Nicky, staying rather idly in their hotel with Tom, was glum. He craved excitement; not only was he active and impulsive, but he was adventure-loving, athletic and quick, and he liked to go into strange places and meet new situations. Also Nicky sympathized keenly with Tom over the loss of the latter’s sister, and the uncertainty of her fate.
Tom, for his part, most eager of all to go to the Mosquito country and learn what could be learned about Margery, did not seem nearly as despondent as Nicky, nor was he as busy as Cliff; yet he seemed able to wear a confident air which puzzled both of his comrades.
Nicky sat with Tom in their hotel room, chafing at his long inactivity. Tom was busy going over some books which Cliff’s father had found for him in the public library.
“Here’s a funny one,” he exclaimed, indicating a passage in the book he held. “One explorer was down in the Central Americas, and because it is so rainy at times he had a mackintosh. Do you know, Nicky, that mackintosh gave him more trouble than anything else, because when the Indians saw him wearing it, as he came toward their villages on the river in his canoe, they thought he was a priest, and because some priests had sometimes been harsh in trying to compel the Indians to adopt their creeds, the Indians all ran and hid and this explorer couldn’t get any pictures of them or any stories.”
Nicky smiled forlornly. Cliff, coming in, with his father, saw Tom with a grin on his face and his companion looking glum.
“I wish I knew what makes Tom so joyful,” Cliff said. “Tom, why don’t you be a good fellow and tell your chums what you know that makes you feel so good. Is it that telegram you got last Saturday?”
Tom grinned with a touch of malice.
“Maybe,” he admitted.
“Say, look here!” burst out Nicky, “you’re not acting fairly to the Mystery Boys’ order. You are keeping a secret.”
“No,” Tom answered, grinning still more, “I’m simply living up to our oath—with a vengeance. ‘Telling all, I tell nothing; Seeing All, I see nothing, Knowing All, I know nothing!’” he quoted their oath of allegiance.