"You'll do nothing of the sort," declared Mr. Hayward good-naturedly. "You're going to be my guests, or I'll be very much offended. We've not got such a fine place as some, but you're welcome to what there is. If things were different--but there, I want you to stay."
He seemed affected by something, and his manner was so queer that the boys could not help noticing it. Ruth, too, appeared embarrassed, and, at first, Bart and his chums thought it might be that she was not prepared for company, since, as her mother was dead, she had the whole care of the house, though there was a servant to help her. But her invitation, which she added to that of her father's, assured the boys that they would be very welcome.
"You can't rough it so much as you could out in the woods," said Ruth, "but I think you'll like it here. We have a motor boat, and you may wish to run it on the lake."
"A motor boat!" exclaimed Bart. "That settles it! We stay!"
"But what about our camp stuff?" asked Frank.
"I'll send a man to gather it up and ship it back to Duluth," said Mr. Hayward. "There's no need of you going back there at all. I'll be glad to have you stay. We're a little upset on account of--"
He stopped suddenly, and glanced at his daughter, who did not appear to be listening to what he was saying. But she heard, nevertheless, as was shown by her next remark.
"Oh, dad means some of the servants have gone," quickly explained Ruth. "You see we had too many," she went on. "I decided we could get along with one, for I want to help do the work. I must learn to be a housekeeper, you know," and she blushed a little. "We're not upset a bit, daddy. You see, I'll manage."
It seemed as though something sad was worrying Mr. Hayward, but, he soon recovered his usual spirits, and got the boys to give him directions for shipping back their camp stuff.
"Now, I'll look after it," he said, as he prepared to leave the house, having changed his wet garments for dry ones. "I have some other matters to attend to, and I may not be back until late. I guess you can get along here. You can pretend you're camping out, and, if you get tired of that, Ruth will show you where the motor boat is. Only, don't upset," and, with that caution, he left them.