"Impossible, my Imp," I said firmly. He looked at me incredulously for a moment, then, seeing I meant it, his lip began to quiver.
"I didn't think 'T-Timothy B-Bone' would ever desert me," he said, and turned away.
"Oh, Auntie!" exclaimed Dorothy, "won't you take us?"
"Dear--not this morning."
"Are you going far, then, Uncle Dick?"
"Yes, very far," I answered, glancing uneasily from the Imp's drooping figure to Lisbeth.
"I wonder where?"
"Oh--well--er--down the river," I stammered, quite at a loss.
"Y-e-s, but where?" persisted Dorothy.
"Well, to--er--to----"