"Then come along over home with me and have a talk with Uncle Mark!" he told the patrol leader as he began to hunt all around for his hat, which he often mislaid. He was finally informed coolly by Andy that it was perched on his head, as he had forgotten to remove it when entering Rob's den!
So the four hurried out. Signs of the late storm's fury could be seen in every direction. Great limbs had been torn from some of Hampton's finest trees; chimneys had been demolished in several places; and it was not hard to believe that at the climax of the hurricane the new roof of the Academy had been carried off.
First of all, Rob said they should satisfy themselves that this report was true; so they joined the crowds that were heading for the school grounds. When the boys saw what a wreck the storm had made of the building, none of them doubted any longer that a vacation period was bound to result. And strange to say, while some of the town fathers walked around, viewing the damage with long faces, knowing how heavily it would cost to repair the school, nobody saw a single boy looking glum!
"That's one point settled, anyhow," Andy remarked gleefully, as they all turned away, heading for the Hopkins' home.
"And say, Mexico looks a whole lot closer to me, don't you know?" Tubby chirped, with such a happy look on his rosy face that any one might have thought he was on the eve of starting on a picnic instead of a serious undertaking. But, then, boys never see the dark side of things, such is the enthusiasm and optimism of youth.
"Too bad about one thing, Tubby, if so be you get away on this journey," remarked Andy, giving Merritt a wink as he spoke.
"What's that, Andy, you're hinting about?" asked the other.
"It's going to knock your fine plans silly; about searching every tool chest in town, you know, and finding the brace and nicked bit that chawed a hole through the bottom of Rob's sailboat," the bugler of the Eagles went on to say.
Tubby looked somewhat glum, and shrugged his plump shoulders ruefully.
"Say, that's a fact, fellers," he remarked dolefully; "and I'd sure set my heart on finding out the miscreant, and exposing him to his face. Such a smart idea of mine it was, too, finding that shaving with the tell-tale mark! But if I don't get a chance to spy around between now and the time we leave Hampton, I'll keep it in mind. And every time I look at that incriminating bit of evidence, I'll renew my vow to place the guilt on the shoulders where it belongs just as soon as I get back home after a successful trip."