You can give the real reason of our defeat, but do not say a word of blame to anyone, for we know not who was the author of the blackguardly act.
"Of course, the matter cannot be kept altogether a secret, for it will be my duty to lay it before the committee.

I shall make no protest.

If they choose to institute an inquiry they must do so, but I shall take no steps in the matter, and it is unlikely in the extreme that we shall ever know who did it.

I shall pay you all winning money, for that you did not win was no fault of yours.

One thing I will wager, though I am not a betting man, and that is, that the next time we meet the Phantom we shall beat her, by as much as we should have done today, but for this accident." The appearance of the Osprey as she sailed into the anchorage, without topmast or bowsprit, excited great attention; and many of the yachtsmen came on board to inquire how the disaster had happened.