie,
jumping up from the sofa, "but we were awfully tired, and we didn't