"He's gone out of town and given us a holiday." "Oh!" he said, looking at me with a sudden smile.

"You've got a holiday, have you, Moneylaws?
Look here--I'm going for a run in my bit of a yacht--come with me! How soon can you be ready ?" "As soon as I've taken my dinner, Sir Gilbert," I answered, pleased enough at the invitation.

"Would an hour do ?" "You needn't bother about your dinner," he said.

"I'm having a lunch basket packed now at the hotel, and I'll step in and tell them to put in enough for two.

Go and get a good thick coat, and meet me down at the front in half an hour." I ran off home, told my mother where I was going, and hurried away to the river-side.