"They chattered and laughed all the Afternoon."
He was so happy in the prospect, poor little fellow! He had not played to-day; he had lain on the rug beside Nessa; but he quite forgot that. He felt as though he had been playing too, and with faintly flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes he sat curled up on the sofa listening in delight.
"Why, of course, you'll be able to swim like two fishes before you come back," he was acquiescing in answer to a remark of Murtagh's, when the door opened and Emma came in. The room was dark now, and the children thought it was Nessa.
"Do you hear, Nessa?" cried Winnie. "We intend to learn to swim at Torquay, and to swim all about the sea into the caves and places where nobody has ever been before."
"It's time for you to come and dress for dinner, Frankie," replied Emma's voice; "and," she added, with some primness, as Frankie rose reluctantly from the sofa, "you had better not make too many plans for Torquay."
She turned and left the room as she spoke, but Frankie sprang after her, exclaiming, "Emma, what do you mean about Torquay?" and her answer was quite audible as she walked down the passage.
"I mean that of course mamma will not allow Murtagh to be your only playmate for so many months if he persists in telling such stories. There is no knowing what he might teach you."
Murtagh's cheek flushed as he heard the words, and from the other children arose a chorus of:
"What a shame!"