"That's right, sir!" Hal agreed heartily. "I remember when I first went into the mills how puzzled I was at seeing the bobbins whirling in opposite directions. It seemed as if one was simply undoing what another had done. I thought they all ought to turn the same way. It was months before I got through my head what they were up to."
"I hadn't thought of the twisting and doubling part," Carl murmured.
"You decide with that thrown in maybe the answer to the puzzle isn't so easy, eh?" responded Hal with a teasing smile.
"I might have to ponder over it," Carl confessed suavely.
"Ponder! I guess you would. What's more, you'd have a good smart headache before you were through your pondering, I'll bet!" jeered Hal, tweaking his chum's hair.
CHAPTER XIV
SPINNING YARNS
All good things, alas, come to an end and the McGregor's Christmas holidays were no exception to this immutable law. A day arrived when Carl, Mary and Tim were obliged to return to school, and following swift on the heels of this dire occasion came a yet more lamentable one when Uncle Frederick Dillingham was forced to go back to his ship and sail for China. The latter calamity entirely overshadowed the former and was a very real blow not only to Mulberry Court, where the captain had become an object of universal pride and affection, but also to the Harling family who had come to depend on his daily visits for cheer and sunshine.
"I don't see why somebody else can't sail your ship to China, Uncle Frederick, and let you stay here," wailed Mary.