“Oh, do tell us!” they cried.
“Sit down, then,” she said, and they took their low chairs to her knee.
“This is my secret. Our dear old friend, Eleanor’s father, has to go away on business—maybe he will be gone a year—and Eleanor is to come live with us.”
“Oh, how lovely!” cried Mary Frances, throwing her arms about her friend’s neck and kissing her.
Tears came into Eleanor’s eyes.
“I’m so glad,” she said. “I shall miss Father terribly, but if you and Mary Frances’ father just adopt me for a while, it will be something like having my own dear father and mother. What about Bob? Do you know where he is to be?”
“Yes, dear child,” smiled Mary Frances’ mother; “that is another pleasant surprise. Bob is to go away to school with Billy.”
“Oh, will he study gardening?” cried Eleanor.
“He will, if he wishes, your father said.”