"No, it would be better for you not to lie, but to face him down and tell him plainly that the money was for the support of the family and not for him to squander in drink."
They were hurrying along now, the boy in the lead, the sounds from the river showing that the men were coming back.
"Yes, that is right and I shall do it, but come, they will raise an alarm and you will have trouble in getting away. This way, Captain."
They went down an alley, the boy taking Dick's hand, and presently turned into a narrower one where Tom shortly pushed open a door and entered a house.
"It is Tom, mother," the boy said. "I have got the captain with me. The scheme worked well, fortunately, and he cut his way through the sack."
"You were obliged to take desperate chances, sir," said a woman's voice, "and I told Tom that I feared they would be too desperate. He would have released you if he could."
"Yes, I know, ma'am, but he gave me great assistance and I am accustomed to taking desperate chances."
The woman lighted a tallow dip and then exclaimed in surprise:
"Why, Tom, you said he was a captain! This is but a boy, not very many years older than yourself."
"He is the captain of the Liberty Boys, mother. They are all boys, some of them no older than myself. This way, Captain, and I will get you some clothes to take the place of the wet ones."