They arrived there almost out of breath, but with
such beaming faces that before they reached the hammock where he lay
swinging Ned called out, "Halloa! what's happened? Something good, I
know."
"We're going--" panted Charlie, dropping down on the grass beside him.
"To Europe!" supplemented Selwyn.
"No!" cried Ned, springing up. "Isn't that just jolly! When do you
sail, and who all are going? Let's sit in the hammock together. Now
tell me all about it." The three boys crowded into the hammock, and
for a few minutes questions and answers flew thick and fast.
"You know we've always wanted to go." said Charlie. Ned nodded. "And
the last time papa went he promised he'd take us the next trip, but we
didn't dream he was going this summer."
"Though we suspected something was up," broke in Selwyn, "because for
about a week past whenever Charlie and I would come into the room papa
and mamma'd stop talking; but we never thought of Europe."
"Until this morning," continued Charlie, "after breakfast, when papa
said, 'Boys, how would you like a trip to Europe with your mother and
me?'"
"At first we thought he was joking," again interrupted eager little
Selwyn, "because his eyes twinkled just as they do when he is telling a
joke.
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