“Hello, Jack! We’re glad to see you!” cried George, jumping down the steps to reach the terrace where the car stopped.
Martha followed after her brother, but Jim and John stood in the background, watching and wondering at the two strangers. The four cousins found they were not shy at all, and in fact, as they still retained the looks of former times, they soon felt very much at home with one another. Jack was a year the senior of George, and Anne was about a year older than Martha.
The Philadelphia children had lost none of their fun-loving dispositions, although Mrs. Parke had hoped they had developed into models of perfection. So this visit promised to be of great importance to the “Little Washingtons” in many ways. Hence the warm welcome bestowed by George and Martha, and later by John Graham and the factotum, Jim.
Mrs. Davis greeted her little niece and nephew affectionately, then she followed Mrs. Parke up the veranda steps and into the house.
“Have you got to change your clothes before we do anything?” asked George, who wore his second-best suit and clean blouse-shirt.
“Oh, I guess not. We’re all dusty from travelling anyway, so a little more dust won’t hurt any,” laughed Jack.
“And mother said my dress had to go straight in the tub, ’cause I upset a glass of choklate soda all down the front,” added Anne, spreading out the dimity ruffled dress to show her companions.
“Come on then and see the place. Jim’s got a rabbit hutch at the barns, and John’s going to lend us his pony when we want to use it in our play,” explained George, leading the group over the lawn by walking backward in front of them.
Martha skipped on one side of the two new arrivals, and John Graham on the other side, while Jim, the dark shadow, followed closely at their heels.
“Say, you’ve got a dandy place for fun, haven’t you?” admired Jack, gazing around at the wide expanse of lawns and gardens at the rear of the estate.