Stay where you are; let him see you keep good company now and then." "Oh, I must go!" exclaimed the boy; "he'll think all sorts of things.
He'll think I'm such a hypocrite after what I promised him.

Oh, do let me go!" His agitation only increased the amusement of his tormentor, who, with a view to give the captain as vivid an impression as possible, laid his hand affectionately on the boy's arm and beamed most benignantly upon him.

It was no use for Wyndham to resist.

After all, suspicious as it might appear, he was doing nothing wrong.
And yet, what _would_ Riddell think?
The captain was pacing the Big in a moody, abstracted manner, and at first appeared not to notice either the bench or its occupants.
Wyndham, as he sat and trembled in Silk's clutches, wildly hoped something might cause him to turn aside or back.

But no, he came straight on, and in doing so suddenly caught sight of the two boys.
He started and flushed quickly, and for a moment it looked as if he were inclined to make a wild dash to rescue the younger boy from the companionship in which he found him.