"Why didn't you?"
"After what the captain said, I persuaded the fellows not to write the letters, and I did not write any myself. This letter is on the same kind of paper as that," added Duncan, pointing to that which Paul had.
"Are you satisfied, Mr. Hamblin?" asked Mr. Lowington.
"No, sir, I am not," replied the professor, decidedly. "It appears that there was an organized conspiracy against me in the consort."
"But it does not appear that Captain Kendall had anything to do with it," added the principal, mildly.
"These boys are deceitful."
"Some of them are," replied Mr. Lowington, taking his pen and writing a few lines. "Duncan, I am not satisfied with your conduct."
"I am not satisfied with it myself, sir," answered Duncan. "Perhaps I ought to have known where that letter came from when Mr. Hamblin asked me to translate it; but I supposed some of the fellows on board had done it."
"Didn't you recognize the writing of your friend?"
"No, sir; it is very much like that of half a dozen fellows on board."