"You need not tell him anything about it."
"Where, then, are the skins to come from? Can you say you bought them at the furrier's? You must really hit upon some other fancy."
"But it is not a fancy, Willis, it is a necessity; it is not our own amusement we are consulting. Just imagine yourself what will happen during the excursion now being arranged. Our parents will, of course, offer their bear skins to Mr. and Mrs. Wolston; there will be refusals on the one side and entreaties on the other."
"And, as is usual in these sort of discussions," added Jack, "Mrs. Wolston will call her carriage."
"Yes," continued Fritz, "and my mother will most certainly deprive herself of a covering that is absolutely indispensable during the cold nights of this climate."
"There is reason in what you say," observed Willis, scratching his ear.
"You see, Willis, the thing ought and must be done."
"As you put it, yes; but it will take time to prepare the skins."
"They will not be ready in time for this expedition certainly, and my mother must do without her skin this journey; but it is our duty to prevent anything of the sort happening in future."
"Were I to consent to this project," said Willis, "there is still something more required."