"I am so sorry we had to tell you so soon," said Johnnie. "We were keeping it a secret until we got to the lake; then we were going to send you a letter."
Mr. Ford looked gravely into his son's grimy face. It was an honest face, and Johnnie had always been a truthful boy, and just now seemed only troubled by the restless behavior of his hen; so the father rightly concluded that the blue and gold book had captivated him into the belief that what he and Chips were doing was admirable and heroic.
"What part is the hen going to play?" asked the gentleman. "Is she going to help stock your island?"
"Oh, no, but we couldn't get along without her, because she's going to lay eggs along the way."
"Yes, for our lunch. At first we weren't going to take anything but the hen, but Chips said he liked ham and eggs better'n anything, so we decided to take it."
Another pause; then Mr. Ford said: "You both look tired, haven't you had enough of it? I'm going home now."
"And have you thought of your mothers, whom you didn't even kiss good-by?"
Johnnie stood on one leg and twisted the other foot around it, after his manner when troubled.
"I thought you knew, Johnnie, that nothing ever turns out right when you undertake it without first consulting mother."
"I wish now I'd kissed mine good-by," observed Friday thoughtfully.
"Come, we'll go back together," said Mr. Ford quietly, moving off as he spoke, "and we will see what Mrs. Wood and mother have to say on the subject."
Johnnie and Chips followed slowly. "Father," said the former emphatically, "I can't be happy without being wrecked, and I do hope mother won't object."
His father made no reply to this, and three quarters of an hour afterward the children jumped out of the buggy into their mothers' arms, and as they still clung to their lunch, the ham and the hen came in for a share of the embracing, which the hen objected to seriously, never having been hugged before this eventful day.
"Never mind, mother," said Johnnie patronizingly, "father'll tell you all about it while I go and put Speckle in a safe place." So the boys went, and Mr. Ford seated himself in an armchair, and related the events of the afternoon to the ladies, adding some advice as to the manner of making the boys see the folly of their undertaking.