Phil saw his opportunity had come to bare his secret, and drawing the viceroy’s letter, the telegram and the correspondence of Ignacio all from his pocket, he laid them in silence on the table between the two officers.
The lads waited in a fever of dread while the officers glanced in surprise at the papers before them. Phil saw that the admiral held the cipher telegram, with the translation underneath the cipher words.
“What does this mean?” the admiral cried sternly, reading aloud the translation of the cablegram.
Phil boldly told where and when he had found the telegram, and his reasons for not delivering it until now.
The admiral regarded the lad severely.
“Knowing this was from the department in Washington, you concealed it,” he exclaimed. “Explain yourself, sir.”
Phil swallowed hard and then pointed a trembling finger to the other papers.
“After you have read those, sir,” he said huskily, “I shall be ready to stand guilty or not guilty in your eyes.”
Both officers eagerly read the letters from Ignacio to the viceroy’s secretary.
After the admiral had finished reading, he regarded Phil in silence, his expression fathomless to the anxious midshipman. Commander Hughes’ eyes gave him no encouragement; they were directed to his brightly polished shoes. It was a question between the senior midshipman and his commander-in-chief. Technically a great breach of naval discipline had been committed.