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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:42 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:42 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12778-0.txt b/12778-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4f4545 --- /dev/null +++ b/12778-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6805 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12778 *** + +THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO + +or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers + +by + +H. IRVING HANCOCK + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTERS + I. The Land of Golden Eggs + II. The Wolf Who Showed His Teeth + III. Gato Strikes the Up Trail + IV. Tom Does Some Sampling + V. The Mine That Did and Didn't + VI. Watching the Midnight Lights + VII. Don Luis's Engineering Problem + VIII. Dangling the Golden Bait + IX. Don Luis Shows His Claws + X. The Spirit of a True Engineer + XI. A Piece of Lead in the Air + XII. Nicolas Does an Errand + XIII. Pining for the Good Old U.S.A. + XIV. Next to the Telegraph Key + XV. The Job of Being an Hidalgo + XVI. Two Victims of Rosy Thoughts + XVII. The Stranger in the Tent +XVIII. Craft--Or Surrender? + XIX. The Hidalgo Plans Gratitude + XX. Two Real Signatures + XXI. The Final Touch of Tragedy + XXII. Mr. Haynes Asks a Few Questions +XXIII. The Engineer Turns + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE LAND OF GOLDEN EGGS + + +Luis Montez, mine owner, stood on the broad veranda in front of +his handsome home, looking out over the country sweeping away +to the eastward. + +"Gentlemen, you are in a land of golden promise," began Senor +Montez, with a smile and a bow. "I should call it more than promise. +Why not? My beloved country, Mexico, has been shipping gold +to the world ever since the days of Montezuma." + +"Yes; in a mineral sense Mexico has truly a golden history," nodded +Tom Reade, one of the engineers to whom Montez was speaking. + +"And a golden history in every sense," added Senor Montez, with +a quick rush of patriotism. "Mexico is the finest country on +earth. And, though we are neither as numerous in population, +or as progressive as your own great country, still Mexico has +greater possibilities than the United States." + +Tom was too polite to argue that point. And Harry Hazelton, whom +a seventy-mile ride in an automobile over dusty roads, that day, +had rendered very drowsy, didn't consider an argument worth while. + +"Mexico has almost incredible natural wealth," Montez went on, +his voice soft and purring, his eyes glowing with something that +might have passed for pride. "Yet, through all the centuries +that white men have been here, I am confident that not one per +cent. of the country's natural resources has yet been taken from +the ground. Enough wealth lies at man's beck and call to change +the balance of power between the nations of the world. I have +been in your great city, New York. It is a place of tremendous +wealth. Yet, within ten years, gold enough can be taken from +the ground within a radius of twenty miles of here to buy the +whole great city of New York at any sane valuation." + +"That purchase would require billions of dollars," broke in the +practical Hazelton. + +"But the wealth is here," insisted Senor Montez, still smiling. +"Truly, _caballeros_, as I have told you, this is the land of +golden--" + +Again the Mexican paused, eloquently. + +"The land of golden eggs?" suggested Harry. + +For an instant there was a flash in the Mexican's eyes. Then +the friendly smile reappeared. + +"Of course, you jest, senor," he replied, pleasantly. + +"Not at all, Senor Montez," Hazelton assured him. "When gold +is so plentiful that it can be picked up everywhere, there must +be a goose at hand that lays golden eggs. Eggs are among the +most common things that we have. When gold nuggets are as large +and as abundant as eggs then we may properly call them golden +eggs." + +Senor Montez, flipped away the cigar that he had finished, and +reached for another. This he carefully cut at the end, lighting +it with graceful, elegant deliberation. The Mexican was a +distinguished-looking man above medium height. A little past forty +years of age, he possessed all the agility of a boy of twenty. +Frequently his sudden, agile movements indicated the possession of +unusual strength. Dark, like most of his countrymen, constant +exposure to the tropical sun had made his face almost the color of +mahogany. His carriage was erect, every movement instinctive with +grace. Clad in a white linen suit, with white shoes, he wore on his +head a Panama hat of fine texture and weave. + +The house of which the broad veranda was a part, was a low, two-story +affair in stone, painted white. Through the middle of the house +extended the drive-way leading into a large court in which a fountain +played. Around the upper story of the house a balcony encircled +the court and around the windows there were also small balconies. + +Many servants, most of them male, ministered to the wants of those +in the house. There were gardeners, hostlers, drivers, chauffeurs +and other employs, making a veritable colony of help that was +housed in small, low white houses well to the rear. + +Some thirty acres of grounds had been rendered beautiful by the +work of engineers, architects and gardeners. Nature, on this +estate, had been forced, for the natural soil was stony and sterile, +in keeping with the mountains and the shallow valleys in this +part of the little and seldom-heard-of state of Bonista. + +To the eastward lay, at a distance of some two miles, one of the +sources of Senor Montez's wealth _El Sombrero_ Mine, producing +some silver and much more gold. At least so the owner claimed. + +It was Senor Luis Montez himself who had gone to the nearest railway +station, seventy miles distant, and there had made himself known, +that forenoon, to the two young engineers from the United States. + +Tom and Harry had come to _El Sombrero_ at the invitation of Montez. +After many careful inquiries as to their reputation and standing +in their home country, Montez had engaged the young men as engineers +to help him develop his great mine. Nor had he hesitated to pay +the terms they had named--one thousand dollars, gold, per month, +for each, and all expenses paid. + +Over mountain trails, through the day, much of the way had of +necessity been made slowly. Wherever the dusty, irregular roads +had permitted greater speed, the swarthy Mexican who had served +Senor Montez as chauffeur on the trip had opened wide on the speed. +At the end of their long automobile ride Tom and Harry fairly +ached from the jolting they had received. + +"There are other beautiful features of this gr-r-rand country +of mine," the Mexican mine owner continued, lighting his second +cigar. "I am a noble, you know, Senor Tomaso. In my veins flows +the noble blood of the hidalgos of good old Spain. My ancestors +came here two hundred and fifty years ago, and ever since, ours +has been truly a Mexican family that has preserved all of the +most worthy traditions of the old Spanish nobles. We are a proud +race, a conquering one. In this part of Bonista, I, like my ancestors, +rule like a war lord." + +"You don't have much occupation at that game, do you, senor?" +Tom asked, with an innocent smile. + +"That--that--game?" repeated Senor Montez, with a puzzled look +at his young guest. + +"The game of war lord," Reade explained. "Mexico is not often +at war, is she?" + +"Not since she was forced to fight your country, Senor Tomaso, +as you help to remind me," pursued Montez, without a trace of +offense. "Though I was educated in your country, I confess that, +at times, your language still baffles me. What I meant to say +was not 'war lord,' but--but--" + +"Over lord?" suggested Reade, politely. + +"Ah, yes! Perhaps that better expresses what I mean. In Mexico +we have laws, senor, to be sure. But they are not for _caballeros_ +like myself--not for men who can boast of the blood of Spanish +hidalgos. I am master over these people for many miles around. +Absolute master! Think you any judge would dare sign a process +against me, and send _peon_ officers of the law to interfere with +me? No! As I tell you, I, Luis Montez, am the sole master here +among the mountains. We have laws for the _peons_ (working class), +but I--I make my own laws." + +"Does it take much of your time, may I ask?" + +"Does what take much of my time?" repeated Senor Montez, again +looking puzzled. + +"Law making," explained Tom Reade. + +Montez shot a swift look at the young engineer. He wondered if +the American were making fun of him. But Reade's face looked +so simple and kindly, his eyes so full of interest, that the Mexican +dismissed the thought. + +"I spend no time in making laws--unless I need them," the Mexican +continued. "I make laws only as the need arises, and I make them +to suit myself. I interpret the laws as I please for my own pleasure +or interests. Do you comprehend?" + +"I think so," Tom nodded. "Many of the big corporations in my +country do about the same thing, though the privilege has not yet +been extended to individuals in the United States." + +"Here," continued the mine owner, earnestly, "no man disputes +my will. That, of itself, is law. Here no man sues me, for if +he attempted to do so, he would go to prison and remain there. +If I tell a man to leave these mountains, he does so, for otherwise +he would never leave them. If a man annoys me, and I tell one +of my trusted servants to attend to my enemy--then that enemy +never troubles me further." + +"That is interesting--it's so simple and effective!" cried Tom, +pretended enthusiasm glowing in his eyes. "Say, but that's practical! +A man annoys you, and you send a servant to tell him to stop. +Then he stops." + +"Because my enemy also vanishes, you understand," smiled Senor +Luis, indulgently. + +"But doesn't the governor of Bonista ever hear of the disappearances?" +suggested Reade, very casually. + +"What if he does?" demanded Don Luis, snapping his fingers gayly. +"Are not his excellency, the governor, and I, the best of friends? +Would he give heed to rumors against me, brought by evil-tongued +men? Oh, no! _El gobernador_ (the governor) has, at times, even +kindly lent me his troops to make sure that an enemy of mine doesn't +travel too far. No! I tell you, Senor Tomaso, I am over lord +here. I am the law in these mountains." + +"It must be a great comfort, Don Luis--if you have many enemies," +suggested Tom Reade smilingly. + +"Ah, no! I have no enemies to-day," cried the Mexican. "Why +should I? I am generous and indulgent, and the soul of honor. +No one has just reason to disagree with me. Here I give all +men the round trade--no, what in your country you call the square +deal. But you shall see. You are now associated with me in a +great, a gr-r-rand enterprise. You shall soon see how just and +generous I can be--am always. You shall understand why the son +of a noble house need have no foes. Senor Tomaso, I have taken +one great liking to you in the few hours that we have been together. +And as for you, Senor Henrico--" + +With a courtly flourish Don Luis wheeled about to face young Hazelton. +But the sound of deep breathing was all that came from Harry. +Fatigued by the long, rough automobile ride, that young engineer +had dropped fast asleep in the broad porch rocker. + +"Your friend is much fatigued," spoke Don Luis, with fine consideration. +"If you deem it best, Senor Tomaso, we will arouse him and he +shall go to his room for an hour's sleep before the evening meal." + +"If his sleeping in the chair doesn't annoy you, Don Luis, my friend +will wake up, refreshed, in twenty minutes or so." + +"So be it, then. Let him sleep where he is. But you, Senor Tomaso, +would you not like to step inside and lie down for a while?" + +"No, I thank you," Reade answered. "Unlike Hazelton, I feel very +wide awake. When shall we go to the mine?" + +"To-morrow, or the next day," replied the Mexican, with a gesture +which almost said that "any day" would do. "First, you must both +rest until you are wholly refreshed. Then you may want to stroll +about the country a bit, and see the odd bits of natural beauty +in these mountains, before you give too serious thought to work." + +"But that is not our way, Don Luis," Tom objected. "When we are +paid a thousand dollars a month apiece we expect to do an honest +day's work six days in every week." + +"Ah, then, to-morrow, perhaps we will talk about the work. And +now, if you will pardon me, I will go inside for a few minutes +in order to see about some business matters." + +Readers of the "_Grammar School Boys Series_," the "_High School +Boys Series_" and of the preceding volumes in the present series, +will feel that they are already intimately acquainted with Tom +Reade and Harry Hazelton, a pair of young civil engineers who, +through sheer grit, persistence and hard study had already made +themselves well known in their profession. + +In the first volume of the "_Grammar School Boys Series_," Dick +Prescott and his five boy chums, Greg Holmes, Dave Darrin, Dan +Dalzell, Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, were introduced under the +name of Dick & Co. These six chums, standing shoulder to shoulder, +made a famous sextette in school athletics. Their start was made +during their grammar school days, when they had many adventures +and did much in the field of junior sport. Their high school +life, as set forth in the series of that name, was one of athletics, +mixed with much study and efforts to find their true paths in +life. In high school athletics the members of Dick & Co. won +a statewide reputation, as to-day members of winning high school +athletic teams are bound to do. It was during their high school +days that Dick & Co. determined on their professions through life. +Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes both secured competitive appointments +to the United States Military Academy, and their further doings +are set forth in the "_West Point Series_." Dave Darrin and Dalzell, +with a burning desire for naval life, obtained appointments to +the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. What befell them +is fully told in the "_Annapolis Series_." As for Tom Reade and +Harry Hazelton, while still in high school they became seized +with a strong desire for careers as civil engineers. They were +fortunate enough to secure their first practice and training in +a local engineering office in the home town of Gridley. Then, +with vastly more courage than training, Tom and Harry went forth +into the world to stand or fall as engineers. + +Their first experiences are told in the opening volume of this +series, "_The Young Engineers In Colorado_." Joining a western +engineering force as "cub" engineers, at first the laughing-stock +of the older engineers on the staff of a new railroad then building +in Colorado, the two boys did their best to make good. How well +they succeeded is known to readers of that volume. Their adventures +in the Rocky Mountains were truly astounding; some of them, especially +those with "Bad Pete," a braggart and scoundrel of the old school, +were sometimes mirth-provoking and sometimes tragic. Other adventures +were