“Never you mind, Butch. All two-year olds spill a little. You’re doing wonderfully well. Keep it up, Butchie, old boy.”
When the porridge dish was empty he had a mug of warmed milk. That was easy. He grasped the mug firmly in his paws and drank the milk in dainty little sips. As a special reward Janie gave him half a banana. He was delighted. He talked monkey language while he ate, and now and then he’d offer some to Janie, but she politely refused.
The rest of the family was awake by now, and she hurried to set the table on the back porch for a surprise for Mom. It was a beautiful morning. The garden was brilliant with iris, day-lilies, and oriental poppies, and the tall old lilac trees were sweet with bloom.
After breakfast the boys sat on the front steps waiting for the mailman. They were always sending out for approval sheets of stamps, and they’d shade their eyes waiting for the mailman like sea captains of old waiting for their ships to come in.
Janie was impatient. “Mom,” she said. “When can we go to the lake? Could we go out next week-end, or will we have to wait until the end of June when Aunt Claire’s school is out?”
Mom raised her eyebrows and smiled a smug little smile. “That’s part of the surprise,” she said. “We’re leaving today. I’ve been hoping we could go, and I’ve been getting things ready for the past week.”
The rest of the day was a whirlwind of busy arms and legs and suitcases and paper boxes.
“Now, let’s see,” said Mom with a list in her hand. “I mustn’t forget anything. I must go to the drug store, the bank, and the postoffice, and, oh yes, the library.”
Billy and James packed the trunk of the car. Sheets and towels were stacked neatly in paper cartons. There were boxes of slacks, shirts, and swimming trunks, pillows and quilts, and cotton bed spreads.
“I’ll bring my first-aid box,” said Bill, and that gave James an idea. He came downstairs with his entire stamp collection piled like the leaning Tower of Pisa in his arms.