At first, used as they were to the actions of unscrupulous rivals in trying to thwart their efforts, Tom and Ned had been on the alert for any signs of hidden enemies on board the steamer. But aside from a little curiosity when it became known that they were going to explore little-known portions of Honduras, the other passengers took hardly any interest in our travelers.
It was thought best to keep secret the fact that they were going to search for a wonderful idol of gold. Not even the mule and ox-cart drivers, whom they would hire to take them into the wilds of the interior would be told of the real object of the search. It would be given out that they were looking for interesting ruins of ancient cities, with a view to getting such antiquities as might be there.
“What do you mean?” asked Ned again, when Tom did not answer him immediately. “What’s the excitement?”
“I think we’re in for a storm,” was the reply. “The barometer is falling and I see the crew
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going about making everything snug. So we may have a little trouble toward this end of our trip.”
“Let it come!” exclaimed Mr. Damon. “We’re not afraid of trouble, Tom. Swift, are we?”
“No, to be sure we’re not. And yet it looks as though the storm would be a bad one.”
“Then I am going to see if my books and papers are ready, so I can get them together in a hurry in case we have to take to the lifeboats,” said Professor Bumper, coming on deck at that moment. “It won’t do to lose them. If we didn’t have the map we might not be able to find — — ”
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