vastly more serious. When the boys reached the crisis of +their work it seemed as though every tree in the mountains concealed +an enemy. All these and many more details are told in that first +volume. + +In "_The Young Engineers In Arizona_," we found the pair engaged +in a wholly new task--that of filling up an apparently unfillable +quicksand in the desert so that a railway roadbed might be built +safely over the dangerous quicksand that had justly earned the +name of the "Man-killer." Here, too, adventures quickly appeared +and multiplied, until even the fearful quicksand became a matter +of smaller importance to the chums. How the two young engineers +persevered and fought pluckily all the human and other obstacles +to their success the readers of the second volume now know fully. + +Then Tom and Harry, who had been putting in many spare hours, +days and weeks on the study of metallurgy and the assaying of +precious metals, went, for a "vacation," to Nevada, there further +to pursue their studies. Quite naturally they became interested +in gold mining itself, and all their adventures, their mishaps, +failures, fights and final successes were fully chronicled in +the third volume, entitled "_The Young Engineers in Nevada_." The +mine that finally proved a dividend payer was named "The Ambition +Mine." A staunch Nevadan, Jim Ferrers, by name, became their +partner in the Ambition. Jim, who was an old hand at Nevada mining, +was now managing the mine while Tom and Harry, after going East +and establishing an engineers' office in a large city not far +from New York, had traveled to other states, studying mines and +assay methods. Within the last few months, so rapid had been +their progress in mine engineering, that they had been consulted +by a number of mine owners. Articles that they had written had +appeared in journals devoted to mining and engineering, and the +fame of our two friends had been rapidly spreading. + +Both scrupulously honest in all things, Reade and Hazelton had +also won a reputation as "square" mining men. With their skill +and honesty established, the opinions of the two partners on mining +problems were generally respected wherever they happened to be +known. + +So, in time, Luis Montez had heard of them, and had decided that +he needed their services at _El Sombrero_ (The Hat) Mine in the +Mexican state of Bonista. After some correspondence the two engineers +had been speedily engaged, and the opening of this volume deals +with the time of their arrival at the handsome country house of +Senor Montez. + +After his host had gone inside, and Harry Hazelton slept on, Tom, +who had risen--to bow to Senor Montez, remained on his feet, +pacing slowly and thoughtfully up and down the porch. + +"Now that I've seen my new employer," mused Tom, under his breath, +"I wonder just how much I really like him. He's a polished man, +and a charming fellow from the little that I've seen of him. +But his talk of ruling these hills, even in life and death--does +that speak well for him. Is he a knave, or only a harmless braggart? +Is he a man against whom one should be seriously on his guard? +Don Luis's manners, in general, I admire, but I don't quite like +the cruel expression about his month when he laughs. However, +that may be the way of the country, and I may be the victim of +prejudice. Anyway, as far as Harry and I are concerned, we needn't +worry much about the kind of man Don Luis is. The few thousands +of dollars that he will owe us as his engineers we are pretty +certain to get, for Don Luis is a very wealthy man, and he couldn't +afford to cheat us. For the rest, all he wants us to do is to +work hard as engineers and show him how to get more valuable ore +out of his mines. So, no matter what kind of man Don Luis may +be, we have nothing to fear from him--not even being cheated +out of our pay." + +Having settled this in his mind, Tom Reade sank into one of the +roomy porch chairs, half closing his eyes. He was soon in danger +of being as sound asleep as was Harry Hazelton. + +Certainly Reade would have been intensely interested had he been +able to render himself invisible and thus to step into one of +the rooms of the big, handsome house. + +In a room that was half office, half library, Senor Luis Montez +was now closeted with another man, whom neither of the engineers +had yet met. This man was short, slight of build and nervous +of action and gesture--a young man perhaps twenty-six years of +age. Carlos Tisco was secretary to Don Luis. Tisco was a graduate +of a university at the capital City of Mexico, a doctor of philosophy, +no mean chemist, a clever assayer of precious metals and an engineer. +In a word Dr. Tisco had been so well trained in many fields of +science that it was a wonder that Don Luis should feel the need +of employing the two young American engineers. + +"You have seen my new engineers, Carlos?" queried Don Luis, almost +in a whisper, as the two men, bending forward, faced each other +over a flat-top desk. + +"Through the window shutters--yes, Don Luis," nodded the secretary, +a strange look in his eyes. + +"Then what do you think of the Gringo pair, my good Carlos?" pursued +Don Luis. + +"Gringo" is a word of contempt applied by some Mexicans to Americans. + +"I--I hardly like to tell you, Don Luis," replied the younger +man, with an air of pretended embarrassment. + +"Ah! Then no doubt you feel they are not as clever as they have +been rated--my two Gringos," smiled the mine owner. "Rest easy, +Carlos. It may be better if they be not too clever." + +"It--it is that which I fear, Don Luis," replied the secretary, +in a still lower voice. "I have been studying their faces--especially +their eyes as they spoke. Don Luis, I much fear that they are +very clever young men." + +"Ah! Then again that is not bad," laughed the master gayly. +"If they be clever, then they will not need so much explanation." + +Now the secretary became bolder. + +"Don Luis, though you have spent many years in the United States, +I fear you do not at all understand some traits of the Gringo +character," warned Dr. Tisco. "For example, you want these young +men for a special service, and you are willing to pay them +generously--lavishly in fact. Has it escaped you, Don Luis, that +some of these obstinate, mule-headed Gringos are guilty of an +especial form of ingratitude which they term honor?" + +"I know that some Gringos make much bombastic use of that term, +while other Gringos scoff at the word 'honor,'" replied the mine +owner, thoughtfully. "But even suppose that these Gringos have +absurdly fanciful ideas of honor? They will never guess for what +I really want them. Their work will be done, to my liking, and +they will go away from here with never a suspicion of the kind +of service they have performed for me." + +"Pardon me, Don Luis," murmured Dr. Tisco, "but to me they do not +look like such fools. They will suspect; they will even know." + +"It matters little what they suspect, if they hold their tongues," +replied the mine owner. + +"You will have to appeal to their love of money, then," suggested +the secretary. "You will have to pay them extremely well. Even +then they may balk and refuse." + +"Refuse?" repeated Don Luis opening his eyes wide. "Carlos, you +do not seem to understand how hopeless it would be for them to +refuse. I am master here. None knows better than you that I +hold life and death in my hand in these mountains. Do not all +men hereabouts obey my orders? Will _el gobernador_ ask any awkward +questions if two Gringos should stroll through these mountains +and never be heard from again? Who can escape the net that I +am able to spread in these mountains? The Gringos refuse me--betray +me? Are they such fools as to refuse me when they find that I +hold their lives in the palm of my hand?" + +"They may even refuse your bait with death as the alternative," +persisted the secretary. "Don Luis, you know that there are such +foolish men among the Gringos." + +"Then let them refuse me," proposed Don Luis, jestingly, though +his white teeth shone in a savage smile. "If they are difficult +to manage--these two young Gringos--then they will quickly disappear, +and other Gringos shall come until I find those that will serve me +and be grateful for their rewards." + +"I wish you good fortune with your great schemes, Don Luis," sighed +young Dr. Tisco. + +"Carlos, you have not eaten for hours. You are so famished that +the whole world is colored blue before your eyes. Come, it is close +to the hour for the meal. You shall meet and talk with my Gringos. +You will then be able to judge whether I shall be able to tame them." