"Will you tell me why?" asked the captain, smiling.
"No one ever knows on an expedition what may happen," drily replied the lieutenant, "and two are better than one."
"But I have told you, we are two already."
"Very good," he continued, "but you would be three."
"I tell you what it is, Camotte," said the captain, laughing, "you do just as you like with me. Let him come."
"I thank you heartily," cried the delighted lieutenant.
"Above all, whatever happens, keep my absence a secret," said Tom Mitchell; "that is above all essential."
"Your orders shall be obeyed in all things."
"And now bring in the prisoner," continued Tom. "By the way, have you said anything to her?"
"Captain, you know I am no babbler," observed Camotte.