Of the original Topovers there were only four, though they had been recruited by two more as rough as themselves. These were the six who had been captured in the Goldwing; and they were now on the forecastle, in charge of Bates, while the six who had put out the fire were with the captain in his library. The principal had considered what effect the admission to the school of such fellows as Tom Topover, Kidd Digfield, and the others would have upon the morale and the discipline of the institution. If he could not reform them, he could keep them under a sharp discipline, and they would have little power to contaminate others.
"Ashley Burton, I have finished my examination of this case; and I shall not prosecute you, as I intended at first," said the principal, opening the subject of the interview.
"Thank you, sir!" exclaimed Sam Spottwood.
The others said as much as this, and they were certainly very grateful to the captain for his indulgence.
"I took out the picnic-party for the purpose of ascertaining the facts. The gentleman in charge of the party spoke very well of you, and fully confirmed the statement you made to me. I think you are sincerely penitent for the wrong you have done. If you had left the Goldwing at the wharf when you went ashore first, I should have found no fault with you for taking her, I should say that you had done just right; though it was constructively and technically wrong for you to unmoor the boat, even if you had lost your dinner and your supper. I am not a close constructionist."
"You are very kind, sir," added Sam, who was more demonstrative than the others.
"I had started in my buggy to intercept you as you came home from the picnic. On my way, there was an alarm of fire; and I soon heard that the house of the Widow Sankland had been burned, and one of the children had lost its life. This was a mistake, for I met the engine returning from the fire. I went to see Captain Linder, who is the foreman of the company; and he spoke in the highest terms of your conduct, and the good judgment you used in managing the fire. No doubt you saved the life of the child, and the house from total destruction."
"Ash Burton was the leader, and told us what to do," interposed Sam Spottwood.
"You all did well, and you are worthy of praise. What you did at the fire is not an offset for the wrong you did on the lake; for a good deed will not balance an evil one, though it may modify our judgment of the evil-doer. I have nothing more to say to you now, and I am confident you will not again meddle with any property of the institution."
"We will not, sir," replied Ash, as he took the dozen half-dollars from his pocket, and tendered them to the principal. "These do not belong to me, or to any of us. They were earned with Dory's boat."