“Well, you didn’t know he was here,” said Nelson, “so you weren’t really lying.”
“Pshaw!” said Dan. “I’d have said the same thing if I had known. It isn’t lying to fool an old brute like that!”
“A lie’s a lie, no matter who you tell it to,” answered Tom.
“Look out for that schooner coming in, Bob,” Nelson cautioned. “When you pass the Point, swing her straight across the bay. We’ll try for Provincetown, seeing that I told him we were going to Duxbury.”
“Hello!” cried Dan. “Look there!”
The boat containing the captain of the Henry Nellis was returning as fast as oars could send it, and now it was alongside the tugboat and the captain had leaped aboard her.
“What’s he up to?” muttered Dan.
The Vagabond was dipping her nose into the waves of the bar.
“Oh, he’s beaten,” said Tom, “and he knows it!”
“Like fun he does!” cried Dan. “They’re casting off the tug, and he’s still aboard. I’ll bet you anything——”