Her lips were parted.
"Oh, Aunt Mary, is it really true that I am going?" she said.
"Why," said Uncle Tom, "what zeal for learning!"
"My dear," said Aunt Mary, who, you may be sure, knew all about that school before Cousin Eleanor's letter came, "Miss Turner insists upon hard work, and the discipline is very strict."
"No young men," added Uncle Tom.
"That," declared Aunt Mary, "is certainly an advantage."
"And no chocolate cake, and bed at ten o'clock," said Uncle Tom.
Honora, dazed, only half heard them. She laughed at Uncle Tom because she always had, but tears were shining in her eyes. Young men and chocolate cake! What were these privations compared to that magic word Change? Suddenly she rose, and flung her arms about Uncle Tom's neck and kissed his rough cheek, and then embraced Aunt Mary. They would be lonely.
"Aunt Mary, I can't bear to leave you—but I do so want to go! And it won't be for long—will it? Only until next spring."
"Until next summer, I believe," replied Aunt Mary, gently; "June is a summer month-isn't it, Tom?"