Tad shook his head.
"That settles it. Neither will I," decided Chunky.
"Oh, yes you will. You will go on just the same as before, and you will have just as good a time. After you get out into the open again you'll forget that I am not along."
"What! Do you think I would trust my precious person to these savages?" demanded the fat boy with a gesture that took in Ned Rector and Walter Perkins. "Why, I'd never come back!"
"No great loss if you didn't," muttered Rector.
Tad laughed.
"You are old enough to take care of yourself, Chunky. You will have the Professor to protect you in case anything goes wrong."
"No, we can't have it that way," declared Perkins, with a slow shake of the head. "If you don't go, we don't. But really, I don't see why you can't. My folks will look after Mrs. Butler, and—"
Tad shook his head with emphasis.
"My mind is made up," he said.