Jane’s face lengthened. She had not thought of that side of the question.
“Do you think they are going to take us right straight home?” she asked slowly.
“Why, of course. Father’s been away from his business so long that he’ll just have to get back to it. I know enough to know that,” replied Christopher in his most exasperatingly superior tone.
But Jane was too deep in her own thoughts to be provoked. She was trying to understand the queer feeling that Christopher’s words brought to her heart. Surely she was not sorry that her father and mother were coming home? Oh, no, the thump her heart gave told her that that was not the reason. But it would be hard to leave grandfather and grandmother, Huldah and the puppies!
“Don’t you think they’ll let us stay a little longer?” she repeated. “School doesn’t begin for almost another month.”
“I don’t know. But if one of us was ill, we’d have to stay longer, wouldn’t we?”
“Why, yes, of course. But then it wouldn’t be any fun. Besides neither of us is ill or anything like it.”
“It is fun to be ill if you’re not so very bad,” said Christopher, answering the first half of Jane’s sentence. “Why, when Edward Hammond had the measles—do you remember?—he had lots of fun. He had to stay in bed a few days, but he didn’t mind that ’cause his mother read him stories and he got lots of presents.”
“Did he? Well, I guess mother’ll bring us a present.”
“And nice things to eat,” went on Christopher. “It was really great sport being ill.”