“That’s what I want to talk to your mother about,” went on Mr. Bobbsey. “Cousin Jasper doesn’t say just what happened to him, nor why he is so anxious to see me. But he wants me to come down to Florida to see him.”
“It would be a nice trip if we could go, and take the children,” said Mrs. Bobbsey. “Though, I suppose, this is hardly the time of year to go to such a place.”
“Oh, it is always nice in Florida,” her husband said, “though of course when it is winter here it seems nicer there because it is so warm, and the flowers are in blossom.”
“And do the oranges grow then?” asked Freddie.
“I guess so,” his father said. “At any rate it is now early spring here, and even in Florida, where it is warmer than it is up North where we live, I think it will not be too hot for us. Besides, I don’t believe Cousin Jasper intends to stay in Florida, or have us stay there.”
“Why not?” Mrs. Bobbsey asked.
“Well, in his letter he says, after he has told me the strange news, he hopes I will go on a voyage with him to search for some one who is lost.”
“Some one lost!” replied Nan. “What does he mean, Daddy?”
“That’s what I don’t know. I guess Cousin Jasper was too ill to write all he wanted to, and he would rather see me and tell me. So I came to ask if you would like to go to Florida,” and Mr. Bobbsey looked at his wife and smiled.
“Oh, yes! Let’s go!” begged Bert.