“Beg pardon, sir,” he said, addressing the captain, “but we have a stowaway there who insists on seeing the Sturdys and Professor Bruce. Just sheer impudence, I suppose, but I thought I’d tell you, sir.”
Don and his uncles looked at each other in astonishment.
“What on earth can that mean?” cried the captain, jumping to his feet and striding toward the hatchway, closely followed by Don and the professor.
The crowd opened as they approached, and their astounded eyes fell on—Teddy Allison!
CHAPTER IV
A Pair of Scoundrels
“Brick!” cried Don, scarcely daring to believe his eyes.
“Teddy Allison!” ejaculated Captain Sturdy, in a tone that conveyed sternness as well as astonishment.
“Bless my soul!” exclaimed Professor Bruce, staring hard at the stowaway, as though wondering whether it was Teddy in the flesh or his ghost.
But it was a very substantial Teddy that stood before them, held in the grip of two of the sailors, his clothes rumpled and disheveled, smears of dirt across his face, his uncombed red hair flaming above his pale features.
His eyes had lighted with joy as they looked at Don, but fell sheepishly before the gravity that had replaced astonishment in the eyes of the captain and the professor.