By luck the boys met their fathers in the main street, and there were smiles on the men’s faces.
“Pat us on the back,” smiled Mr. Holton, so overjoyed that he could hardly keep his composure.
“What!” cried Bob. “You’ve found a boat so soon?”
The naturalists nodded.
“By chance we met the captain of a small freight vessel that happens to be going up the Purús to Acre, on the Bolivian frontier,” said Mr. Holton. “Sheer luck, I calls it. Any other time it would have been necessary to wait three or four weeks before finding such an opportunity. Of course we wouldn’t have waited that long, though. We would have found it necessary to take two boats, one to Manáos, and one on up the Purús. But the way things are now—” he smiled broadly—“we’re all set for a pleasant voyage, with no stops till we reach our destination.”
“When does the boat leave?” inquired Joe.
“In less than three hours,” his father answered. “That means we’ll have to hurry and get packed.”
They walked on down the dock to the Empire and found Professor Bigelow in the library. He looked up smilingly and placed his book back on the shelf.
“What did you find?” he asked.