Beckwith looked at him, and tried to comprehend his meaning.
"Those fellows that ran away in Sweden, pretending they couldn't find the ship, got off easy," added the purser.
"Not one of them has been punished, except Stockwell, who was only deprived of his position as coxswain of the second cutter," replied Beckwith, beginning to understand his friend. "All of them have been allowed to go on shore with the rest."
"I should like to take just such an excursion on the same terms," continued De Forrest.
"But those fellows owned up, made a clean breast of it, and promised to be good boys. The penalty hung over them for a week, and only their good behavior saved them."
"Do you want to go down the Volga, Beck?"
"Of course I do. I would buy out any fellow's chance if I could."
"Perhaps we may go yet," replied De Forrest, with a wink.
"How?"
"Never mind it now. We are both in the first division, and shall go to Moscow with the others. We will talk about it when we get there. I expect to drop into the steerage next month, and I had as lief be hanged for an old sheep as a lamb. Don't say anything."