It took the boys a good half hour to tell their story. The captain made no comment, except to ask a question now and then, until they had finished, then he said:
“I don’t think I need tell you that you have done more than well, but I thought I told you that I didn’t want you to get into any danger.”
“Pardon me, but as I remember it, you said ‘unnecessary danger,’” Bob replied.
“Well, perhaps I did use the adjective,” the captain laughed. “But, necessary or unnecessary, it seems that there was danger enough. But the good Lord sent you back unharmed and successful, for which I am deeply grateful. If anything had happened to you I could never have forgiven myself,” and the boys were somewhat surprised to see tears in his eyes.
“What do you make of those vanishing cabins, sir,” Jack asked.
“It’s as big a mystery to me as it can be to you. It’s certainly a strange tale you tell.”
“I’d find it hard to believe myself if I hadn’t seen it, or perhaps had not failed to see it,” Jack smiled.
“Don’t think for a minute that I doubt what you have told me,” the captain said quickly.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” Jack assured him. “I meant that it does sound incredible.”
“Well, there is, of course, some explanation to it and we’ll get to the bottom of it before long or know the reason why,” the captain smiled. “And now I want you to take a couple of days’ rest as my guests. Oh, your Uncle Samuel pays the bills,” he added as he saw the boys exchange glances.