"I was at
first - just a weeny bit; but you see Uncle Dick has a wonderful
house with swords an' armour, but empty, an' he wanted to keep
somebody in it to see that everything was nice, I s'pose, an' sing,
you know, an' take care of his life. Auntie Lisbeth can sing, an'
she wanted to go, so I forgave them."
"Oh, indeed, Reginald?" said Lady Warburton in a rather queer voice,
and I saw the corners of her high, thin nose quiver strangely.
"Beggin' your pardon, ma' am," said Peter at this moment, touching
his cap, "I don't know much about boats, my line bein' 'osses, but
I do think as this 'ere boat is a-goin' to sink."
"Then row for the shore instantly," said Lady Warburton firmly,
"and should I never reach it alive" - here she brought her lorgnette
to bear on Lisbeth - "I say if I do meet a watery grave this day,
my epitaph shall be, 'Drowned by the Ingratitude of a Niece.'
However, this gloomy tragedy being happily averted, and Lady
Warburton safely landed, I, at a nod from Lisbeth, rowed to the bank
likewise and we all disembarked together.
Now, as kind Fortune would have it, and Fortune was very kind that
morning, the place where we stood was within a stone's throw of The
Three Jolly Anglers, and wafted to us on the warm, still air there
came a wondrous fragrance, far sweeter and more alluring than the
breath of roses or honeysuckle - the delightful aroma of frying bacon.
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