"I hear you have a houseboat, Bert," said John Blake, a boy in the same room, as the children came out of school that afternoon.
"Yes, my father bought the one Mr. Marvin owned," said Bert. "It's a fine one, too. We're going to have a trip in her soon."
"You're a lucky boy!" exclaimed John. "Can't you take me down and show me over the boat?"
"I'd like to," said Bert, "but father said I wasn't to go aboard, when he was not with me."
"Pooh! He'll never know," suggested Danny Rugg, a boy with whom Bert had had more or less trouble. "You needn't tell your father you went to the boat. Come on, take us down and let's see it."
"No," said Bert, quietly but firmly. "Maybe my father wouldn't know I had been on board, but I'd know it."
"Aw, you're a fraid-cat!" sneered Danny. "Come on, take us down, and we'll have some fun."
"No," said Bert with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry. Some other time, after I've asked my father if I may, I'll show you all over the Bluebird."
"I want to go now," Danny said.
"Oh, there's plenty of time," spoke John, pleasantly. "I wouldn't want Bert to do what his father told him not to, just to oblige me. I'll see the boat some other time, Bert; that will do just as well."