The Imp shuffled uneasily. "Are
you coming?" inquired Lisbeth.
"I - I'd rather be a pirate with Uncle Dick, please, Auntie Lisbeth,"
he said at last.
"Very well," nodded Lisbeth with an air of finality; "then of course
I must punish you." But her tone was strangely gentle, and as she
turned away I'll swear I saw the ghost of that dimple - yes, I'll
swear it. So we sat very lonely and dejected, the Imp and I,
desperadoes though we were, as we watched Selwyn's boat grow smaller
and smaller until it was lost round a bend in the river.
"'Spect I shall get sent to bed for this," said the Imp after a long
pause.
"I think it more than probable, my Imp."
"But then, it was a very fine race - oh, beautiful!" he sighed; "an'
I couldn't desert my ship an' Timothy Bone, an' leave you here all
by your self - now could I, Uncle Dick?"
"Of course not, Imp."
"What are you thinking about, Uncle Dick?" he inquired as I stared,
chin in hand, at nothing in particular.
"I was wondering, Imp, where the River of Dreams was going to lead
me, after all."
"To the Land of Heart's Delight, of course," he answered promptly;
"you said so, you know, an' you never tell lies, Uncle Dick - never,"
IV
MOON MAGIC
The Three Jolly Anglers is an inn of a distinctly jovial aspect,
with its toppling gables, its creaking sign, and its bright lattices,
which, like merry little twinkling eyes, look down upon the eternal
river to-day with the same half-waggish, half-kindly air as they
have done for generations.
Pages:
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90