“It won’t be like when we went alone,” Jim added. “Dad will be along and he will see that we do not go butting into any mischief.”
“Well—” She looked at her husband. “What do you think about it?”
“The more I think about it the more it appeals to me, my dear, but I do not want to influence you unduly. As Jim says, I shall be along, it’s a business trip, no sky-larking adventure, and I rather feel that our Flying Buddies will be thoroughly reliable. They must both realize that it is a serious undertaking—”
“Sure, Dad, we do; we aren’t kids any more, we’re grown up—” The two real grown-ups smiled at this, and although they did not dispute the argument, neither of them could agree that seventeen and sixteen were exactly mature.
“Well, probably—since we have planes and pilots it is wisdom to make use of them and not delay needlessly,” Mrs. Austin finally announced.
“Atta girl!” Bob shouted. He picked her up in his arms and swung her off the floor just to prove how big he really was.
“Robert!” His mother protested, so he sat her down again.
“Gosh, Mom, you haven’t called me that since I put the cat in the frying pan,” he grinned.
“Did it jump into the fire?” Jim drawled.
“It did, and after Mom got through with me, I felt as if I had been sitting in it. Wow, she did wave a wicked palm! It makes me warm to think of it,” he laughed.