"No, father,--going in a ketch. A ketch is a sort of ship, father,
though I don't quite know what sort of ship. What sort of ship is a
ketch, Master Lirriper?"

"A ketch is a two-masted craft, Master Geoffrey," John Lirriper said.
"She carries a big mizzen sail."

"There, you see, father," Geoffrey said triumphantly; "she carries a
big mizzen sail. That's what she is, you see; and he is going to show
us London, and will take great care of us if you will let us go with
him."

"Do you mean, Master Lirriper," Mr. Vickars asked slowly, "that you are
going to London in some sort of ship, and want to take my sons with
you?"

"Well, sir, I am going to London, and the young masters seemed to think
that they would like to go with me, if so be you would have no
objection."

"I don't know," Mr. Vicars said. "It is a long passage, Master
Lirriper; and, as I have heard, often a stormy one. I don't think my
wife--"

"Oh, yes, father," Lionel broke in. "If you say yes, mother is sure to
say yes; she always does, you know. And, you see, it will be a great
thing for us to see London. Every one else seems to have seen London,
and I am sure that it would do us good. And we might even see the
queen."