The condition of affairs was duly reported to the captain, who had become very impatient at the long delay. The masters were then sent aloft to help the midshipmen unravel the snarl, but they succeeded no better. It was evident enough to all the officers that this confusion could not have been created without an intention to do it. An accident might have happened on the main or the mizzen-mast, but not on every yard on all three of the masts.
"What are you about?" asked Perth, who had been sent into the main-top, as he met Howe.
"We have come to the conclusion that Bob Shuffles can't handle this ship," whispered the ringleader of the mischief, with a significant wink.
"You are getting us into a scrape."
"Well, we all are in the same boat."
"Don't carry it too far," suggested Master Perth.
"Carry what too far?" demanded Robinson, the midshipman in the top, who had heard a word or two of the confidential talk—enough to give him an idea of what was in the wind.
"Dry up, old fellow," said Perth, with some confusion, as Howe, who had come down from the yard to cast off a line, sprang back to his place.
"What did you mean by that remark of yours?" inquired the midshipman.
"I told Howe not to carry the end of the buntline too far. It was wound three times around the topsail sheet."