that crying. You are the eldest, and you ought to know better."

5. He made mother take his arm, just as father used to do. Then he began
to whistle, to show that he did not care a bit. All the way home he
tried to make jokes.

6. As soon as we had taken off our coats and hats, Tom called us into
the sitting-room. "Look here," he said: "we're going to have no glum
faces in this house. We must be bright and cheerful, or mother will
fret. You know father wouldn't like that."

[Illustration: {Children in the sitting-room}]

7. We said that we would do our best. So off we went to help mother to
make the beds and to dust the rooms. While we were doing this we quite
forgot to be sad.

8. After tea we went into father's room and looked at the globe. "I'm
going to follow father right round the world," said Tom. "Please show me
which way he is going." Mother did so.

9. "By this time next week," she said, "we shall have the first of many
long letters from father. I am sure we shall enjoy reading them. He will
tell us about the far-off lands which he is going to see."

10. "That will be grand," I said. "I hope he will tell us _lots_
about the children. I want to know what they look like, what they wear,
and what games they play."

11. Tom said he would rather not hear about children. He wanted to hear