CHAPTER XVIIA JOKE ON SHIPBOARD
ThesteamerClarissa, on which the boys now found themselves, was of the old-fashioned type, broad of beam and of rather light draught. But she was a very comfortable craft and after spending a day on board they were glad that Professor Strong had secured passage on her.
There were among the passengers half a dozen Americans, bound for San Juan, so the trip was more lively than those before taken. In the crowd were several good piano players, and as the saloon of theClarissaboasted of a fairly good piano there was a good deal of music, especially during the evening. All the boys could sing, and none of them were “backward about coming forward,” as Darry expressed it. Even Hockley sang, for he had a fair voice and loved to show it off at the least opportunity.
“One of the passengers tells me that Hayti is agreat place for revolutions,” said Mark to the professor, on the morning of the second day out.
“Hayti has been a hot-bed of revolutions for years,” answered Amos Strong, “and even to-day matters are far from settled there. At one time the island, which contains about twenty-eight thousand miles of territory and a population of 1,300,000 souls, was under a single government, but to-day it is divided into Hayti and Santo Domingo. The great majority of the inhabitants are black, and the whites have, in consequence, had a hard time of it. The French buccaneers used to make Hayti a stopping place and they had many a fierce fight with the blacks, and there was a continual struggle between the blacks that were slaves and their masters.”
“I don’t imagine it is a nice place to visit,” put in Frank, who was listening to the talk.
“There are many better places, I admit. Yet, as it is right on our way we can very well stop off a day at Cape Haytien and take a look around.”
“Somebody said they had earthquakes there,” put in Sam.
“All these islands are of volcanic origin and earthquakes are frequent. Hayti has a mountain range from one end almost to the other, and onepeak, Cibao, is seven thousand feet high. The mountains are covered with valuable timber and the island exports large quantities of mahogany and other woods. The mountains are, like those north of Santiago de Cuba, full of rich minerals, but so far only a few mines have been opened.”
Directly after this conversation the professor brought out his largest map of the islands and the boys looked it over with care. They found that Hayti lay about equally distant from Cuba and Porto Rico. On the west was the Windward Passage, separating it from Cuba, and on the east the Mona Passage, separating it from Porto Rico.
“The Mona Passage,” mused Sam, “That’s the Monkey Passage, that we passed through on our way from New York to Venezuela.”
“I see Port-au-Prince is the capital city,” remarked Frank. “But that is about a hundred miles south of our stopping place.”
The evening proved a most delightful one and nobody thought of going to bed until a late hour. As a consequence hardly any of the boys felt like arising early, and it was not until the breakfast gong had sounded the second time that Mark and Frank leaped up.
“I didn’t know it was so late!” exclaimed Frank, as he glanced at his watch, and then he fairly flew into his clothing, and so did Mark.
They had just slipped on their shoes when there came a knock on the stateroom door and they admitted Sam.
“See here, who put this stuff in my shoes—” began Sam, when he noticed Mark kicking his foot on a locker. Then Frank did the same. A moment later they were sitting down trying to pull off their shoes, which refused to budge.
“By cracky! I can’t do a thing with mine!” puffed Mark. “Whatever has gotten into them?”
“It’s pitch, that’s what it is,” growled Sam. “Here is some on the tongue of my shoe. I can’t budge my feet.”
“And the stuff smarts like mischief,” came from Frank. “Say, do you know what I think?” he went on.
“It’s a joke of Hockley’s,” came from both of the others.
“Exactly.”
“If it is, we’ll pay him back with interest,” said Mark, grimly.
The pitch was of the extra sticky kind and clungto them like fish glue. They stamped and kicked, pulled and hauled, but all to no purpose.
The uproar was so great that Professor Strong came to the stateroom to see what was the matter. In the meantime Hockley heard the rumpus and smiled broadly.
“It worked!” he murmured. “Now wait until the finish!”
The finish was not long in coming. There was a tramping of feet before the door and a knock from Professor Strong.
“Yes, sir, coming!” called out Hockley, sleepily.
“Hockley, did you put pitch into the other boys’ shoes?” demanded Amos Strong, sternly.
“Me? Pitch?” asked the lank youth, in pretended astonishment. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“The other boys’ shoes are filled with pitch.”
Hockley walked across the floor and picked up his own shoes.
“So are mine, sir. Somebody has played a trick on me!” He flung the door open. “See here, I ain’t going to stand this!” he roared, in assumed anger. “It’s a jolly shame! This pair of shoes cost me ten dollars!” And he shook his head savagely.
“We’re all in the same boat,” said Mark, helplessly. The fact that Hockley had been treated like the others puzzled him a good deal.
Professor Strong looked into Hockley’s shoes. True enough each contained pitch, although not very much and what there was did not stick very fast.
