Patsy laughed.
"What are you up to, Daddy?" she demanded. "What has Uncle John been doing?"
"Deceiving us, my dear."
"Nonsense," said Uncle John, lighting his old briar pipe, "you've been deceiving yourselves."
"Didn't you convey the impression that you were poor?" demanded the
Major, sternly.
"No."
"Didn't you let Patsy take away your thirty-two dollars and forty-two cents, thinking it was all you had?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you worth millions and millions of dollars—so many that you can't count them yourself?"
"Perhaps."