His sister laughed. “I really can’t go before I see what is in the telegram,” she said. “Of course, I suppose I should be polite and pretend not to be interested in it, but I am. We all are, aren’t we, boys?”
Bob and Hal grinned.
“Well, then,” said Bill, “I guess I’ll have to see what’s in it.” He opened the telegram, and glanced hurriedly over it. “Pat’s landing tomorrow,” he said. “He wants us to be out at the airport to see the Marianne come in.”
“Hurray!” shouted Bob, and went into a war dance.
His mother looked at him tolerantly. She was used to Bob’s antics. “What time is Pat coming in?” she asked.
“He didn’t say. In fact, that’s all he didn’t say in this telegram. But I guess he’ll start out about dawn and get here around noon. Anyway, we’ll be going down to the airport tomorrow morning to look around. We’ll stay there until that Irishman rolls in.”
“What will you do about lunch?” asked the practical Mrs. Martin.
“Why, we’ll eat at the airport restaurant,” said Bill. “Don’t worry about us, Sis.”
Mrs. Martin looked dubious. She glanced at Hal. She knew that Hal’s mother liked to supervise her son’s meals, and did not care to have him eat at strange places. Mrs. Martin felt that it would be a shame to spoil the expedition for such a trivial reason, so she said, “I have an idea. I’ll pack a lunch for all of you tonight, and you can take it with you tomorrow. How will that be? You can eat it anyplace around the airport. It’ll be a regular picnic. There are some nice places around the port that you can go to. How about that?”
Bob answered for them. “That will be great. Gee, Bill, do you remember the picnic baskets that Mom can pack? We’re in luck.”