"No more beer for me!" exclaimed Ripples.
Two of the others said the same thing, and two said nothing; but all of them seemed to be satisfied that beer was a dangerous luxury for young men. The principal enlarged a little on the subject. He said that men, old as well as young, were sometimes led so near the abyss of crime as to be saved, even when they were hanging over it. They went far enough to see into it, and the sight reformed them. He thought the five before him ought to take warning from the fate of their companions; and they had apparently accepted the warning.
"You came up to the lake to spend your vacation, I understand," continued Captain Gildrock.
"Yes, sir: that is what we came for. It seems now that Angy had planned a series of robberies, from which he was to obtain the funds to carry on the excursion for a couple of months; but we knew nothing about that. We are all sons of men of standing in New York, and I begin to think we were to furnish the respectability for the crowd."
"Very likely," added the principal with a smile. "If Spickles had reached the schooner without being discovered, he would have been at Ticonderoga this morning before you left; that is, if the violent storm had not upset his calculations. He would have taken your party on board; and with the proceeds of the burglaries, amounting to several thousand dollars, he would have been able to run the schooner all summer."
"I had no suspicion that he was such a fellow," added Ripples, shaking his head. "But I confess that I am greatly disappointed at the failure of the excursion, though I have no doubt it is the best thing in the world for us."
"So far as the excursion that was planned in New York is concerned, it is certainly a godsend to you that it failed; and even if half of your club had not come to grief, the result would have been the same. A month or two in company of such fellows as the burglars, guzzling beer, would have taken you a long way down towards a life of dissipation and evil."
"I begin to think so myself. I suppose my father will read about this affair in the newspapers; and I am sure it will make him shake," continued Ripples. "I will write to him as soon as I get a chance, and tell him all about it."
"If you will give me his address, I will give him my impressions of the matter," said Captain Gildrock.
"Thank you, sir: you are very kind, and I should be glad to have you tell him that his son has not been guilty of any crime. But I suppose we might as well go home: our fun here is spoiled," replied Ripples.