his face completely covered with the muck which lay at the bottom of the pool.
"Whow!" he spluttered, and wiped his face with his coat sleeve. Then he floundered out of the pool, looking thoroughly crestfallen and miserable.
"So we've caught you after all," said Oliver, as sternly as he could, although I saw that he felt like laughing.
"Oh, gents, don't be hard on me!" was the pitiful return. "I never stole before in my life."
"Do you expect us to believe that?"
"It's the truth, indeed it is. You've got your spoons back. Let me go, please."
"How about those other things? " asked Dan.
"I took nothing else—upon my honor, I didn't, gents."
"You took four napkin-rings and a golden fish-knife," I said. "We must have those back, whether we let you go or not."
At the mentioning of the articles, the rascal's face fell. It was easy to see that he was a hypocrite, whining only when cornered, a person that is a regular snake in the grass.
"I—I—there must be a mistake," he began.
"There is no mistake. You took the articles and you must give them up again," said Oliver coldly.
"Well I—er—to tell the truth, gents, I
