"Come—come, now—to China, my dear."
Mr. Bolliver's medicine certainly seemed to take speedy effect. The aunts stared to see the color in their grandniece's cheeks and to hear the gay excitement in her voice. But when she had gone to bed they conferred together and prepared to deal very solemnly with Mr. Bart Bolliver. They sat down side by side on the davenport and confronted him in a manner most frightening.
"She'll die if you take her off to China," they said in unison.
"She'll die if I don't—that's certain," said Mr. BoUiver, who was standing in front of the fire-place, beneath the ship model.
And his remark was voiced in tones so firm and so final that the aunts found their other arguments upside down, and leaned back rather helplessly to gaze at this dreadfully decided little gentleman and to shake their heads gently.
There was to be no merchant ship about this expedition, you may believe. No indeed! It was to be a swift and purposeful affair of gilt-edged express-train and Pacific liner. Mr. Bolliver was deep in reservations and Toyo
