“I didn’t want to go to school, that’s why. Ain’t that reason enough?”
“H’m. Don’t like school, huh? Where do you live?”
“Chicago.”
There were exclamations of surprise from Bob and Joe.
While they gaze at the young lad in wonder, it might be well, for the benefit of those who have not read the first two books of The Exploration Series, to tell something about the two youths, and what had been their adventures up to the present time.
Bob Holton, who was generally the leader of the two, was a large, powerful boy of nineteen. His complexion was originally light, but an adventurous life in hot lands had made him bronzed. Wherever he went, he was a prime favorite of all.
Joe Lewis was Bob’s closest friend, the two being almost inseparable. Joe was of medium build and possessed many desirable characteristics. But in a crisis he was never as cool as the other youth.
Fortune favored the boys. Their fathers, Howard Holton and Benjamin Lewis, were noted naturalists, who often wandered to far corners of the globe in search of wild animals for a large Washington museum. The two families thus lived in Washington, their homes being but a few rods apart.
Shortly after Bob and Joe had graduated from high school, they were given an opportunity of accompanying their fathers to little-known Brazil. Here with wild animals and treacherous savages they had many thrilling adventures, which are related in the first volume of this series, Lost in the Wilds of Brazil. The boys proved themselves worthy of being called explorers, and the following spring were given another chance to penetrate the unknown.
On the Sahara Desert they encountered more perils and hardships. How, among other things, they endured a terrible sand storm, went for days without water, and finally fought hostile Arabs for freedom, is related in the volume entitled Captured by the Arabs.