"Won't it be dreadfully expensive?" asked Phyllis.
"The skipper's wages won't be more than five or six dollars (a bit more than one of your sovereigns) a week, and the chauffeur less. They'll keep themselves, but I meant them to sleep on the barge. The skipper ought to be a smart chap, who can be trusted with money to pay the expenses of the boat as one goes along—bridge-money and all sorts of things. The chauffeur can buy the essence—petrol, you call it in England, don't you?—but the skipper had better do the rest."
"It does seem a frightful responsibility for two girls," said Phyllis.
"Of course, if you'd consent to have my aunt—and me—we'd take all the trouble off your hands, and half the expense," remarked Mr. Starr. "My poor aunt is so fond of the water, and there's so little in Scotland——"
"Little in Scotland?"
"Well, only a few lakes and rivers. It does seem hard she should be disappointed."
"She mightn't like us," said Phyllis.
"She would lo—I mean, she'd be no aunt of mine if she didn't. I'd cut her off with a penny."
"It's generally aunts who do that with their nephews," said I.
"Ah, but she's different from other aunts, and I'm different from other nephews. May I telegraph that she's to come?"