"Humph! A bird, eh? I guess you must mean an ostrich," retorted the shipowner's son, and at this sally there was a general laugh in which even Dave joined.
"Just eleven o'clock," remarked Luke, consulting his watch. "When do we stop for that lunch?"
"At twelve o'clock precisely," answered Mrs. Basswood. "That is, of course, if we happen to be in the right kind of a place. We don't want to stop just anywhere."
"Might eat the lunch while we were running," suggested Roger. "It would make it last so much longer."
"Wow! What a joke!" cried Phil.
"Say, that puts me in mind of a story!" burst out Shadow. "A fellow named William took his best girl for a trip by train to another town, and on the way they went into the dining-car for lunch. He said afterwards that it was the longest lunch he had ever eaten, and as the girl had ordered nearly everything on the bill of fare it was also the longest bill he had ever paid."
"A long bill but a short story, Shadow!" cried Luke.
"I'd like to know one thing, Shadow," observed Dave. "Was it William who paid the bill or was it Bill who had to put up several Williams to pay for it?"
"Good gracious, Dave! What are you talking about?" queried his sister, with a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh, that's easy, Laura," answered Roger. "William—Bill, Bill—William. Don't you see the joke?"