"I did. I won't go back on it now. If we had had half an hour more, we should have been safe. Phillips didn't do as he agreed with Bitts," answered the leader. "He ought to have put a line a dozen times around his body, so that he couldn't move his hands."
"He said he was afraid of actually choking him to death."
"Tying his hands would not have choked him."
"Well, whatever the reason was, the plan failed. We are played out for this cruise."
"Yes, and haven't seen Paris, Switzerland, Germany, or the Rhine," growled Perth.
"I suppose it is our own fault."
"Humph!" snuffed the conquered leader.
"I am satisfied, now, that if we had done our duty, we should have had a better time."
"Repent, then," said Perth, as he turned on his heel.
Possibly there was no other runaway in the crew who confessed as much as this, but if is doubtful whether there was one who did not realize the truth of the statement. All of them were satisfied that it was useless to contend against the discipline of the Academy while it was administered by such men as the principal and the vice-principal.