“Yes,” said Molly. “She has been there since yesterday, and it’s very interesting, for we can hear the bells on board, and the bugle calls, too, and see the sailors drilling. There are Mother and Paul on the piazza.”
Mrs. Chester was a bright, sweet-faced woman, with a cordial, winning manner, which put people at their ease at once, and her greeting to the three guests was so hearty that, even if they had been disposed to feel shy, their shyness would have been speedily dispelled. Jerry was promptly carried off to the third floor by Paul Chester, a bright-looking boy of twelve, and his younger brother Frank, and Molly took her two girl friends to their room.
“We are going to have you room together,” she said, pausing at the door of a large, pleasant room on the second floor. “The house isn’t very large, so we have to double up. Kitty will room with me, and Paul is to be with the boys in their own special sanctum up-stairs. There is another guest-room, but we are expecting Aunt Dulcie on Saturday.”
“Is that the aunt who writes books?” Gretel asked.
“Yes, and she is the dearest person in the world. I know you will both be crazy about her. She is Stephen’s mother, you know, and she is coming here so as to be near him while he is at the naval station. She is so full of fun, and so interested in everything we do, you would never suppose she was so awfully clever.”
“Mother has just been reading her new book,” said Geraldine—“the one that went into so many editions, you know—and she said it was wonderful. I have never met a real author in my life, have you, Gretel?”
“No,” said Gretel, “but I have met a good many musicians, and they are not very different from other people, so I don’t suppose authors are, either, when one gets to know them. I shall be very glad to meet Molly’s aunt, for everybody says her books are delightful.”
“How far is the Godfreys’ house from here?” Geraldine inquired, going over to the open window for another look out on that fascinating harbor.
“Only a few houses away,” Molly answered, “but you can’t see it from here. Ada stopped in for a minute this morning, to find out if you girls were coming. You will see her to-morrow when we go over there to do Red Cross work. Mother said she was sure you wouldn’t mind helping.”
“Of course we won’t mind,” declared Geraldine, and Gretel added: