"I must send them off to a boarding school, or somewhere,"
Randolph Rover would say, but he kept putting the matter off,
hoping against hope that he might soon hear from his lost brother.





CHAPTER II

AN ENCOUNTER ON THE ROAD

"I'll race you to the path," said Sam, when the woodshed was left
behind.

"All right," answered Tom, who was always ready to run. "Toe the
mark here. Now then -- one, two, three! Go!"

And away they went across the meadow, leaping two ditches with the
agility of a pair of deer, and tearing through the small brush
beyond regardless of the briers and the rents their nether
garments might sustain. At first Tom took the lead, but Sam
speedily overhauled and then passed him.

"It's no use -- you always could outrun me," panted Tom, as he
came to a stop when Sam crossed the footpath ten yards ahead of
him. "I can't understand it either. My legs are just as long as
yours, and my lungs just as big, too, I think."