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WOLF WHO SHOWED HIS TEETH + + +A rare host at table was Don Luis Montez. He possessed the manner, +even if not the soul, of a great nobleman. + +His daughter, Francesca, reputed to be a beauty, did not appear +at table. So far the young engineers had not met her. They would +be presented, however, within a day or two, after the Mexican +custom, for Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton were to be guests in +the white palace during their residence in this part of Mexico. + +Dr. Tisco, too, tried to be most entertaining, and succeeded. + +"You are the surgeon at the mine?" Harry ventured. + +"A _medico_?" suggested Dr. Tisco, with a bow of humility. "Ah, +no, senor, I have not that honor. I am a doctor of philosophy, +not of medicine." + +"Then you may be a scientific expert," Harry hazarded. "You are +the expert here at the mine?" + +"Not so," broke in Don Luis, gently. "It is true that Carlos has +some knowledge of chemistry, but he is not a mining expert. He is +my secretary, my man of affairs." + +"Oh, really the manager of the mine, then?" pursued Harry. "Pardon +me if I ask too many questions. I do not mean to be impertinent. +But, as we are going to work here I wish to know who's who is +Senor Montez' representative." + +"Carlos," broke in Don Luis, again, "is rather more than the mine +manager. He serves me in a variety of interests, and the mine +is only one of them." + +"If you wish to know whether you are to be under my instructions," +Dr. Tisco continued, "I can assure you that you are not. I seldom +give orders except as the direct--I might say the directed--mouthpiece +of Don Luis." + +"I have a separate manager at the mine," added Don Luis. "You shall +meet him to-morrow. His name is Pedro Gato. You will find him a +self-opinionated fellow, and one used to having his own way. He has +to be somewhat turbulent, or he would never hold some of my _peons_ +(laborers) in check. But under the surface you will find Pedro Gato +an excellent fellow if you do not rub him too hard the wrong way." + +"Gato will not attempt to give us any orders, of course?" Tom +asked very quietly. + +"Possibly not," dubiously replied Don Luis. "I really do not +know. That point has not before come up to me for consideration." + +"Then I hope you will make it clear to Senor Gato, Don Luis, that +we are engineers, wholly in charge of our own work; that we have +been engaged as experts and that we manage our own work in the way +that appears to us best to serve our employer's interests." + +"That can all be arranged very amicably, I am certain," replied +Don Luis, as though to dismiss the matter for the present. + +Dr. Tisco, covertly, was intently watching the eyes and faces of the +young engineers. The secretary was most anxious to take an +accurate measure of these two young Americans, who were now highly \ +important to his plans. + +After the evening meal, Don Luis summoned a number of his home +retainers, who played mandolins and guitars. Some of them sang +with considerable sweetness and power. The full moon, soon to +wane, shed lustrous light over the tropical scene of beauty. +It was a delightful evening. Tom and Harry, when they retired, +found themselves ready to sleep instantly. Their bedrooms opened +into a common parlor. Early in the morning they were astir. + +"What shall we wear, Tom?" inquired Hazelton, going toward his trunks. + +"Eh?" + +"I wonder what people wear in Mexico," Harry continued. "I don't +want to make any mistake in my clothing." + +"The best clothing for engineers about to go down into a mine will +be top-boots, khaki trousers and flannel shirts." + +"But will that be suitable to go to breakfast in?" Harry asked. +"Will it be showing sufficient courtesy to our host? And suppose +the daughter should be at table?" + +"That's so," Reade nodded. "I am sorry that we didn't fish for points +last evening." + +A knock came at the door. + +"Aqui!" (here) Tom answered. + +The door opened slowly. A man servant of perhaps twenty-five years, +attired in clean white clothes, but bare-footed, stood in the +doorway, bowing very low. + +"_Buenos dias_, _caballeros_!" (good morning, gentlemen) was his +greeting. + +Tom invited him to enter. + +"_Caballeros_," announced the _peon_, "I am your servant, your +slave, your dog! My name is Nicolas." + +"How do you do, Nicolas," responded Tom, holding out his hand, +which the Mexican appeared too dazed, or too respectful to take. +"We may find a servant useful. But we never kept slaves, and +we wouldn't dream of calling any man a dog." + +"I am your dog, _caballeros_," Nicolas asserted. "I am yours to do +with as you wish. Beat me, if I do not perform my work well." + +"But I wouldn't beat a dog. Almost any dog is too fine a fellow +to be served in that fashion," Tom explained. + +"_Caballeros_, I am here to receive your pleasure and commands +concerning breakfast." + +"Is it ready?" demanded Harry hopefully. + +"The kitchen is open, and the cooks there," Nicolas responded. +"When your excellency's orders have been given the cooks will prepare +your meal with great dispatch." + +"Has Don Luis come down yet?" Tom inquired. + +"No; for his great excellency has not yet eaten," answered the _peon_. + +"Oh! Then your master eats in his own room?" Tom asked. + +"Don Luis eats always his breakfast in bed," Nicolas told them. + +"Then I guess we were too fresh, Tom, in getting up," laughed Harry. + +As this was spoken in English, Nicolas, not understanding, paid +no heed. Tom and Harry, on the other hand, had a conversational +smattering of Spanish, for in Arizona they had had a large force +of Mexican laborers working under them. + +"Nicolas, my good boy," Tom went on, "we are quite new to the ways +of Mexico. We shall have to ask you to explain some matters to us." + +"I am a dog," said Nicolas, gravely, "but even a dog may speak +according to his knowledge." + +"Then of what does the breakfast here usually consist?" + +"Of anything in Don Luis's larder," replied the _peon_ grandly. + +"Yet surely there must be some rule about the meal." + +"The only rule, excellency, is the pleasure of the host." + +"What does Don Luis, then, usually order?" + +"Chocolate," replied the servant. + +"Nothing else?" + +"And a roll or two, excellency." + +"What does he eat after that?" Harry demanded, rather anxiously. + +"Nothing, _caballero_, until the next meal." + +"Chocolate and a roll or two," muttered Harry. "I am afraid that +wouldn't hold me through a day's work. Not even a forenoon's +toil. I never did like to diet on a plan of tightening my belt." + +"Anything for which the _caballero_ will ask shall be brought," +replied