"But," interrupted Bob Jonstone, "if only you will forget all that and think what pleasure we are having."
"I can't hear what you say," called Maud.
"I beg your pardon," shouted Mr. Jonstone. "I didn't quite catch that. What did Miss Darling say, Mel?"
"She said she wanted to talk to me and for you to shut up."
Mr. Jonstone made a playful but powerful swing at his cousin, and the guide boat, as if suddenly tired of her passengers, calmly upset and spilled them out.
A moment later the true gallantry of Mr. Bob Jonstone showed forth in glorious colors. Having risen to the surface and made good his hold upon the overturned boat, he proposed very humbly, as amends for causing the accident, to let go and drown.
"If you do," said Maud, excitement overcoming her sense of the ridiculous, "I'll never speak to you again."
Colonel Meredith opened his mouth to laugh and closed it a little hastily on about a pint of water.