"Do you s'pose Uncle Toby would have a gun?" asked Ted again.
"If there is one in his house you can't have it, my dear," objected Mrs. Martin.
"But I could have the spinning wheel, couldn't I?" asked Janet.
"Yes, I suppose so. But maybe there isn't one," her mother answered.
"If there is we can play steamboat!" cried Ted, getting quickly over his disappointment about a possible gun. "A spinning wheel is just the thing to steer a make-believe steamer with!"
"You're not going to have my spinning wheel for your old steamboat!" declared Janet.
"Hush, children!" their mother warned them. "I haven't the least idea what is in Uncle Toby's house, that he should be so mysterious about it, and be in such a hurry for your father to come and take charge."
"Is Uncle Toby mysterious?" asked Janet.
"Well, yes. He says he hopes the collection will not be too much for us to manage," went on Mrs. Martin, with another look at the letter.
"A collection of what?" Ted wanted to know.