Nicolas, with another bow. + +"How about a steak, Tom?" Harry asked, turning to his chum. + +"Pardon, excellency, but we have no such thing here," Nicolas +interposed, meekly. + +"Eggs?" Harry guessed. + +"Excellency, we shall hope to have some eggs by to-morrow," + +"Harry, you idiot, why didn't you ask for mince pie and doughnuts, +too?" laughed Reade. + +"Nicolas, my boy, the trouble with me," Harry explained, "is that +chocolate and rolls will never hold my soul and body together +for more than an hour at a time. Chocolate and rolls by all means, +but help us out a bit. What can we call for that is more hearty." + +"There are _tortillas_ to be had sometimes," the servant answered. +"Also, sometimes, _frijoles_." + +"They both sound good," Harry assented vaguely. "Bring us some." + +"_Caballeros_, you shall be served with the speed at which the +eagle flies!" exclaimed the servant. With a separate bow to each +he withdrew, softly closing the door after him. + +"Now Harry, let's hustle into some clothes," urged Tom. "Since we +are to eat here mine clothes will be the thing. Hustle into them!" + +Bred in the ways of the camps, ten minutes later Tom and Harry +were washed, dressed and otherwise tidy in every respect. + +"I've a mind to go outdoors and get some glimpses of the scenery +for a few minutes," Harry hinted. + +"Don't think of it. You don't want to come back to a cold breakfast." + +So both seated themselves, regretting the absence of morning newspapers. + +Then the time began to drag. Finally the delay became wearisome. + +"I wonder how many people Nicolas is serving this morning?" murmured +Hazelton, at last. + +"Everyone in the house would be my guess," laughed Tom. Still time +dragged by. + +"What on earth will Don Luis think of us?" Harry grunted. + +"There is only one thing for it, if this delay lasts any longer," +Tom answered. "If this delay lasts much longer we shall have +to put off breakfast until to-morrow and get to work." + +"Put off breakfast until to-morrow?" Hazelton gasped. "That's +where I draw the line. Before I'll stir a step from here I must +have at least food enough to grubstake a canary bird." + +Some minutes later, Nicolas rapped at the door. He then entered, +bearing a tray enveloped in snowy linen. This tray he put down, +then spread a tablecloth that he had brought over one arm. + +"Will you be seated, _caballeros_?" he asked, respectfully, as +he took his stand by the tray. Then he whisked away the linen +cover. Gravely he set upon the table a pot of chocolate, two +dainty cups and saucers and a plate containing four rolls. + +"Where's the butter, Nicolas?" asked Harry. + +"Butter, _caballero_? I did not understand that you wished it. +I will get it. I will run all the way to the kitchen and back." + +"Never mind the butter this morning, Nicolas," spoke up Tom, at +the same time kicking Harry gently under the table. + +"Can I serve you further, now, _caballeros_" inquired Nicolas, +with great respect, "or shall I bring you the remainder of your +breakfast?" + +"Bring us the rest of the breakfast, by all means," begged Harry, +and the servant left them. + +"Why did you tell him not to mind the butter?" grunted Hazelton. + +"Because," Tom answered, "it struck me that, in Mexico, it may +not be customary to serve butter in the morning." + +Harry took a bite of one of the rolls, finding it to be soft, +flaky and delicious. Then he removed another linen covering from +the pot and started to pour the chocolate. That beverage did +not come as freely as he had expected. + +"What ails the stuff?" grunted Hazelton. "This isn't the first +of April." + +Then Harry removed the lid from the pot, glancing inside, next +he picked up a spoon and stirred the contents of the pot. + +"I wish Nicolas were here," said Hazelton. + +"Why?" Tom wanted to know. + +"I'm bothered about what's etiquette in Mexico. I don't know +whether it's right to eat this stuff with a knife, or whether +we're expected to spread the stuff on the rolls." + +"It is pretty thick stuff," Tom agreed, after taking a look. +"But let me have the pot and the spoon. I think I can manage it." + +After some work Tom succeeded in reducing the chocolate to a +consistency that admitted of pouring, though very slowly. + +"It took you almost three minutes to pour two cups," said Harry, +returning his watch to his pocket. "Come on, now! We've got +to make up for lost time. What will Don Luis think of us? And +yet it is his household arrangements that are keeping us away +from our work." + +Chocolate and rolls were soon disposed of. Then the two engineers +sat back, wondering whether Nicolas had deserted them. Finally, +both rose and walked to stretch their legs. + +"No restaurant in New York has anything on this place for slow-march +service!" growled Hazelton. + +As all things must come at last, so did Nicolas. He carried a +tray and was followed by a second servant, bringing another. + +The _tortillas_ proved to be, as Harry put it, "a cross between +a biscuit and flapjack." The _frijoles_ were just plain boiled +beans, which had evidently been cooked on some other day, and +were now mushy. But it was a very solid meal that now lay before +them, and the young engineers ate heartily. + +"Will the _caballeros_ have some more chocolate?" suggested Nicolas. + +"Not now," said Hazelton. "But you might order some for to-morrow's +breakfast, and then we shan't have to wait for so long next time." + +The additional servant had gone, noiselessly, but Nicolas hovered +about, silently. + +At last the meal was finished. Tom had chewed his food thoroughly, +what he had eaten of it, but Harry, in his hunger, had eaten hurriedly. + +"Now we'll have to find Don Luis and apologize," hinted Tom. +"Hereafter I can see that we shall have to rise much earlier. +Confound it, it's a quarter of nine, already." + +The two youngsters hastened out to the veranda. A man servant +was lazily dusting and placing porch chairs. + +"Has Don Luis gone to the mine?" asked Tom in Spanish. + +"Don Luis?" repeated the servant, in evident astonishment. "Presently +his excellency will be dressing." + +"Thank you," nodded Tom, and paced the veranda, leisurely. "Harry, +we didn't make such a bad break after all, then. Plainly Don Luis +didn't plan an early start." + +"Is Dr. Tisco around?" asked Harry, of the servant. + +"The learned doctor must be dressing by this time, _caballero_," +replied the servant respectfully. + +"Hm!" mused Harry. "Can it be that the people in Bonista do their +work at night?" + +"Oh, I'll wager the poor _peons_ at the mine have been at work +for some time," Tom smiled. "Anyway, I'm glad we haven't kept +everyone else waiting." + +At half-past ten o'clock Dr. Tisco appeared, immaculate in white. +He bowed low and courteously to the guests. + +"I trust, _caballeros_, that you have enjoyed perfect rest." + +"Yes," answered Harry. "And now we're fidgeting to get at work. +But, of course, we can't start for the mine until Don Luis gives +us the word, and we are at his pleasure." + +"It is nearly time for Don Luis to appear," said Tisco gravely. + +"Is he always as late as this?" + +"Here, Senor Hazelton, we do not call eleven o'clock a late hour +for appearing." + +Twenty minutes later Don Luis appeared, clad in white and indolently +puffing at a Mexican cigarette. + +"You will smoke, gentlemen?" inquired their host, courteously, after +he had inquired concerning their rest. + +"Thank you," Tom responded, pleasantly. "We have never used tobacco." + +Don Luis rang and a servant appeared. + +"Have one of my cars ordered," commanded Don Luis. + +Ten minutes later a car rolled around to the entrance. + +"You will come with