"Good!" said Bailey. "I am glad you told us; and I'm sure no decent fellow in the Institute will ever fling it at you."
Richard felt better when he had told the whole truth. He confided in his friends, and feared not his enemies. When they reached the parade ground they saw that the mutineers had taken possession of every one of the boats, and were sailing up the lake towards Green Island. They dared not return to the Institute, fearing that their plan might be discovered.
Richard was informed that arrangements had been made before he joined them; that they intended to take all the boats, so that the instructors could not reach them, and encamp on the island.
When the rolls were called, the absence of about fifty of the boys was discovered by the teachers. The truth came out, and the sharp eye of Colonel Brockridge seemed to glow with unwonted lustre.
CHAPTER XX.
RICHARD VISITS GREEN ISLAND, AND THE REGULATORS CONSIDER THEIR PLANS.
The evening exercises proceeded as usual, no allusion whatever being made to the absence of the mutineers, after the facts had been revealed. But no one supposed that the energetic principal would drop the matter where it then stood.
Richard had been "putting that and that together" since the events which had transpired in the grove, till he was pretty well satisfied that the mutineers now upon Green Island were the Regulators. The evidences which led him to this conclusion had been carefully collected from the time he had been whipped by them in the woods near the camp. Though Nevers had appeared to be very friendly since the race, his conduct had not been above suspicion.
During the evening the boys had a great deal to say about the mutiny, and some of them even regretted that they had not joined, especially as the colonel did not seem to care much about the affair. About eight o'clock in the evening, Richard was sent for by the principal.