“I don’t suppose it was just right,” admitted Teddy. “But I was sure he would let me go if he knew about it. When I wanted to go with Don to Brazil and he wouldn’t let me, he half promised that I could go along if Don made another trip. And it isn’t as though I hadn’t tried to get his permission,” he added, in the hope of softening Captain Sturdy’s heart.
“That would have made it worse,” conceded the captain. “All the same, that is no excuse for doing as you did. Undoubtedly your father will be greatly worried when he comes home and finds you gone.”
“Oh, I took care of that!” exclaimed Teddy, snatching eagerly at any redeeming feature. “I left a letter for my father with one of the servants, telling him all about it. He’ll know I am with you and that you will take good care of me.”
The calm assurance of this almost took the captain’s breath away, and a smile came to the professor’s lips that he repressed instantly.
“And of course father will pay you for any expense I am to you,” said Teddy, who had caught the professor’s smile and took heart of hope from it.
The captain pondered for a moment.
“You did very wrong, Teddy,” he said gravely. “No boy has a right to take such a step as that without his father’s consent. If I could, I would send you back at once. But that is impossible. At the first stopping place, I will cable to your father and get his directions in the matter. In the meantime, of course, you are one of our party. I am very much displeased with you.”
With this Parthian shot, the captain left the cabin, followed by the professor.
Teddy wiped the perspiration from his face and looked at Don.
“Gee, he did give it to me good and plenty,” he said, as he sank down on the bed. “I feel as though I’d been drawn through a knothole. And at that, I know that everything he said was right.”