"Papa, when will Brother Max come home?" asked Ned.
"I think we may expect him about the last of next January," was the reply.
"And how soon does January come, papa?"
"This is October: November comes next, then December, and next after that is January."
"Oh, such a long while!" sighed Ned. "I want to see Max so badly that
I don't know how to wait."
"Pretty much the way papa feels about it," returned his father.
"And as we all do," said Violet. "I wish the dear fellow had chosen work that could be done at home."
"But somebody must go into the navy, my dear," said his father. "A good navy is very necessary for the safety of the country."
"That is true," she returned; "and I know of no more honorable employment."
"And employment of some kind we all should have. I know of nothing more ignoble than a life of idleness. It is sure to tempt to something worse. 'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.'"