Your Aunt Fanny has lived there all her life, and wouldn't leave it for anything."
"Oh Daddy, do telephone to Aunt Fanny and ask her if we can go there!" cried Dick.
"I just feel as if it's the right place somehow.
It sounds sort of adventurous!"
"Oh, you always say that, wherever you go!" said Daddy, with a laugh.
"All right— I'll ring up now, and see if there's any chance."
They had all finished their breakfast, and they got up to wait for Daddy to telephone.
He went out into the hall, and they heard him putting the call through.
"I hope it's all right for us!" said Julian.
"I wonder what Georgina's like.
Funny name, isn't it?
More like a boy's than a girl's.
So she's eleven— a year younger than I am— same age as you, Dick— and a year older than you, Anne.
She ought to fit in with us all right.
The four of us ought to have a fine time together."
Daddy came back in about ten minutes' time, and the children knew at once that he had fixed up everything. He smiled round at them.
"Well, that's settled," he said.
"Your Aunt Fanny is delighted about it.
She says it will be awfully good for Georgina to have company, because she's such a lonely little girl, always going off by herself.
And she will love looking after you all.
Only you'll have to be careful not to disturb your Uncle Quentin.
He is working very hard, and he isn't very good-tempered when he is disturbed."
"We'll be as quiet as mice in the house!" said Dick.
"Honestly we will.
Oh, goody, goody— when are we going, Daddy?"
"Next week, if Mother can manage it," said Daddy.
Mother nodded her head.
"Yes," she said,
"There's nothing much to get ready for them— just bathing suits and jerseys and shorts. They all wear the same."
"How lovely it will be to wear shorts again," said Anne, dancing round.
"I'm tired of wearing school tunics. I want to wear shorts, or a bathing suit, and go bathing and climbing with the boys."
"Well, you'll soon be doing it," said Mother, with a laugh.
"Remember to put ready any toys or books you want, won't you?
Not many, please, because there won't be a great deal of room."
"Anne wanted to take all her fifteen dolls with her last year," said Dick,
"Do you remember, Anne?
Weren't you funny?"
"No, I wasn't," said Anne, going red.
"I love my dolls, and I just couldn't choose which to take— so I thought I'd take them all.
There's nothing funny about that."
"And do you remember, the year before, Anne wanted to take the rocking-horse?" said Dick, with a giggle.
Mother chimed in.
"You know, I remember a little boy called Dick who put aside two golliwogs, one teddy bear, three toy dogs, two toy cats and his old monkey to take down to Polseath one year," she said.
Then it was Dick's turn to go red.
He changed the subject at once.
"Daddy, are we going by train or by car?" he asked.
"By car," said Daddy.
"We can pile everything into the boot.
Well— what about Tuesday?"
"That would suit me well," said Mother.