"Maybe that is why the Whale charges so much to take people there," suggested Jimmieboy.
"It is, exactly. There is no risk about it for him, but he has to eat so much hot coal and other things to warm him up, that really it costs him nearly as much as he gets to make the trip. I don't believe that he clears more than half a dollar on the whole thing, even when he is crowded," said the Imp.
"Crowded?" echoed Jimmieboy. "What do you mean by that?"
"Crowded? Why, crowded is an English word meaning jamful and two more," said the Imp.
"But crowded with what?" queried Jimmieboy.
"Why, passengers, of course. What did you suppose? Ink bottles?"
"Then he takes more than one passenger at a time," said Jimmieboy.
"Certainly he does. He'll hold twenty-five boys of your size in comfort, thirty-five in discomfort, forty-five in an emergency, and fifty at a pinch," said the Imp. "But see here, we are losing a lot of circus. There goes the Educated Scallop out of the ring now. I'm sorry you missed him, for he is a tender."
"A what?"