"Sir!" The second lieutenant stepped forward.
"You mean to tell me that—that these two men—inflicted—er—all this?"
"They did, sir. If I might explain the unfortunate mistake—"
"You describe it accurately, sir. I could say to you, as Sir Isaac Newton said to his dog Diamond, 'Oh, Mr. Fraser, Mr. Fraser, you little know what you have done!'"
"Indeed, sir, I fear we acted hastily. The fact is we found the two new midshipmen, Rodd and Hartnoll, in something of a scrape with these people. …" The second lieutenant told how he had found me battering at the door, and how he had effected an entrance: but the Captain listened inattentively.
"Your Excellency," he said, interrupting the narrative and turning on the Governor, "I really think these men will give us little sport here."
"They are going to be extremely ill," said His Excellency, "and that presently."
"I had better send them ashore."
"Decidedly; and before they recover. Also, if I might advise, I would not be too hasty in knocking off their handcuffs."
"We are short-handed," mused Captain Suckling; "but really the situation will be a delicate one unless we weigh anchor at once."