# Half a Dozen Boys

“She told her mother Rob’s account of Fred.”—Page 19.
HALF A DOZEN BOYS
AN EVERY-DAY STORY
BY
ANNA CHAPIN RAY
AUTHOR OF “HALF A DOZEN GIRLS,” “CADETS OF FLEMMING HALL,”
“MARGARET DAVIS, TUTOR”
ILLUSTRATED BY
FRANK T. MERRILL
New York: 46 East Fourteenth Street
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY
Boston: 100 Purchase Street
Copyright, 1890 and 1895,
By Thomas Y. Crowell & Company.
Typography by C. J. Peters & Son
Boston.

### PREFACE.

    TO ALL MY BOY AND GIRL FRIENDS,
          Greeting!
IT is quite impossible for me to make this preface as impersonal as that of the earlier edition. Some of you I know; many of you I may never meet; and yet I can scarcely feel that this foreword is addressed merely to strangers. Rather let it carry a word of personal greeting to each one of you who may chance to read it.
The five years since the book was written have brought me into still closer contact with my boy friends, and the circle of them is constantly widening. However, when I read over this story preparatory to the new edition, I lose thought of everything else but the desire to go back to the childhood of the Half Dozen Boys.
They are all real boys, and to-day our friend​ship is as firm as ever. The next Yale catalogue will show the names of four of them; one is at sea, and of the sixth I have lost all knowledge. They are real boys still; but, in the tall, dignified young students, I miss the old harum-scarum Teddy, the irrepressible Phil.
Fuzz is now sleeping on the lawn, outside my window, and the Dominie is by his side. New dogs rule the household; new boys are coming and going; but they can never be like the dear old friends whom now, for a second time, I am introducing to you.
Receive them, then, as kindly as you can.
Tremont,
    Tenth February, 1895.

### LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Drawn by Frank Merrill
* page
* “She told Her Mother Rob’s Account of Fred”(Frontispiece)
* FuzzTitle Page.
* The Choir Boys9
* Fred26
* “‘That isn’t Much like Fred,’ said Phil”49
* Walks and Talks82
* “He held Mrs. Carter’s Skein of Yarn while She wound It”89
* “‘Well, He has had Everything Possible done for Him’”99
* “‘Well, Fred, what do You say to Our starting on Our Lessons To-morrow?’”116
* “‘What is It Now?’ She inquired, as She bent over the Fireplace”134
* “‘It isn’t so Bad After All, is It, Fuzz?’”168
* “Frank Muir burst into a Hearty Laugh, as He rose to rescue the Unoffending Cat”190
* “There was no resisting the Influence of Such a Voice”198
* “He came to bring Me Some Twigs”216
* “Boat, Ahoy!”236
* “No, He’ll Never tell”256
* “Sam, half carrying, half dragging Fred, ... staggered out into the open Air”275
* “‘Bless You, My Children!’”306
* chapterpage
* I.Introduces Some New Friends9
* II.Fred26
* III.The Beginning of the Fight41
* IV.The Other Boys58
* V.Walks and Talks78
* VI.Fred’s New Home98
* VII.“And when the fight is fierce”114
* VIII.King Winter132
* IX.The I. I.’s161
* X.Bob and Fred Entertain Callers181
* XI.The Disadvantages of Science201
* XII.Their Summer Outing218
* XIII.The Boys Meet an Old Friend234
* XIV.Phil’s Fight249
* XV.“Greater love hath no man”266
* XVI.A Literary Evening281
* XVII.Rob Assists at an Important Interview296
* XVIII.“The Victor’s Crown of Gold”308
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1945, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 78 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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