Van Wyk shrugged his shoulders.
"I shall require it," he said simply.
"What's wrong now?" asked Stirling, as his chum rejoined him in the street.
"Every mortal thing. Wants a copy of the bill of sale to prove how much I gave for the yacht. Luckily I have that at home. I'll wire for it. This petty officialdom is enough to make a fellow wild."
"I thought petty officialdom existed only in England. Such used to be your opinion," said Stirling slyly. "Buck up, old man, we'll soon be afloat. By the by, here is a newspaper. They've given these sixty-ninth cousins of yours pretty stiff sentences, by Jove!"
Octavius Smith glanced at the printed matter, "'Pon my word, they have," he replied. "After all, they were asking for it."
CHAPTER VIII
Sentenced
The eventful day fixed for the trial of the two alleged spies came at last. Hamerton and Detroit found themselves, not, as they expected, in a crowded court, bristling with lawyers, witnesses, and keenly interested spectators, but in the same room in which the preliminary examination had taken place.
The court was modelled on the lines of the tribunal in the Zabern incident. It was virtually within closed doors, the military and naval element constituting judges, prosecutors, and witnesses.