"Reginald Augustus!" said Lisbeth. The Imp shuffled uneasily.
"Are you coming?" inquired Lisbeth.
"I--I'd rather be a pirate with Uncle Dick, please, Auntie Lisbeth," he said at last.
"Very well," nodded Lisbeth with an air of finality; "then of course I must punish you." But her tone was strangely gentle, and as she turned away I'll vow I saw the ghost of that dimple--yes, I'll vow it.
So we sat very lonely and dejected, the Imp and I, desperadoes though we were, as we watched Selwyn's boat grow smaller and smaller until it was lost round a bend in the river.
"'Spect I shall get sent to bed for this," said the Imp after a long pause.
"I think it more than probable, my Imp."
"But then, it was a very fine race--oh, beautiful!" he sighed; "an' I couldn't desert my ship an' Timothy Bone, an' leave you here all by yourself--now could I, Uncle Dick?"
"Of course not, Imp."
"What are you thinking about, Uncle Dick?" he inquired, as I stared, chin in hand, at nothing in particular.