"Don't you see the gasoline engine and the folded white wings inside the canoe?" asked Tom Reade gravely. "We can use it either as a canoe or as an airship."
Three or four of the girls, Clara at their head, stepped forward to look for engine and "wings," then stepped back, laughing.
"You're such a fibber, Tom Reade!" declared Susie Sharp.
"A falsifier?" demanded Tom indignantly. "Nothing like it, Miss Susie! The worst you can say of me is that I have the imagination of an inventor."
"Tweedledum and tweedledee!" laughed Clara.
"It does seem good to see you boys up here," Belle went on with enthusiasm. "How long are you going to stay?"
"In other words, how soon are you going to be rid of us?" asked
Danny Grin.
"Are you speaking for yourself, Mr. Dalzell?" Belle returned tartly.
"I inquired more particularly about the others."
Dan quite enjoyed the laugh on himself, though he replied quickly:
"The others have to go home when I do. They had to promise that they would do so."