"Oh, away off," explained Freddie. "We live in Lakeport, and we go to school."
"Only now there isn't any school," went on Flossie. "We can't have a fire 'cause something broke, and we came to Washington."
"Have you come here to live?" the strange boy questioned.
"No, only to visit," explained Freddie. "My father has to see Mr.
Martin. Do you know Mr. Martin?"
The strange boy shook his head.
"I guess he doesn't live around here," he remarked. "I've lived here all my life; but there's nobody named Martin on this block. Where did you come from?"
"Offen the auto," explained Freddie. "We were riding on the auto with
Billy Martin and Nell, and our father and mother and Nan and Bert and——"
"Say, there are a lot of you!" cried the boy with a laugh.
"It was a big auto," explained Flossie. "But the man had to stop and give it some water, so we got down to pet the cat. It's a nice cat."
"Yes, it's a nice cat all right," agreed the strange boy, and he came down the steps and began to rub the animal. "I like cats," he went on to the children. "What's your names?"