"That's the how of it, old ship," answered Ferral, repressing his real feelings admirably. "As near as we can figure out, there were two of them. It was so dark, though, we couldn't see our own fists, so there may have been more than two."
"Some of the gang who dropped in here while I was away, I'll bet," said Sercomb.
"I'm thinking the same thing, Ralph," returned Ferral, with a meaning look at Matt. "They were handy, too, but not handy enough. They left us all at once, and how they ever did it beats me. We boxed the compass for 'em, though, and when we'd worked around the card they thought they had enough—and ducked."
"Where did they go?"
"Didn't you hear them go out the front door?"
"Not I, Dick! If I had, I'd have taken a part in the scrimmage myself."
"You were slow hearing the racket, Ralph. It was all over when you piped up."
"I heard it quick enough, but I was sound asleep when it aroused me. Being a little bewildered, I went out into the kitchen."
Something like loathing swept over Matt as he watched Sercomb's face and listened to his smooth misstatement.