"Did they?" laughed Pelham? "I suppose they had no use for them."
"The second lieutenant saw them, and wanted to know what they meant," added Shuffles.
"Whew!" exclaimed Pelham.
"I made it all right, though I was obliged to invent a new game to throw him off the track."
"Good!" said Pelham. "But we must go on with the counting. When you have found the number of peas and of beans, you will write the result on a piece of paper, each of you. McKeon, you will hand your paper to Shuffles, and, Grossbeck, you will hand yours to me. That's fair—isn't it?"
"Certainly," replied Shuffles.
"Then we will put the two papers together; if they agree, the election is made; if they do not agree, we must do it all over again," continued Pelham.
"All right," added Shuffles.
The two receivers were sent away to count the votes. As one went forward, and the other aft, and the two "Shackles" stood between, no communication whatever could pass from one to the other. It was now quite dark, and most of those off duty had turned in, for the students had become so well accustomed to sea life that they could sleep whenever their presence was not required on deck.
"I hope this thing will be settled now once for all," said Pelham, who feared that some mistake might defeat his hopes.