“Bless my baggage check!” exclaimed the excitable man, as he shook hands with Tom and Ned and noted the packing evidences all about. “You’re ready to go to the land of wonders.”
“The land of wonders?” repeated Ned.
“Yes, that’s what Professor Bumper calls the part of Honduras we’re going to. And it must be wonderful, Tom. Think of whole cities, some of them containing idols and temples of gold, buried thirty and forty feet under the surface! Wonderful is hardly the name for it!”
“It’ll be great!” cried Ned. “I suppose you’re ready, Mr. Damon — you and the professor?”
“Yes. But, Tom, I have a bit of unpleasant news for you.”
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“Unpleasant news?”
“Yes. You know Professor Bumper spoke of a rival — a man named Beecher who is a member of the faculty of a new and wealthy college.”
“I heard him speak of him — yes,” and the way Tom said it no one would have suspected that he had any personal interest in the matter.
“He isn’t going to give his secret away,” thought Ned.
“Well, this Professor Beecher, you know,” went on Mr. Damon, “also knows about the idol of gold, and is trying to get ahead of Professor Bumper in the search.”
“He did say something of it, but nothing was certain,” remarked Tom.
“But it is certain!” exclaimed Mr. Damon. “Bless my toothpick, it’s altogether too certain!”
“How is that?” asked Tom. “Is Beecher certainly going to Honduras?”
“Yes, of course. But what is worse, he and his party will leave New York on the same steamer with us!”
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Chapter 7
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