"Here he is, Patty, with a wreath of laurels on his brow!" shouted the captain, laughing. "I would rather have lost the money, and ten times as much more, and let the robbers escape, than had him run the risk he has incurred; but it can't be helped now, Patty. He has had a revolver snapped in his face, and has had a mortal struggle with the chief in an open boat in a heavy sea, to say nothing of bagging nine wide-awake ruffians at one haul of the net."
But Dory had jumped down from the rail of the vessel, and his mother clasped him in her arms as though he were not a great fellow of nearly eighteen, and as though she had not seen him for ten years. The crowd cheered again when the captain finished his little speech, which he got off more as a pleasantry than as a serious matter; a sort of acknowledgment, which had been wrung from him by circumstances beyond his control.
Dory was like other boys, and he did not exactly like to be hugged by his mother in the presence of so many people; but even the boys thought it was quite natural and proper. In vain Dory protested that he had not been hurt, and that it was not a very big thing to "shake down" such a fellow as Mr. Michael Angelo Spickles: his mother kept on hugging him, and the crowd kept on cheering him.
"But I must go on board, mother; for these fellows are all shut up in the cabin still, and I know something about them," protested the hero, trying to break away from her. "Just as soon as the officers take them away, I will tell you all about it."
At last she permitted him to leave her, and he jumped upon the rail; but his appearance, where he could be seen by all, was the signal for another outbreak of applause.
"'See, the conquering hero comes!'" exclaimed the principal, who was also standing on the rail.
"You are cutting it altogether too fat, uncle Royal," said Dory, laughing; though he did not often address this style of remark to him. "Where is Mr. Jepson?"
"He is assisting in opening the hatch," replied the principal.
"I should like to inquire if he was not with me, for I have a very distinct impression that he took an active part in all that was done."
"Mr. Jepson!" called the principal.