“This is certainly mysterious—” began the professor, and at that moment Darry came up, he having gone to the dining room to look for them.
“Why don’t you come to breakfast,” he said. “I’m as hungry as a bear.”
“Have you pitch in your shoes?” came from the other boys.
“Pitch? What do you mean?” queried Darry, innocently.
“We’ve all got pitch in our shoes, and it hurts like creation!” spluttered Frank, and began to work at the foot coverings once more, while Mark and Sam did the same.
“Pitch,” repeated Darry, and then as the humor of the situation dawned on him he laughed loudly. “Well, this is rich! All stuck, eh, like flies on flypaper. Ha! ha! ha! You won’t get your shoesoff for a week!” And he burst into another fit of laughter.
“I’ll bet he did it,” cried Hockley. “If I can prove it I’ll make you buy me a new pair of shoes!” And he shook the shoes in Darry’s face.
Darry was in particularly good humor that morning, and he could hardly control himself. He gazed at one and another, tugging at the refractory foot coverings, and fairly shook with laughter. In the midst of this Professor Strong caught him by the arm.
“Is this some of your work, Dartworth?” he questioned.
“My work? Why—er—no, sir.”
“It is—he needn’t deny it,” put in Hockley. “I saw him with some pitch yesterday.”
This was true, for Darry had picked up a small ball of the stuff which Hockley had placed where he knew the other lad would be certain to see it. And now the professor remembered seeing the pitch, too.
“This is not the kind of a joke I like,” said Amos Strong, severely. “I thought better of you, Crane. These boys will have hard work to get themselves free of the mess.”
“I’ve got one foot out!” cried Mark, and out it came, but minus the sock, which was left where it had stuck.
The others were working with a will and at last they got free of both shoes and socks, and then Professor Strong sent them back to their staterooms to don other foot coverings. Having looked into his own stateroom he found his shoes also full of the pitch, which he had escaped by putting on a pair of traveling slippers.
“I will not have such jokes played,” he said, when he encountered Darry once more. “You should be above it. If such a thing happens again I shall have to punish you.”
“I didn’t—” began Darry, and then shut his mouth hard. Even though ordinarily light-hearted, Darry had a temper, and now it began to rise at this unjust accusation. The professor looked at him and he looked at the professor, and then they separated.
But little was said at the breakfast table, but once a glance passed between Darry and Hockley which was far from friendly. The meal was soon over, and then Mark, Frank and Sam followed Darry to his stateroom.
“Look here, Darry, we want to know the truth of this,” began Mark, when the door was shut. “Did you do this, or didn’t you?”
Darry began to whistle and looked at the ceiling.
“If you think I did it why do you ask me?” he snapped at last.
“Well—er—Hockley says you had the pitch.”
“I’ll take Darry’s word every time,” put in Sam, who saw that a crisis was at hand.
“So will I,” added Frank.
“I’m not holding back,” put in Mark, hastily. “Even if he did do it, it was only a joke. But if he didn’t do it, we ought to know it and lay for the joker. I won’t stand for such a joke from anybody outside of our crowd.”
“Would you take such a joke from me?” demanded Darry, suddenly, and now he looked one and another full in the face.
“Yes,” came in a chorus.
Darry looked relieved.
“Well then, I didn’t do it, and I don’t know who did.”
It was Frank who caught his hand first, but Sam and Mark were not much slower.
“We knew it!” they cried.
“Nobody in this crowd would play a joke on the rest!” added Sam.
“But who did do it?” queried Frank. “It wasn’t Hockley, for he was dosed, too.”
“Don’t you be so sure about Hockley,” put in Darry. “I was thinking it over at the table. He had pitch in his shoes, but he didn’t put those shoes on, and I’ll wager he gets the pitch out easily.”
“Then you think it was he after all?” queried Mark.
“I don’t know what to think. But he’ll bear watching, according to my notion.”
“Let’s search his room,” suggested Frank. “We may find some evidence against him.”
This was considered a good idea and Frank went out, to come back a minute later and report the coast clear. Then they hurried to Hockley’s stateroom, and began a quick search around.
“Whoop, I’ve got it!” ejaculated Mark, drawing a can from a corner under the berth. “Pitch, as sure as you are born!”
“Come out of that!” sang out Darry, who was gazing down the stateroom corridor. “Hockley is coming.”
“Put the can back and don’t let on we knowabout it,” said Sam. And this was done, and they escaped from the stateroom just in the nick of time. Then they returned to their own quarters and all four of the boys set to work to clean out the bepitched shoes.
“We must get square for this,” said Frank. “To let it pass unnoticed would be criminal.”
“Right you are,” responded Darry. “And as he did his best to place the blame on me I claim the honor for hatching out the plot to even up.”
“But we are going to help,” put in Sam; and so it was agreed.