forward Tom quickly let the snow in his hand fall down the man's neck, inside his collar.
"Hi! hi! Wow!" spluttered Jack Ness, straightening up and twisting his shoulders.
"Say, what did you put that snow down my back for?"
"Just to keep you from sweating too much, Jack," answered Tom with a grin.
"At your old iricks again," groaned the hired man. "Now, I reckon the house will be turned upside down till you go back to college."
When the boys got in sight of the big farm house they set up a ringing shout that quickty brought their father and their uncle and aunt to the door. And behind these appeared the ebony face of Aleck Pop, the colored man who was now a fixture of the Rover household.
"Hello, everybody!" cried Tom, making a flying leap from the sleigh the instant it drew up to the piazza. "Isn't this jolly, though?" And he rushed to his Aunt Martha and gave her a hug and kiss, and then shook hands with his father and his Uncle Randolph. Dick and Sam were close behind him, and went through a similar performance.
"My! my! Don't squeeze the breath out of me!" cried Mrs. Rover, as she beamed with delight. "You boys are regular bears!"
