"Perhaps they will," added the principal, with a smile.
"I know they will, and Tom will ask to put on the uniform in less than half an hour," persisted Bates.
And he was right. The old man had had a great deal of experience, and could form some idea of what the young ruffians were thinking about. He went to the ladder, and looked down to the forecastle, without allowing them to see him. As he supposed they would, they went to Tom as soon as they saw that they were alone. But Tom had been the first to speak.
"You are the three biggest fools I ever saw!" he muttered, as they walked towards him. "What did you cave in for? You are acting like so many spring chickens."
"What would you have us do?" asked Kidd, with a broad grin; for he felt that he ought to apologize for his submission, when his chief had resisted to the utmost.
"If you would do as I do, they would soon get sick of it, and let us go," replied Tom.
"It's no use to buck your head against a stone wall. You don't hurt the wall any, as the captain says; and you do hurt your head," replied Nim Splugger. "We are going to take things easy till we have a good chance to do something, and then we are going to do it."
"That's the best way," added Kidd. "They think we have given in, and treat us very well."
"We had a good bed last night, and every thing was nice. If we had done as you did, we should have had to sleep on the floor," argued Nim.