“Come out of that!” sang out Darry, who was gazing down the stateroom corridor. “Hockley is coming.”
“Put the can back and don’t let on we know about it,” said Sam. And this was done, and they escaped from the stateroom just in the nick of time. Then they returned to their own quarters and all four of the boys set to work to clean out the bepitched shoes.
“We must get square for this,” said Frank. “To let it pass unnoticed would be criminal.”
“Right you are,” responded Darry. “And as he did his best to place the blame on me I claim the honor for hatching out the plot to even up.”
“But we are going to help,” put in Sam; and so it was agreed.
CHAPTER XVIII
HAYTI, SUGAR MAKING, AND ANOTHER JOKE
The weather remained all that could be desired, and the run to Cape Haytien was made without special incident. Darry did his best to hatch out something against Hockley but no opportunity occurred for “squaring up” as the boys called it. Perhaps Professor Strong suspected that something was afloat, for he kept a close watch on all his charges.
He no longer suspected Darry of being the author of the pitch joke, for Mark and Frank had told him that Darry had said he was innocent, and he had always found the fun-loving lad truthful. The boys had said nothing of finding the can in Hockley’s stateroom,—that was their own secret.
The harbor of Cape Haytien is rather a difficult one to enter, on account of the many reefs and shoals in that vicinity, but the bay upon which the town is located is a fine one, being encircled by many hills, covered with forests of various hues.
“This isn’t so bad,” observed Mark, on landing. “It’s a good deal cleaner than I thought.”