They had just leaped to the pavement when Professor Strong ran forward to meet them.
“Crane and Winthrop!” he ejaculated. “What does this mean?”
“It’s a long story, sir,” answered Sam. “Have you seen anything of Hockley?”
“No. I was looking for him the best part of the night and also for you, after I learned that you, too, were missing. I traced Hockley and you to this hotel by the note which you tore up and which Mark and Frank patched together. Did you follow Hockley up?”
“We don’t know,” answered Darry, and continued soberly: “It looks as if poor Glum—I mean Jake—had met with foul play.”
Isabel Valois was introduced, and the discovery was made that Professor Strong had met her father years before. Then the two boys told their story. As they proceeded Amos Strong’s face grew dark.
“This Captain Sudlip is a scoundrel!” he murmured. “We shall have to notify the police. He has been discharged from the command of the Chester, and it has made him vindictive.”
“So he has lost command of the steamer?” asked Darry.
“Yes. The owners were very angry that he did not have those repairs made at La Guayra, where they would have been cheaper, it seems, than here. Then they read the note that we signed, and Captain Sudlip got his walking papers. I heard afterward that the owners were tired of him as it was. But of course he lays the blame of his discharge on us. We may have to——”
“Here comes Hockley!” broke in Darry.