'I know he will,' she answered happily. 'And I'm only prevented from saying all I think of him by the fear that he'll become perfectly unmanageable.'
'Spare me the chaste blushes which mantle my youthful brow, and pour out the tea, Julia,' said Dick.
She laughed and proceeded to do as he requested.
'And are you really starting for Africa so soon?' Julia asked, when they were settled around the tea-table.
Alec threw back his head, and his face lit up.
'I am. Everything is fixed up; the bother of collecting supplies and getting porters has been taken off my shoulders, and all I have to do is to get along as quickly as possible.'
'I wish to goodness you'd give up these horrible explorations,' cried Dick. 'They make the rest of us feel so abominably unadventurous.'
'But they're the very breath of my nostrils,' answered Alec. 'You don't know the exhilaration of the daily dangers, the joy of treading where only the wild beasts have trodden before.'
'I freely confess that I don't want to,' said Dick.
Alec sprang up and stretched his legs. As he spoke all signs of lassitude disappeared, and he was seized with an excitement that was rarely seen in him.