“And you nagged him to it?”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t do anything till I got it.”
“Very well. Do you wish to make a charge against the man?”
“Yes.”
There was no further investigation that night. The master-at-arms’ report was made to the captain. But that night Sam recounted to his companion, Dan Davis, all that had occurred. Dan listened attentively, asking a question now and then.
“I do not see how you could have acted differently unless you had run away, and I shouldn’t want to think you had done such a thing. I would much rather see you punished than to know you had acted the part of a coward.”
“Don’t use that word,” begged Sam. “Kester did. That was what clinched the whole business. If he hadn’t done that, I might not have hit him, even though he slapped me.”
A dull flush suffused the cheeks of the Battleship Boy at the memory of what had occurred, but his voice was calm and without the slightest emotion.
“Do you think there will be a row about it?” he asked.
“I hope not. If there is, take your medicine like a man,” advised Dan.