"We brought a little candy," explained Mrs. Horton, giving Sunny Boy the box. "Are you willing to have it passed?"
Mrs. Kennedy was, so each of the children had three pieces and climbed the stairs to the playroom chattering like old friends.
"Have you been to the ac-quarium?" asked Paul, pronouncing it as if it were two words. He was rocking Sunny Boy on his rocking horse, which was as large as a small pony and had real hair in its mane and tail.
"Got one at home," announced Sunny Boy contentedly. "There were ten goldfish but one died."
"Oh, Paul means the real aquarium," explained Alice. "Down at the Battery, with the queerest fish you ever saw, and big tanks, and corals, and everything."
No, Sunny Boy hadn't seen that. He was so much interested in Alice's descriptions that when the two mothers came up to see what they were doing, they found them still talking about the fish.
"Hasn't Sunny Boy been down to the Battery?" asked Mrs. Kennedy. "Why, we must all go. How about to-morrow?"
Mrs. Horton explained that she had planned to go to the Statue of Liberty the following day.
"You can do that easily in the afternoon," said Mrs. Kennedy. "We might as well make a day of it. I have to get the children ready for school, and one day is all I can spare. Suppose we meet at the Battery in the morning and see the aquarium. We'll have lunch somewhere and take the boat right from the Battery for Bedloe's Island."
So it was arranged that they should meet the next morning, and Sunny Boy and Mother went back to the hotel to tell Daddy all about their plans and to hear about his busy day.