With horror in his heart, and almost unmanned by the situation which had so suddenly burst upon him, Robert was speechless. He was confused, entirely confounded. That one of these unprincipled midshipmen was Harry Blunt did not surprise Robert; he was quite ready to believe anything of that young man. But it brought him into an intensely disagreeable position. He knew he would be called upon for evidence, and to give testimony that would cover all of the Blunt family with ignominious disgrace--that family who had rescued his own father and mother from absolute want, which had put his father in a self-respecting, self-supporting position. "I had rather bilge than do it," thought our cadet lieutenant. Wild bitterness toward Harry Blunt filled his mind. And yet these feelings sank to small dimensions compared to those concerning Stonewell. Faith in everything seemed to be lost with faith and trust lost in this old friend. And combined with this was a feeling of inexpressible amazement, amazement made up of many different things.
Robert was astonished that any reason could have existed which would have induced Stonewell to join Harry Blunt in such an enterprise. In a helpless, uncertain way, Robert imagined that Blunt had some hold over Stonewell, and even this was hard to believe. "But how else can I account for it?" he asked himself. "I never would have believed anybody, or any number of people had they told me they had seen Stone do this--but it was Stone--in his uniform with his five stripes on his sleeve."
Had Robert known of a conversation between the two intruders after they had dashed out of the building, he would have been still more amazed. "It's too bad, Stonewell," said the one; "you did it all for me--no man ever did so much for me as you have. But I'm afraid you were recognized; I wish you hadn't had on that uniform and had some disguise. I'm awfully sorry I got you into this."
"Don't feel that way, Harry; I suggested it," replied the other. "I hope I was not recognized. But if I were, I will have to stand for it. Did you see anybody in the room?"
"No," answered Harry; "my one hope is that whoever it was didn't see you; nobody would have known me. Good-night; I'll be around to Conduit Street to-morrow afternoon and will tell you of any talk I may hear."