Tubby, when he wanted to, could appear very eloquent, and use some of the longest words in the dictionary. Fortunately these periods did not crop up very often, or his chums would not have stood for such airs. Andy pretended to feel faint as it was, and begged Merritt to fan him.
"All I can say about the matter is that I'm sorry for the fellow who bored that hole through my boat," Rob remarked; "because when once Tubby sets his mind on anything it's bound to come, sooner or later. But here we are at your house; and now to meet Uncle Mark."
Three minutes later they were all sitting around a small, dark-featured gentleman, who wore a big pair of goggles and looked as though he might be pretty sick. This was Uncle Mark. The fever he had contracted in the hot depths of the African jungles had taken such a hold upon his system that he began to despair of ever being able to travel again; and he had sought his sister's home as a haven of refuge in his last days.
He seemed to guess about what the three scouts had come to see him; which would indicate that Tubby had done considerable talking, even to promising that he would coax the others to join him in making the trip to the country south of the Rio Grande.
As Rob went over pretty much the same ground as when he was questioning Tubby, it would hardly pay us to repeat what passed between Uncle Mark and the boys for the first half hour of the conference. Of course the old traveler was able to go further into details; and some of his descriptions of those warm times when he first met Villa, the bandit, thrilled his young hearers.
"Some people might think it a very unwise thing for me to try and induce a party of mere lads to start down into that sorely distressed and torn-up country just now on such a strange errand," Uncle Mark said after a while; "but I've considered everything carefully, and I actually believe you would have a far better chance for success than if I entrusted the mission to a man, who would be sure to get mixed up with some of the rival factions and lose out. Besides, I've become very much interested in the aims of Boy Scouts since I've come to Hampton; and some of the things you Eagles have done fairly made my heart go out to you. I believe that if anybody can make a success of this errand you can."
Naturally enough such words of warm praise made the scouts feel drawn toward the broken down old traveler and explorer more than ever. Uncle Mark had seen such a host of remarkable things during his roving life that this fact alone would endear him to all boys who had red blood in their veins. And scouts in particular, with their love for outdoors and the myriad secrets of the wilderness, might be expected to feel warmly toward one who had camped for months amidst the savage tribes of Africa, hunted through the tropical forests of South America in search of new orchids, and lived the free life of an explorer.
Still Rob went on asking questions, for he knew that they could not have too much information concerning the country they meant to visit, and the people they must meet there.
All of them examined the quaint ring that Uncle Mark passed around, which, as he said, General Villa had given him years ago. At that time the present leader of the rebel forces in Northern Mexico was looked on as a hunted bandit, with a price set on his head by President Diaz.
"Should you conclude to undertake this mission, Rob," the old gentleman went on to say, with an anxious, almost pleading look on his face, "which I earnestly hope may be the case, I mean to put this ring on your finger, because I suppose you are to be the leader. When you want to prove to General Villa that you come direct from his old friend, Doctor Matthews, all you have to do is to show him that; and if he is the man of his word that I firmly believe him to be, there is nothing he can do for you that he will refuse. But more than that, I expect to entrust you with a letter to him, written in Spanish, but also translated for your benefit. In it I shall ask him to dispose of all my cattle, if they are still safe, to the best advantage possible, and to send me the proceeds by you, as I am in a bad state and shall need the money. Is that plain, boys?"