Now indeed it was I who stared!
What could he mean?
Did balloons come in vans, and what had we to do with them? It was not for a moment or two that I remembered our joke about Taisy,—that she meant to astonish us by coming down in a balloon or something wonderful and original of that kind, from her mysterious hints in her letter to mamma.
And then I seemed to understand it all, almost better than Dods did. It quite took my breath away.
'Come, come, Dods!' I cried, setting off as I spoke, 'let's run to meet her. Oh, Taisy, Taisy, you funny girl! Oh, how delighted I am!'
We ran so fast that we reached the waggon almost before the driver and horses—there were two—seemed fairly launched on the side road, and in time to hear an eager voice from within calling out, 'All right, straight on, now. There is plenty of room.'
It was Theresa of course, but just at first she did not see us. She was leaning out on the other side to make the driver hear. But she turned, fast enough, when our shouts reached her, though she did not jump down, as we half expected.
