“Yes, they’re home safe,” said Mrs. Bobbsey.  “But there will be no school for a month.”

“Good!” exclaimed Daddy Bobbsey.  “That will just suit me and the children, too.  I’ll be home in a little while, and I have some wonderful news for them!”

“Oh, I wonder what it can be!” exclaimed Nan, when her mother told her what Daddy Bobbsey had said.

CHAPTER VII

ON A TRIP

The Bobbsey twins could hardly wait for their daddy to come home after their mother had told them what he said over the telephone.

“Tell me again, Mother, just what he told you!” begged Nan.

“Well, he said he was just as glad as you children were, that there was to be no more school for a month,” answered Mrs. Bobbsey.  “Though, of course, he was sorry that the steam boiler had broken.  And then he said he had some wonderful news to tell us all.”

“Oh, I know what it is!” cried Bert.

“What?” asked Nan.

“He’s found the tramp that took Miss Pompret’s dishes,” went on Bert, “and he’s got them back—­daddy has—­and he’s going to get the hundred dollars!  That’s it!”

“Oh, I hardly think so,” said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile.  “I don’t believe daddy has caught any tramp.”

“They do sometimes sleep in the lumberyard,” remarked Bert.

“Yes, I know,” agreed his mother.  “But, even if daddy had caught a tramp, it would hardly be the same man who took Miss Pompret’s rare pieces of china—­the pitcher and sugar bowl.  And if it had been anything like that, daddy would have told me over the telephone.”

“But what could the wonderful news be?” asked Nan.

“Something too long to talk about until he gets home, I think,” answered Mother Bobbsey.  “Have patience, daddy will soon be here!”

But of course the Bobbsey twins could not be patient any more than you could if you expected something unusual.  They looked at the clock, they ran to the door several times to look down the street to see if their father was coming, and, at last, when Nan had said for about the tenth time:  “I wonder what it is!” a step sounded on the front porch.

“There’s daddy now!” cried Bert.

Eight feet rushed to the front door, and Mr. Bobbsey was almost overwhelmed by the four twins leaping at him at once.

“What is it?” cried Bert.

“Tell us the wonderful news!” begged Nan.

“Have you got another dog for us?” Flossie wanted to know.

“Did you bring me a new toy fire engine?” cried Freddie.

“Maybe it’s a goat!” exclaimed Flossie.

“Now wait a minute!  Wait a minute!” laughed Mr. Bobbsey, as he kissed each one in turn.  “Sit down and I’ll tell you all about it.”

He led them into the library, and sat down on a couch, taking Flossie and Freddie up on his knees, while Bert and Nan sat close on either side.