Jeffery Farnol

“ What a horrible name!"
"What's in a name? a boat by any other——" I misquoted. "If you like, we'll call it the Joyful Hope, bound for the Land of Heart's Delight." Lisbeth shook her head, but I fancied the dimple peeped at me for a moment.
"It would be a pity to disappoint Louise," I said, reaching up to stroke the fluffy kitten.
"Yes," cried Dorothy, "do let's go, Auntie."
"For the sake of Louise," I urged and held out my arms to her. Lisbeth was standing on the top stair and I on the lower, in exactly the same attitudes as I had beheld in my vision. ”

“ I ended.
"Yes," nodded Dorothy; "but how did you know there was a beautiful princess?"
"Uncle Dick knows everything, of course," returned the Imp sententiously.
"Do you think the beautiful princess loved the prince, Dorothy?" I asked, glancing at Lisbeth's averted face.
"Well," answered Dorothy, pursing her mouth thoughtfully, "I don't know, Uncle Dick; you see, Auntie hasn't got to that yet, but everybody loves somebody sometime, you know. Betty—she's our cook, you know—Betty says all nice tales end up in marrying and living happy ever after." ”

“ The Imp is an artist to his grimy finger-tips.
"Avast, shipmate!" I cried. "How's the wind?"
"Oh," he exclaimed, falling over his boots with eagerness, "do take me in your boat, an' let's be pirates, will you, Uncle Dick?"
"Well, that depends. Where is your Auntie Lisbeth?"
"Mr. Selwyn is going to row her and Dorothy up the river."
"The deuce he is!"
"Yes, an' they won't take me."
"Why not, my Imp?"
"'Cause they're 'fraid I should upset the boat. So I thought I'd come an' ask you to be a pirate, you know. I'll lend you my best dagger an' one of my pistols. Will you, Uncle Dick?" ”

“ And yet it is a very fair world, peopled with giants and fairies; where castles lift their grim, embattled towers; where magic woods and forests cast their shade, full of strange beasts; where knights ride forth with lance in rest and their armour shining in the sun. ”

“ Ben, the gardener's boy, has one with the littlest, teeniest pink nose you ever saw."
"Certainly a ferret has its advantage," I mused. "A ferret will not frown upon one one minute and flash a dimple at one the next. And then, again, a ferret cannot be reasonably supposed to possess an aunt. There is something to be said for your idea after all, Imp."
"Why, then, let's be pirates, Uncle Dick," he said with an air of finality. "I think I'll be Scarlet Sam, 'cause I know all about him, an' you can be Timothy Bone, the boatswain." ”

“ For him there is no such thing as "pretence"; he has but to close his eyes a moment to open them upon a new and a very real world of his own—the golden world of Romance, wherein so few of us are privileged to walk in these cold days of common-sense. ”

“ Selwyn, is she?" I said.
"Yes, an' I told her she could come an' be a pirate with me if she liked—but she wouldn't."
"Strange!" I murmured.
"Uncle Dick, do you think Auntie Lisbeth is in love with Mr. Selwyn?"
"What?" I exclaimed, and stopped rowing.
"I mean, do you think Mr. Selwyn is in love with Auntie Lisbeth?"
"My Imp, I'm afraid he is. Why?"
"'Cause cook says he is, an' so does Jane, an' they know all about love, you know. I've heard them read it out of a book lots an' lots of times. But I think love is awfull' silly, don't you, Uncle Dick?" ”