“Not very much,” Jack answered. “It may interest you to know that while we were at the mission, Father Francisco lost the Portuguese parchment which described the secret mountain and the lost Inca city. It was stolen from the library during the earthquake.”
“So?”
“We saw Lolita at the mission,” Ken took over. “In fact, she listened at the door. Weren’t you talking to her just now?”
“What if I was? You want to make something of it?”
“We were wondering—”
“Well, don’t!” Captain Carter cut in belligerently. “Keep out of my affairs, or I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t find in the Boy Scout manual! Lolita’s an old friend of mine. I got a lot of friends in this port.”
With that, the master of the Shark swaggered away, to disappear in a water-front tavern.
Chapter 7
SCOUT CARGO
“How we got ourselves hooked with a guy like Captain Carter I’ll never know,” Jack commented in disgust. “But if he figures we’re going to back out on the expedition, or let him take over, he can guess again.”
“I wonder when he’ll get our gear ashore?” Ken speculated.