“Don’t you dare accuse us of trying—” But young Joe got no further.
“Be quiet, Joe,” said George Warren, calmly. And then, turning to the colonel, he said:
“We are not going to deny anything, Colonel Witham. That is why we are coming back of our own accord. We have got nothing to conceal, and we are going to tell everything just as it happened.”
“That is just about what we are arresting you for,” said the squire, sneeringly. “We calculate you’ll have to tell everything.”
“Hold on there a minute, squire,” cried Captain Sam. “Let’s not be too hard on these boys. There may be some mistake, as they say. I hold these ’ere warrants, and I don’t see as there is any necessity of serving of ’em just yet. If these boys will give me their word to go along straight as they can sail for Mayville, and agree to appear when wanted before Judge Ellis, why, I guess maybe the warrants will keep till—say, just as we go in the door. Or perhaps Judge Ellis will consent that they come before him of their own accord, without serving these warrants at all, considering as they are only boys.”
It is needless to say that Captain Sam’s legal experience was of the most limited sort.
“Bully for you, Captain Sam!” cried Bob. “You’re a brick,—and you won’t regret it.” And a yell of thanks from the others gave Captain Sam a warm glow under his blue shirt.
The squire and the colonel were loud and furious in their denunciation of such a course.
“It’s against the law,” cried the colonel; and he vowed he would make it hot for Captain Sam when Judge Ellis found his orders were not obeyed. But Captain Sam knew better than they of the warm corner in the judge’s heart, and knew, moreover, that his old friend of years, the judge, would never reprimand him for a breach of duty of this sort. So he shut his lips firmly and let the squire and the colonel boil away as best they might between themselves.
The captain shortened sail on the Nancy Jane, so that the two boats kept along near together, heading back for Southport.