They had.
[CHAPTER XVIII]
MARIE DUCROIX’ SEA CHEST
When the disappointed jokers reached the camp, Jerry was found in the big tent, his head covered with a blanket, moaning and beseeching mercy from the spirit of the incensed Black Pirate. Deciding that their joke had gone far enough, the boys persuaded the colored lad to withdraw his head and cease his lamentations. Then Bob explained how the paper had been manufactured and how Jerry had been sent on his wild goose chase as an object lesson on the evils of telling falsehoods.
“Dar wa’n’t no ghoses?” exclaimed the agitated lad. “An’ dar wa’n’t no blood writin’?”
He was reassured that there was no reality to the alleged directions, that all would be forgiven, and that he would be allowed to remain in camp on his promise to abstain from romancing in the future. The boy promised, even crossing his heart. Then, as if ashamed to speak of it before, Bob said:
“You didn’t find anything, did you, Jerry?”
The colored boy, considerably bolder by this time, scratched his head and looked at the tent opening.
“Don’t be afraid to tell,” added Bob, laughing. “I was your partner, but I didn’t go with you. Anything you found is yours.”