"Shouldn't I tell mother first?" asked Freddie.
"I'll write her a note in the morning," said Toby. "I'll fix it; you leave it to me."
"I suppose I really ought to finish this sewing," said Aunt Amanda.
"No time," said Toby, who seemed to be managing everything. "Where's the ship, Mr. Mizzen?"
"Made fast to the wharf at the foot of this street," said Mr. Mizzen.
"Then let's go," said Toby.
He ran out of the room, and returned with his white derby hat on his head, and his hand-painted necktie neatly in its place. He helped Aunt Amanda to get up, and brought her her little black bonnet, which she put on and tied under her chin, and her cashmere shawl, which she put around her shoulders.
"All right!" cried Toby. "We're off! Come along!"
"We're off to the Spanish Main," said Mr. Mizzen, in his curious sing-song, "to the wet Antipodee; but dry or wet we need not fret, for we are bold as bold can be; and on the way at Botany Bay we'll probably stay a week or two, to gather ferns as the Botanists do, and then we'll stop at the door of Spain, to ask the way to the Spanish Main, and so without any more delay, on the Spanish Main we'll all alight, where the star-fish shines in the sea all night, and the dog-star barks in the sky all day—Here, skipper, put this in your pocket, and hold fast to it." He handed Freddie the map, and Freddie put it away safely in his pocket.