Knowing that whatever he had would be taken from him, he resolved by some means to keep possession of the twenty dollars he had about him.  He had always kept his money in a secret place in his jacket to guard against accident, and the officers who had searched him had not discovered it.  But now his clothes would be changed.  He thought of these things before his arrival; so, when he reached the entrance, and got out of the wagon, to open the gate, by order of the officer, he slipped his twenty dollars into a hole in the wall.

It so happened that there was not a suit of clothes in the store room of the institution which would fit him; and he was permitted to wear his own dress till another should be made.  After his name and description had been entered, and the superintendent had read him a lecture upon his future duties, he was permitted to join the other boys, who were at work on the farm.  He was sent with half a dozen others to pick up stones in a neighboring field.  No officer was with them, and Bobby was struck with the apparent freedom of the institution, and he so expressed himself to his companions.

“Not so much freedom as you think for,” said one, in reply.

“I should think the fellows would clear out.”

“Not so easy a matter.  There is a standing reward of five dollars to any one who brings back a runaway.”

“They must catch him first.”

“No fellow ever got away yet.  They always caught him before he got ten miles from the place.”

This was an important suggestion to Bobby, who already had a definite purpose in his mind.  Like a skilful general, he had surveyed the ground on his arrival, and was at once prepared to execute his design.

In his conversation with the boys, he obtained, the history of several who had attempted to escape, and found that even those who got a fair start were taken on some public road.  He perceived that they were not good generals, and he determined to profit by their mistake.

A short distance from the institution was what appeared to be a very extensive wood.  Beyond this, many miles distant, he could see the ocean glittering like a sheet of ice under the setting sun.

He carefully observed the hills, and obtained the bearings of various prominent objects in the vicinity, which would aid him in his flight.  The boys gave him all the information in their power about the localities of the country.  They seemed to feel that he was possessed of a superior spirit, and that he would not long remain among them; but, whatever they thought, they kept their own counsel.

Bobby behaved well, and was so intelligent and prompt that he obtained the confidence of the superintendent, who began to employ him about the house, and in his own family.  He was sent of errands in the neighborhood, and conducted himself so much to the satisfaction of his guardians that he was not required to work in the field after the second day of his residence on the farm.