"Yes, he's a wonder," he said, cracking nuts studiously. "I hope he's as good on breakfasts as he used to be."
"Breakfast!" cried Patricia, bubbling. "Are we going to keep on eating till——"
"No, no, I didn't mean that," returned Bruce hastily. "I was thinking of something else."
"The surprise, I am sure," announced Judith calmly. "Let's try to guess what it is, like charades or Dumb Crambo. You can tell us if we guess right, Bruce. I'll begin first."
Bruce laid down his cracker with a grin. "No, you don't, young 'un," he said decisively. "I'm not going to turn my choicest possession into a puzzle department. I'm going to spring it myself, right now."
All eyes were upon him as he crumpled his napkin into a hard ball and crushed it between his flexible fingers, while his face assumed an earnest and rather anxious expression.
"I am going to ask you to think first and speak last," he began. "I don't want you to go into it hastily or unless you're quite sure you will like it."
"We'll like it, all right enough, if you have a hand in it," Patricia assured him heartily.
"It's a scheme I've been thinking of for nearly a month now, and I've made all the arrangements before I came home; but if it doesn't appeal to you—well, there are no bones broken, and I can easily fix it up with Miss J—— that is, I can make other arrangements."
Judith gave an impatient wriggle, but it was Patricia again who spoke.