“Oh, no; Miss Larkin. I’m awful bad; and King is even worse.”
“Nothing of the sort,” put in King. “I’m bad, I know, but I can’t hold a candle to Mops for real lovely mischief.”
“You come pretty near it,” said his mother, laughing; “and now scamper, all of you, and make yourselves tidy for dinner.”
“Good-by, Miss Larkin,” said Marjorie, again shaking hands with her father. “You can’t say you haven’t been warned!”
“They’ll lead the poor girl a dance,” said Mrs. Maynard, as she watched the four romp out of the room and up the stairs.
“Oh, it will do her good,” replied Mr. Maynard. “And it will do them good too. Even if there are scenes, it will all be a new experience for Miss Larkin, and a shaking up will do her no harm. As to the children, they’ll live through it, and if they have some little troubles, it will help to develop their characters. And as for us, Helen, we’ll have a good vacation, and come home refreshed and strong to set right anything that has gone wrong in our absence.”
“Very well,” said Mrs. Maynard, agreeing, as she usually did, with her clever, sensible husband.
CHAPTER II
A FLORAL WELCOME
Breakfast next morning was not the gay, cheery feast it usually was.
Mrs. Maynard came to the table with her hat on, and the children seemed suddenly to realize afresh that their mother was going away.