Returning to the farm, their mother met them with a peculiar smile on her face.

“Any news?” they asked eagerly.

“Yes, word came over the telephone a while ago.”

“And what Is it, ma?”

“The Wilders say to come and——­”

“Hooray!”

“And not to bring a trunk,” finished the mother.  “The idea of two boys going away all summer without a trunk!”

“Of course we won’t need a trunk!” declared Tom.  “From the time we reach the ranch till we start for home I don’t intend to wear a white shirt or collar.”

“When we get out there we can buy some cowboy outfits,” said Larry.  “Hooray for Tolopah!”

The receipt of the message, which had been telephoned by the agent at Bramley while the boys were on their way back from the town, was more of a relief than either Larry or Tom was willing to acknowledge.  And they ate their food with greater relish in the certainty that their dream of going to live on a ranch was to come true.

Each was absorbed in his own thoughts when the voice of their father roused them.

“Now that it’s decided you are going West,” he was saying, “I reckon I’ll go over to Olmsted and make sure about our steamer tickets.  We won’t have any too much time in New York.  You boys can go with me if you like.”

Glad of the opportunity, the boys finished their dinner quickly and were soon whirling over the hard clay road behind their father’s span of spirited horses.

“I’ve decided to give each of you two hundred and fifty dollars,” said Mr. Alden, as though expressing his thoughts out loud.

“Phew!  Two hundred and fifty dollars!  That’s more money than I ever had all at once,” exclaimed Tom in delight.  “Think of having all that to spend, Larry.”

“But you mustn’t spend it all,” warned their father.  “I was going to say when you interrupted, Tom, that out of this money you must pay your railroad tickets, for your berths to sleep in, and for your meals.  These things will amount to about seventy-five dollars, I should think.”

“But that will still leave us one hundred and seventy-five dollars,” declared Tom.

“True enough, but don’t forget it will cost seventy-five dollars to get back.  If I were you, when you get to the ranch, I would give the money for your return tickets to Mr. Wilder.  He’ll keep it for you, so you’ll be sure not to spend it.

“It’s a thing you ought always to remember when you take a trip of any distance—­always save enough out of your money to carry you back home”

The boys promised to do as their father suggested, and the farmer continued: 

“This will be your first experience with the world, and I don’t want you to forget the things your mother and I have taught you.

“It takes bad men as well as good to make up life, and somehow it seems as though the bad men had the easiest time of it.  You’ll find gamblers and others who live by their wits in Tolopah.  They’ll try to be pleasant to you because you are young, and when they learn you are from the East they will try to get your money away from you.