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deep woods. And then on a stone wall about half-way down, something fluttered, and the rooster crowed three times, and at the same time in the grass in front of the wall he could just make out some animals moving about. “It is Ronald!” Adoniram shouted, and galloped down the hill.
    The animals came forward to meet him. “Well, well,” said Freddy, “what a time we’ve had finding you! All we knew was that you lived near Snare Forks, so we’ve been visiting every farm along the river, and poor Ronald has nearly worn his crow out. We were sure you’d recognize it, but it’s a good thing we found you today, because he couldn’t have lasted much longer.”
    â€œI should say not,” said Ronald. “You haven’t a cough drop about you, have you, old chap? My throat is raw.”
    â€œOh, I’m glad you came!” Adoniram exclaimed. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
    â€œIt’s harder to get rid of friends than it is to make them,” said Jinx. “And we couldn’t just run off that way and leave you. We were pretty sure they’d send you home.”
    â€œAnd what we really came for,” said Georgie, “was to see if you wouldn’t change your mind and come with us.”
    â€œYes,” said Adoniram, “I will. My aunt and uncle don’t like me, and I don’t see why I should have to stay with them.”
    â€œHurray!” said Jinx. “Well, let’s get going.”
    â€œI can’t go yet,” said the boy. “My uncle would miss me, and he’d catch us and bring me back. And anyway, there are some things I want to take with me.”
    So the animals agreed to wait in the woods the rest of the day. And then when Adoniram came out to the barn to go to bed, they would meet him and start.
    Everything went smoothly. Adoniram got spanked again for being late for breakfast, but he managed to smuggle his knapsack and some clothing out of the house, and he got his scout knife and mess kit from under the barn floor and packed everything up. And at eight o’clock that night when he came down to the barn, the animals were waiting.
    â€œWe won’t waste any time,” said Freddy. “We’ll have to travel all night, because we want to be a long way from Snare Forks by daylight. Come on.”
    So the travelers, each with his pack on his back, filed out of the barnyard and up over the hill. Jinx led the way, because cats can see better in the dark than other animals. They cut down behind the woods and struck into a road, and then as they trudged along, Freddy struck up the old marching song that he had made up when the animals took their first trip to Florida.
    Oh, it’s over the hill and down the road
    And we’ll borrow the moon for a light,
    And wherever we go, one thing we know:
    The road will lead us right.
    If you start from home by any road,
    And follow each dip and bend,
    What fortune you find, whether cold or kind,
    You find home again at the end.
    Oh, the roads run east, and the roads run west,
    And it’s lots of fun to roam
    When you know that whichever road you take—
    That road will lead you home.

IV
Mr. Bean’s Farm
    â€œThe nice thing about taking a trip,” said Freddy, “is that it is just as exciting to come back home as it is to start out.”
    It was the twelfth morning since they had left Snare Forks, and they were standing on a hill looking down on a little valley, and on the side of a hill across the valley was a small white farmhouse and a big red barn and a lot of other buildings, all very neat and shining in the bright sunlight. And that was Mr. Bean’s farm.
    They sat down and rested for a few minutes, and Jinx pointed out the houses where the different animals lived. “That big building with the blue curtains is the cow-barn,” he said. “Mrs. Wiggins, Freddy’s partner in the detective business, and