Soon the young folks were aboard the two automobiles. In the meantime Dick Rover had turned the checks for the trunks over to an expressman and in a few minutes more the whole crowd was headed for Riverside Drive. Here a surprise awaited them. Not only was Mrs. Tom Rover on hand to greet them, but likewise their grandfather, Anderson Rover, and their old Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, who had come from Valley Brook Farm on a short visit to the city.
“My gracious, this is fine!” cried Fred. “A regular family reunion!” and then came more hugs and kisses all around.
“My, my! how big you boys are getting!” said old Aunt Martha, as she surveyed them through her spectacles. “The first thing you know, you won’t be boys any more—you’ll be men.”
“Well, you couldn’t expect them to remain boys all their life, could you?” queried Uncle Randolph. “Now they have graduated from Colby Hall, I suppose they’ll either have to go to college or go into business.”
“No use of shoving them ahead too quickly,” came from Grandfather Rover, as he sat down and rested his chin on the top of his cane. “They have been studying pretty hard for years—let ’em take a rest. They might take a whole year, if it was necessary.”
“Gee, Granddad, you’re a pippin!” exclaimed Randy, going up and placing his arm around the old man’s shoulder. “A year’s vacation would be all to the mustard.”
“It might be if you could only get rid of some of your slang in the meantime,” put in his mother. Yet she had to smile as she spoke.
The boys were glad to get back into their old quarters, and in the meantime Martha escorted Ruth to the room she was to occupy during her visit. All the connecting doors of the three houses had been thrown wide open, making the residences virtually one. While this was going on Dick Rover hurried back to Wall Street, for business with The Rover Company was brisk and he was needed at the offices.