us, Carlos?" inquired Don Luis. + +"Assuredly, Don Luis," replied the secretary, in the tone of a man +who was saying that he would not for worlds miss an expected treat. + +It was a seven-passenger car of late design. Into the tonneau +stepped the two Mexicans and the two young engineers. + +"To the mines," ordered Don Luis. + +"Do you wish speed, excellency?" inquired the chauffeur. + +"No; we will go slowly. We may wish to talk." + +Gravely, in military fashion, the chauffeur saluted, then allowed +the automobile to roll slowly away. + +"It is not an attractive road, after we leave the _hacienda_," +explained Don Luis Montez to Tom. "It is a dusty road, and a +somewhat hard one. The mining country is not a beautiful place +in which to live." + +"It is at least more beautiful than the country in which our mine +is located," Tom replied. + +"Are you gentlemen, then, mine owners as well as mine experts?" +inquired their host. + +Tom told Don Luis briefly about their mine, the Ambition, in the +Indian Smoke Range, Nevada. + +"And is your mine a profitable one?" inquired the Mexican. + +"It hasn't made us millionaires," Tom rejoined, modestly, "but +it pays us more money, every month, than we really need." + +Don Luis glanced covertly at his secretary, with a look that conveyed: + +"If these young Gringos have all the money they want, and more, +then we may find it difficult to appeal to their avarice." + +Dr. Tisco's return glance as much as said: + +"I am all the more certain that we shall find them difficult." + +Don Luis commented to the two young men on the country through +which they were passing. Finally the car drew up before the entrance +to _El Sombrero_ Mine. There was the shaft entrance and near it a +goodly-sized dump for ore. Not far from the entrance was a small +but very neat looking office building, and a second, still smaller, +which might have been a timekeeper's office. + +"Hello, Pedro!" called Don Luis. + +Out of the office building sprang a dark-featured Mexican, perhaps +forty years of age. He was truly a large man--more than six feet +in height, broad of shoulder and deep of chest, a splendid type +of manhood. + +"My good Gato," purred Don Luis, "pay your respects to _Los Caballeros_ +Reade and Hazelton." + +Gato approached, without offering his hand. His big, wolfish +eyes looked over the young American pair keenly. + +"So Don Luis has brought you here to show whether you are any good?" +said the mine manager, in a voice as big as his frame. "I shall +soon know." + +Before the big, formidable manager Harry Hazelton remained silent, +while Don Luis and his secretary slid softly into the office building. + +"Gato, just what do you mean by your remark?" asked Tom Reade, very +quietly. + +"I mean that I shall put you at work and find out what you can do," +leered the mine manager. + +"Mistake number one!" rejoined Tom coolly. "I do not understand that +you have any authority to give us orders." + +"You shall soon learn, then!" growled the man. "I am the mine +manager here." + +"And we are the engineers about to be placed in charge," Tom continued. +"If we stay, Gato, you will assist us in all ways that you can. +Then, when you have received our instructions you will carry them +out according to the best of your ability." + +The two looked each other sternly in the eyes, Pedro Gato appearing +as though he enjoyed young Americans better than any other food in +the world. Indeed, he might have been expected to eat one of them +right then and there. + +Behind a shade in the office building Dr. Tisco stirred uneasily. + +"What did I say to you, Don Luis?" inquired the secretary. "Did +I not suggest that these Gringos would not be easily controlled?" + +"Wait!" advised Don Luis Montez. "Wait! You have not yet seen what +my Gato will do. He is not a baby." + +"These Gringos will balk at every hour of the day and night," +predicted Dr. Tisco. + +"Wait until you have seen my good Gato tame them!" chuckled Don +Luis, softly. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +GATO STRIKES THE UP TRAIL + + +"When you speak to me, Gringo," bellowed Pedro Gato, "you will--" + +"Stop, Greaser!" shot back Tom, sternly, though he did not even stir +or raise his hands. + +"Greaser?" bellowed Pedro Gato. "That is foul insult!" + +"Not more so than to call me a Gringo," Tom Reade went on coolly. +"So we are even, though I feel rather debased to have used such +a word. Gato, if you make the mistake, again, of using an offensive +term when addressing me, I shall--well, I may show a somewhat +violent streak." + +"You?" sneered Gato. Then something in the humor of the situation +appealed to him. He threw back his head and laughed loudly. + +"Gringo," he began, "you will--" + +"Stop that line of talk, fellow," commanded Tom quietly. "When +you address me, be good enough to say either 'senor' or 'sir.' +I am not usually as disagreeable as this in dealing with my fellow +men, but you have begun wrong with us, Gato, and the first thing +you'll have to learn to do will be to treat us with proper courtesy." + +From the shaft entrance showed the faces of four grinning, wondering +Mexicans of the usual type. The talk had proceeded in Spanish, and +they had been able to follow it. + +As for the mine manager, his bronzed face was distorted with rage. +The veins near his forehead were swelling. With a sudden roar, +Pedro Gato sprang forward, aiming a blow with his open right hand +at Reade's face. + +Bump! That blow failed to land. It was Gato, instead, who landed. +He went down on his back, striking the ground with jarring force. + +"What did I say?" whispered Dr. Tisco. + +"Wait!" responded Don Luis, with a shrug of his shoulders. + +Well-nigh frothing at the mouth, Pedro Gato leaped to his feet. +All was red now before his eyes. He rushed forward bellowing +like a bull, intent on crushing the young American who had dared +to treat him thus. + +Tom's left fist drove into the fellow's unguarded face. His right +followed, and Gato, big as he was, staggered back. Tom's right +foot performed a trip that sent the big Mexican bully to earth again. + +"Now get up, Gato, like a man of intelligence, and behave yourself," +advised Reade coolly. "Just because we have had a bad introduction +is no reason why we should continue enemies. You treat me with +proper respect and I'll do as much for you." + +But Gato snarled like a wild beast. He was not armed. With every +man in these Bonista mountains afraid of him, Gato had never felt +the need of carrying weapons. But now he plunged to the doorway +of the shaft house, then came bounding back, flourishing a knife +that he had snatched from one of the _peons_. + +"Back! Back, Gato!" shouted Dr. Tisco, rushing from the office +building. + +To the secretary Gato paid no heed. He was close to Tom now, +circling cautiously around the young engineer. Harry, though not +at all minded to bolt, had stepped back far enough to give Reade +elbow room. + +"Stop, Gato!" shouted Don Luis. "It is I who command it--I, Don +Luis. Throw your knife on the ground." + +Gato snarled, but he was cowed. The brutal manager held his employer +in awe. He was about to cast his weapon down when Tom Reade +interposed. + +"Don Luis, I ask you to let the fellow go on. This question will +have to be settled right before we can proceed. This fellow is +only a coward, or he wouldn't need a knife in fighting with a man +half his size." + +"Better throw away your knife, my good Gato," purred Don Luis, +"or Senor Reade will shoot you." + +"I won't," Tom retorted. "I couldn't, anyway. I am not armed. +I never was enough afraid of any one to carry weapons. But let +Gato go on with his knife. If he fails, then I