They ca n't have been gone long -- that flower-bed must have been made up last spring . Well , this is a kind of setback for a fellow . Here I 've been tramping all the way from the station , a-thinking how good it would be to see Aunt Sally 's sweet old face again , and hear Uncle Tom 's laugh , and all I find is a boarded-up house going to seed . S'pose I might as well toddle over to Stetsons ' and inquire if they have n't disappeared , too . '' He went through the old firs back of the lot and across the field to a rather shabby house beyond . A cheery-faced woman answered his knock and looked at him in a puzzled fashion . `` Have you forgot me , Mrs. Stetson ? Do n't you remember Lovell Stevens and how you used to give him plum tarts when he 'd bring your turkeys home ? '' Mrs. Stetson caught both his hands in a hearty clasp . `` I guess I have n't forgotten ! '' she declared . `` Well , well , and you 're Lovell ! I think I ought to know your face , though you 've changed a lot . Fifteen years have made a big difference in you . Come right in . Pa , this is Lovell -- you mind Lovell , the boy Aunt Sally and Uncle Tom had for years ? '' `` Reckon I do , '' drawled Jonah Stetson with a friendly grin . `` Ai n't likely to forget some of the capers you used to be cutting up . You 've filled out considerable . Where have you been for the last ten years ?
Aunt Sally fretted a lot over you , thinking you was dead or gone XXXXX the bad . ''
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