"Excuse me," I said, bowing deeply, "but such heroic devotion cannot be sufficiently appreciated and admired. In Lisbeth's name I beg to thank you; nevertheless." "Mr. Brent, I believe?" she said in a tone of faint surprise, as though noticing my presence for the first time. "At your service, madam!" I answered with another bow. "Then I must ask you to convey my ward back to Fane Court immediately; she and the children will accompany me to London at once." "My dear Lady Warburton," I said, fronting the lorgnettes with really admirable fortitude, "it grieves me to deny you this request, but believe me, it is impossible!" "Impossible!" she repeated. "Quite!" I answered. "You here behold the good ship Joyful Hope, bound for the 'Land of Heart's Delight,' and we aboard are all determined on our course." "'An' the wind blows fair, an' our helm's a-lee, so it's heave, my mariners, all--O!'" cried the Imp in his nautical voice. "Dear me!" ejaculated Lady Warburton, staring. "Elizabeth, be so obliging as to tell me what it all means. Why have you dragged these children from their beds to come philandering upon a horrid river at such an hour?" "Excuse me, Aunt, but she didn't drag us," protested the Imp, bowing exactly as I had done a moment before. "Oh, no, we came," nodded Dorothy. "An' we've been getting married, you know," said the Imp. "And it was all very, very beautiful," added Dorothy; "even Louise enjoyed it ever so much!" and she kissed the fluffy kitten. "Married!" cried Lady Warburton in a tone of horror; "married!" "They would do it, you know," sighed the Imp. "And quite right, too," said Dorothy; "everybody always marries somebody, some time; it's very fashionable at present. Mamma did and so shall I when I grow up, I suppose." "Goodness gracious, child!" exclaimed Lady Warburton. "I s'pose you're angry 'bout it, Aunt," pursued the Imp. "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.