shall hit him until +my arm aches." + +"Stop, Senor Reade! I command it!" cried Don Luis, imperiously. +"And you, Gato, throw down your knife. I will not have fighting +here among men who must be friends." + +But Gato, after hearing himself described as a coward, saw only +red before his eyes. He must have this Gringo's life, and that +quickly. Afterwards he would explain and seek Don Luis's pardon. + +"If you prefer, Gato, we will shake hands and forget this," suggested +Tom Reade. + +"Ah, so you are afraid?" sneered the mine manager. + +"Try me and see, if you prefer that," Tom retorted. + +With a snarl Gato circled closer. Don Luis Montez snatched from +one of his pockets a silver-mounted revolver, but Hazelton caught +the flash and in the next instant he had wrenched the pistol away +from the mine owner. + +"This is Reade's fight, Don Luis," Harry explained. + +"Hand back my pistol instantly," hissed Don Luis. + +"Not until the fight is decided, Don Luis," Harry rejoined. Slipping +the weapon into one of his own pockets he retreated a few yards. + +Suddenly Gato sprang, the knife uplifted. Tom Reade leaped in +the same fraction of a second. Tom's shoulder landed under Gato's +right shoulder, and the knife did not descend. Like a flash Tom +bent as he wheeled. Gripping the mine manager by the captured +arm, Tom threw him forcefully over his own shoulder. Pedro Gato +landed, half-dazed, on the ground. Tom, snatching the knife, +hurled it as far as he could throw it. + +Snarling, the big fellow started to rise. As he did so Tom Reade's +fist landed, sending the Greaser bully to earth. The big fellow +made several efforts to rise, but each time Tom's fist sent him +flat again, until a final heavy blow silenced him. + +"Don Luis," explained Tom, quietly, turning and bowing, "I can't +begin to tell you how much I regret this unavoidable scene. When +I encountered this big bully I was at once tempted to resign my +position here with you, for I realize, of course, that I cannot +hope to go on with any such man in a position where I would have +to depend so much upon his cheerful and friendly service. I would +have resigned, but I realize, Don Luis, how much expense you have +gone to in the matter of getting us here, and I know, also, that +there might be a good deal of delay in getting some one else to +take our places." + +"Gato will not trouble you again," promised Don Luis, bowing charmingly. + +"Of course not, sir," Tom rejoined. "I couldn't work here and +let him go on annoying me all the time. Don Luis, I shall have +to crave your indulgence to the extent of discharging this fellow +and securing another manager who is less of a wild beast and more +of a man." + +"Oh, but I cannot let Pedro Gato go," protested Don Luis, quickly. +"He is too old an employ, too valuable a man. No other could +manage my _peons_ as he does." + +"Let me go!" begged Gato, harshly. "Let me go, that I may have +all my time to myself that I may find the best way to avenge myself +on this miserable Gringo. Don Luis, do not think of attempting +to keep me penned in _El Sombrero_. I must be idle that I may +have the more time to think." + +Tom remained silent. He had stated his case, and the decision must +be found by Don Luis. + +"For many reasons," whispered Dr. Tisco, "let Gato go. For either +good or bad reasons it will be best to let him go." + +"You are right, Carlos," nodded the mine owner quickly. Then, +raising his voice: + +"My good Gato, you shall have your wish," he went on, in his purring +tone. "Yet do not think there is anger behind my words. I let +you go because it is your wish. I do not so decide that I may +humiliate you, but because you have served me well. When you +need a friend, Gatito, you will know to whom to send word. Go your +way in friendship." + +Even Tom Reade, with his somewhat scant knowledge of Spanish, +was quick to note, mentally, the meaning of that term, "Gatito," +which meant "little Gato," and was used as a term of affection. +It was a form of telegraphy that was not wasted on the departing +mine manager, either, for it told him that Don Luis had some excellent +reason for thus quickly falling in with the wishes of the new +American chief engineer. + +With a grateful smile at Don Luis, then with a scowl of unutterable +hatred flung in Tom Reade's direction, Pedro Gato next turned on his +heel and strode up the path. + +From his pocket Harry Hazelton drew forth the silver-mounted revolver +and approached the owner of the mine. + +"Allow me to return this to you, Don Luis," urged Hazelton. "I +must also apologize for having snatched it from you so rudely. +I did not know what else to do, for I feared that you intended +to interfere in the quarrel." + +"And what if I had so intended?" asked the Mexican mine owner, +with one of his puzzling smiles. + +"Just this," Harry answered, candidly. "Mr. Reade never gets +into a fight if he can help it. When he does find himself in +one I have learned, from long experience, not to interfere unless +he calls for help. So I did not want any one to interfere between +him and Gato." + +"It was a most unfortunate affair," said the Mexican. "Senor +Tomaso, I must warn you that Pedro Gato is one who never forgives +an injury. He will devote himself to thoughts of a revenge that +shall be terrible enough to satisfy his wounded feelings. You +will do well to be on your guard." + +Tom smiled as he replied: + +"Don Luis, I trust that I have seen the last of the fellow." + +"Be assured that you have not seen the last of him, Senor Tomaso." + +"Then it may go hard with Gato," smiled Tom, carelessly. "But +I trust I have not offended you in this matter, Don Luis. If +I have, I am willing to withdraw, and I will reimburse you for +the expense you have incurred in bringing us here." + +"I shall not let you go," smiled the Mexican, "unless you feel that +you no longer wish to remain in the same country with Pedro Gato." + +"That thought has not entered my mind, sir," Reade responded, +almost stiffly. + +"Then we will say no more about the matter, and you will remain," +nodded the Mexican. "And now we will go down into the mine and +give you your first chance to examine our problems there." + +As they entered the shaft house it was discovered that the elevator +cage was at the foot of the shaft. While they waited for the +cage to come up, keen Dr. Tisco whispered to Tom: + +"Senor Reade, night and day you must be unceasingly on your guard +against Gato. In these mountains a hundred men will follow his +beck and call." + +"If they are all like him, then Gato should turn bandit," laughed +young Reade. + +"It is not unlikely that he will do so," sighed Tisco, with a +slight shrug of his shoulders. "In Mexico, when a defeated man +seeks blood revenge it is no uncommon thing for him to turn bandit +until he has accomplished his hope of a terrible revenge. Then, +afterwards, if the bandit has annoyed the government enough, and +has repeatedly escaped capture, the bandit makes his peace with +the authorities and receives his pardon." + +The cage arriving at this moment, the four men entered, and started +downward. Three hundred and sixty feet from the earth's surface +Don Luis led them from the car into a tunnel. + +"I will now show you," promised Don Luis, "something of the problem +that confronts the engineers of this mine." + +"Keep your eyes open, and your wits about you, Harry," whispered +Tom Reade. "I may be wholly wrong, yet, somehow, I can't quite +rid myself of a notion that Don Luis wants us for some piece of +rascally work, though of what kind I can't imagine." + +"I shall watch these two Gringos like a cat," reflected Dr. Tisco. +"I half suspect that they will foolishly sacrifice their lives +sooner than serve us." