“A wire for you, Master John.”
The butler’s interruption while the family was at breakfast one August morning, caused a sudden hush of expectancy.
“A telegram for me!” replied John, trying to assume sufficient dignity for the momentous occasion,—the arrival of the first message he had ever received. “Why, what can it be?”
“Do open it, John. It must be a cable,” Betty pleaded, fearing something might be wrong at home.
“Yes, hurry, dear,” put in Mrs. Pitt.
Just the second that the contents were revealed, a great shout of joy went up, and John and Betty fairly jumped up and down in their excitement.
“Father and mother coming!” John cried. “On the way now! Taking us to Switzerland! It’s great!”
Betty’s radiant face showed what delight the prospect of seeing her father and mother gave her. Glancing at Mrs. Pitt almost at once, however, she hastened to say:
“We’re both sorry to go away from you all, though, and I hope they’ll let us come back. We’ve had such a good time in England! Don’t you think we can go on with our trip here after Switzerland?”
“I really can’t tell, dear, for this is all so unexpected. I don’t know what your father’s plans may be, but I hope he will bring you back to me. I’d be very sorry if it were all at an end! But to think I shall so soon see your father!” Mrs. Pitt sat staring into the grate, and seemed to be lost in her thoughts.