"Exactly!" chimed in Alice. "My sister and I have to pretend every day. It's fun!"
"Well, of course I didn't know that," said Jack. "Maybe I made a mistake in bein' so quick. There was nothin' wrong in it?" he questioned.
"Not the least in the world," said Ruth. "It is just a game, played for the amusement of the public. I'll explain," and from the typewritten scenario she held she went over the outlines of the big marine drama, as one of the authors of the Comet company had written it. As she gave the details, the simple, kindly face of the sailor cleared. His doubts vanished.
"Say, wasn't I th' old landlubber though!" he cried. "T' think I thought I was really committin' a crime. Ha! Ha!"
"Well, your past experience had made you careful," Alice said.
"That's what it had, Miss. It's no fun t' be barred from the ports of the country that has more of 'em than any nation of the world. It hampers a man. But I daren't go on British soil."
"Could they come here and take you?" asked Ruth.
The old man looked around before replying.
"They maybe wouldn't know me," he hoarsely whispered. "I've grown a beard since those days."
"Well, then, how would the British authorities know you?" asked Alice with a smile.