Mr. Stewart looked at him in astonishment.
'You can't tell me? You mean you don't know?'
Allan was silent.
Mr. Stewart waited.
Tricksy crept closer to Marjorie and trembled with dismay.
'You associate with people that you cannot tell your parents about,' said Mr. Stewart in great displeasure; 'and you allow him to associate with your little sister and with Marjorie. I am sorry that I must forbid the use of the boat until you tell me who was with you this morning.'
Allan waited with a white face until his father had left the room; then he turned to the others.
'No one is to let out who it was,' he said. 'You have all signed the Compact, and any one breaking it will have me to reckon with.'
Reggie's brown face wore an expression which showed that he, at least, meant to be trustworthy; and Marjorie's lips set themselves firmly. The Grahams, major and minor, had said little, but now Harry's eyes sparkled, and Gerald flushed, as he always did when he was trying to be brave.
'But, Allan,' said Tricksy in a trembling voice, 'wouldn't it be better to tell Father about it and ask him to let us have the boat for Neil? We must get him away from the island, you know.'