"Oh, it is in my hand now," said Tubby teasingly. "Now listen, fellers! When Uncle Mark bought our tickets, he secured them through a friend who is in a big touring agency, you know. Instead of buying straight-through, round-trip tickets, he got the return set with stop-over privileges, and had a little private itinerary arranged for us.
"We leave El Paso to-night and have an hour or two in Albuquerque to-morrow morning, before we take the train east. Beyond that, I know no more than the rest of you,—but here goes!"
With a quick motion, Tubby tore open the sealed envelope and took out four long combination tickets, and a typewritten list of directions.
"Here, Rob, you read them to us," he said, handing over the paper.
"This gives us stop-overs at Albuquerque, St. Louis and Washington," remarked Rob, glancing hastily at the items. "Each stop is for less than a day, and we travel every night. Hurray for Uncle Mark!"
"And a tiger!" added Andy enthusiastically.
"And many bravos," supplemented Merritt, his eyes shining at the prospect. "I have always wanted to visit Washington, but, with all our travels, we have managed to skip straight to our destinations without stopping anywhere."
"At this rate," commented Andy, "it will take us a good deal longer to get home!"
"Even so," agreed Tubby. "But who is in a hurry now? Give them time to finish their repairs on the old Academy, Andy."
That evening, as arranged, the four boys took the train from El Paso. As they sat on the observation platform for an hour before turning in, Rob remarked: