sang Gerald.
"And we, the while, console ourselves;
'Twill be the last, at worst!
Nay! nay!" he went on, as Jack seized him by the shoulders, and made a motion toward the water.
"Duck not the bard, the tuneful bard,
Who all thy soul reveals;
To hear the truth, I own, is hard,
Yet dry thy tearful squeals!"
"False construction!" said Bell. "You cannot dry squeals."
"They were tearful ones!" Gerald protested. "It was the tears I would have dried. Tears, idle tears, I know not whence they come; tears from the depth of some despairing fiddler."
"Suppose you dry up!" said Jack, dipping Gerald's head lightly in the water.
"No ducking between swims!" proclaimed Phil. "Law of the Medes and Persians!"
"Besides, it is time to be making the fire!" said Bell, rising. "Leave him to his conscience, Jack, and come along!"
"Yes, leave me to me conscience!" said Gerald.