"That was because I licked Paul Bristol," added Tom, with a grin.
"Or because you got licked by him," suggested Ash. "According to all accounts, you got the worst of it."
"I can lick Paul Bristol or Dory Dornwood out of their boots, every time," bragged Tom, who was never able to remember his defeats in the past; and both of the worthies mentioned had been too much for him. "But that ain't any thing to do with us now."
"If you should take this boat, and sail her away from her moorings, what should you call the act?" asked Ash, pinning his leader down to a point.
"I should call it taking the boat."
"Captain Gildrock would call it stealing her; and the court on this side of the lake might send you to the house of correction, or some such place, for a year or two," continued Ash Burton, carrying the point to its issue.
"We didn't come out here to steal her," protested Tom. "The captain would say we had no right to come on board of her; but you was the first one to get on board of her."
"I don't think the principal would find any fault with us for coming on board of her, after we were wrecked in the Thunderer," answered Ash.
"Of course he couldn't. That's one thing. The next is, shall we leave in the boat, or stay on board of her? We might as well drown as starve to death," argued Tom.
The high-school boy scratched his head, for there seemed to be some force in the late captain's argument. He was opposed to going without his dinner and supper, and he did not believe that a man as reasonable as Captain Gildrock would ask such a sacrifice of him. It occurred to him, that the gardener of the estate, or some of the stable-men, might be at home, and might be called to their assistance, if they shouted persistently for help. He proposed this to Tom, but it was received with a sneer.