The soldier looked at us a little queerly, and went back into the house.
He staid a good while, but when he came out he told us to follow him, and took us through a hall into a room where two gentlemen were sitting at desks.

One of these jumped up and came to meet us.
"There is the secretary," said the soldier, in a low voice to me, and then he left us.
We now had to ask the secretary if we could see the governor.

He inquired our business, but we didn't seem anxious to tell him.
"Anything private ?" he said, with a smile.
"Well, sir," said I, "it's not exactly private, but it's not a very easy thing to put straight before anybody, and if it don't make any difference, we'd rather not have to tell it twice." He hesitated for a minute, and then he said he'd see, and went into another room.
"Now, look here," I whispered to Rectus, "if you're captain, you've got to step up and do the talking.

It isn't my place." The secretary now returned, and said the governor could give us a few minutes.

I think the probability was that he was curious to know what two boys and a girl could want with him.
The governor's office, into which we now were shown, was a large room, with plenty of book-cases and shelves against the walls, and in the middle of the floor a big table, which was covered with papers, packages of manuscript tied up with tape, and every kind of thing necessary to make matters look as if business was brisk in these islands.