"Taking the opportunity to give my son some lessons in navigation," he added, with a smiling glance at Max.
"Papa! I couldn't ask anything better!" exclaimed Max, hardly able to contain his delight.
"I'm glad to hear it, my boy," his father said. "But now remember that our errand is a secret between us three until we return from the city."
"Then you'll tell Mamma Vi and the rest, sir?" asked Max.
"If I have made the purchase, yes."
The call to breakfast came at that moment and was promptly obeyed.
Max could hardly eat, so excited was he over the prospect of going to the city with his father on so delightful an errand, but he said not a word on the subject.
The coachman had been given his order in good season, and by the time family prayers were over the carriage and horses were at the gate.
"My dear," Captain Raymond said to Violet, "a business matter calls me to the city, but I hope to return in season to take my wife in bathing, or out driving, or wherever she may wish to go."