I'm scribbling this under
my hat in the train, and I'm going to toss it out
the window. I hope you get it.
"WILL."
CHAPTER VII
OFF FOR FLORIDA
Grace was in tears when her father finished reading Will's pathetic
letter. Nor were the eyes of her chums altogether dry, for they all
liked Will, who seemed as much a brother to them as he did to his own
sister.
"We--we mustn't let mamma know this," announced Grace, when she had
regained control of herself. "It would prostrate her."
"Yes, we must keep it from her if we can," agreed Mr. Ford.
"To think of poor Will being in with--with criminals," went on his
sister. "It will be a terrible experience for him."
"Perhaps they are not desperate criminals," suggested Amy, as a sort of
ray of hope.
"No, I do not believe they are," said Mr. Ford, frankly. "The State
would not let contractors hire them if they were. I suppose they are
mostly young men who have been guilty of slight violations of the law,
and hard work is the best punishment for them. But I certainly am sorry
for Will.
"I had no idea that when, to punish him for what was more
thoughtlessness than anything else, I sent him South, it would turn out
this way.
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