Alice smiled. "I don't know," she said.
"Do you ever think we will find out?" he asked. "About them, I mean."
She shook her head and smiled. "How can you find out? You don't even know how old they are. You don't know how their minds work, and just as you get settled and begin to understand, something new happens, and they are some one else."
"You learn the name of Uncle Zotsby's dog, only to be confronted by some new problems. Mystery succeeds mystery."
Just for a moment she and Tom sat at rest—tired from their journey. Presently, they would take up their packs and continue their Parents' Progress which would be a journey as long as life.
Tom spoke again. "About your vacation—are you going away?" He spoke wistfully. "Are you going away," his unspoken thought was, "and leave me to deal with all of this alone?"
Alice shook her head. She might go away, but she wouldn't be away, because parents can't ever be away from their children, and Tom never would find out. But just now, while the next adventure was preparing for them, and while the next problem was getting ready to confront them, there was peace.
Out from behind the hollyhocks there came a careful noise as of a stealthy engine. "Chuff Chuff," it said. "Chugg chugg? Shuff Shuff!" It was Uncle Zotsby with his dog, Pa Skelegg, beginning to teach Sara how the world was made.
