"O wise judge! O just judge!" exclaimed the red-haired one, dramatically.
"Now, what's getting possession of your cranium?" smiled Hal Hastings, weakly.
"You heard Mr. Mayhew's verdict in your case," mocked Eph, a glare in his eyes. "A great verdict! 'Not guilty—but don't do it again'."
CHAPTER XX
COMING UP IN A TIGHT PLACE
"Sulks are no part of real manhood. Your sullen fellow is seldom, or never, one you can tie to in trouble."
Though at first they felt some spirited resentment against the very plain suspicions of Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, it was not long before both the victims of the queer work of the night before began to see that there was an abundance of reason and good sense in the naval officer's belief and attitude.
"There's only one thing we can do, Hal," proposed Jack. "That is, to show Mr. Mayhew, by long-continued good action, that we're just the sort of fellows our friends believe us to be."
"Mr. Mayhew doesn't know us," Hal assented. "To a stranger our yarn does have a fishy sound."
"If it weren't for the restriction against our going ashore," hinted Jack, "we'd certainly hustle to land and find out all we could about that fellow Curtis since he has been living in Blair's Cove."