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +TOM DOES SOME SAMPLING + + +At sight of Don Luis's party a Mexican foreman came running forward. + +"How runs the ore this morning?" asked Don Luis. + +"Not quite as well as usual, excellency," replied the man, with +a shrug of his shoulders. + +"How! Do you mean to tell me that the ore is running out for +a streak!" + +"Oh, no, excellency. Yet it is the poorest ore that we have struck +for a fortnight. However, it will pay expenses and leave something +for profit, too, excellency." + +"Show us what you have been doing," Don Luis directed. + +Leading the way with a lantern that threw a brilliant light, the +foreman went on down the tunnel to the heading. As he neared +the end of the tunnel the man called loudly and a number of workmen +stepped aside. + +As they reached the spot, Tom's quick eye saw that the morning's +blasts had loosened some eight tons or so of ore. Drillers stood +ready to drive through the rock for the next blast. + +"Let us look at the ore, Senor Tomaso," suggested the mine owner. + +Tom began to delve through the piles of shattered, reduced rock. +The foreman held the lantern close, that the young engineer might +have all the light he wanted, and called to miners to bring their +lights closer. + +Then Harry, also, began to examine the rock. For some minutes +the two young engineers picked up specimens and examined them. + +"What do you make of it?" inquired Don Luis Montez at last. + +"Is this what you call a run of poor luck?" Tom asked the foreman, +dryly. + +"Yes, senor; rather poor," answered the foreman. + +"Then it must be rather exciting here when the ore is running +well," smiled Tom. "At a guess I should say that this 'poor' +stuff before us will run thirty dollars to the ton." + +"It usually runs fifty, senor," broke in Don Luis. "Sometimes, +for a run of a hundred tons, the ore will show up better than +seventy-five dollars per ton." + +"Whew!" whistled Reade. "Then no wonder you call this the land +of golden promise." + +"By comparison it would make the mines in the United States look +poor, would it not?" laughed the mine owner. + +"There are very few mines there that show frequent runs of fifty +dollars to the ton," Harry observed. + +"Are you going to clear out this ore, and send it to the dump" +Tom asked the foreman. + +"Yes." + +"Then I would be glad if you would do so at once," Tom remarked. + +For answer the Mexican foreman stared at Tom in a rather puzzled +way. + +"I will do so as soon as I am ordered," he responded, respectfully. + +"All right," returned Reade. "I'll give you the order. Clear +this stuff out and get it up in the ore cage. Clear this tunnel +floor with all the speed you comfortably can." + +"Perhaps the senor will explain?" suggested the foreman. + +"These _caballeros_ are the new engineers in charge of the mine," +said Dr. Tisco. + +"Ah! So? Then if Pedro Gato will only give the order--" began +the foreman. + +"If Pedro Gato gives you any orders," Tom suggested, briskly, "you +will ignore them. Pedro Gato is no longer connected with the mine." + +"Not connected?" gasped the foreman, who plainly doubted his ears. + +"No," broke in Don Luis. "You will take no more orders from Gato. +These _caballeros_ are the engineers, and they are in charge. You +heard the order of Senor Reade. You will clean out this tunnel, +sending the ore above to the dump." + +"It shall be done," cried the foreman, bowing low before the mine +owner. + +"And now, Senor Tomaso, if it suits you, we will go to another +tunnel," proposed Don Luis. + +"Very good, sir," Tom assented. "What had been in my mind was +to order the drillers at work here and see a blast made." + +"We can be back long before the next blast can be prepared," replied +Montez. "Carlos, lead the way to tunnel number four." + +The secretary turned, retracing his steps, Don Luis bringing up +the rear. + +"Oho! I have dropped my cigar case," remarked Don Luis a minute +later. "I will go back and get it." + +The others waited near the shaft. Tom wondered, slightly, why +Dr. Tisco had not volunteered to go back after his employer's +missing cigar case. + +Presently Don Luis appeared. + +"Now we will go to number four," he said. + +The cage carried them to a lower level. Here another foreman came +forward to meet them and to conduct them to the heading. Here were +some five tons of rock. Tom and Harry found it to be about the same +grade of ore as that seen above. + +"Is this ore as good as you usually find in this vein?" Tom inquired +of the second foreman. + +"Not quite, senor, though to-day's blasts have turned out to be +very fair ore," responded the foreman. + +"I should say it is good ore," Tom remarked dryly. "Now, will +you set the shovelers at work moving this stuff back a little +way? I want to see a new drilling made and watch the results +of the blast." + +"If Pedro Gato--" began the foreman, reluctantly. + +"Pedro Gato has nothing to do with this," Tom answered quickly. +"Mr. Hazelton and I are privileged to give such orders as we deem +best. Will you kindly tell the foreman so, Don Luis?" + +"It is quite true," replied the mine owner. "Gato is no longer +with us, and these gentlemen are in charge." + +"Then I will have the ore moved back at once," agreed the foreman. + +"But first we will go back out of the dirt and out of the danger +from the blast," spoke Don Luis, using a good deal the tone of +an order. + +"The rest of you may go back," suggested Reade. "But I wish to +see the drilling done." + +"It is unnecessary, Senor Tomaso," smiled Don Luis, blandly. +"Come back with us." + +"I must see the men work, Don Luis, if I am to understand the work +here," Tom rejoined, very quietly, though with a firmness that was +wholly apparent. + +"Oh, very good then," smiled Montez, with a shrug of his shoulders. + +Three of the inspecting party went back, but Tom remained close +behind the drillers. Twice he stopped them in their work, to +collect small samples of the pulverized stuff that the drills +turned back. These specimens he placed in sample envelopes and +stored in his pockets. From the ore that was being shoveled back +he chose other small specimens, labeling the envelopes in which +he stored them. + +By the time that the ore had been shoveled well back the drillers +had completed their work. Now the "dope men" came forward, putting +the sticks of dynamite in place. Tom watched them closely. + +"Do you call this last work well done?" Tom inquired of the foreman +of the tunnel. + +"Yes, yes, senor, as well as I have been able to see," responded +the Mexican. + +"Then come with me. Just look at the tamping. Hardly worthy +of the name of tamping, is it?" Tom asked, poking at the material +that had been forced in as tamping. + +"Senor, my men must have been indolent, this time," admitted the +foreman. + +"Very indolent, or else indifferent," Tom smiled, grimly. "Here, +you men, come here and let me show you how to set dynamite and +tamp it. Perhaps I do not understand the job very well, but we +shall see." + +Ten minutes later Tom Reade abandoned his work, rather well satisfied. + +"Now, when we fire the blasts, we shall move some rock, I believe," +he smiled. + +The wires were attached, and all hands went back, most of them +going considerably to the rear of the man at the magneto battery. + +A rocking explosion followed. Tom was among the first to run forward. +At the heading were heaps of rock. + +"Get in and pry it loose. Shovel it back," Tom ordered, in Spanish. + +Shortly after, Don Luis, Dr. Tisco and Harry appeared on the scene. +They found Tom turning over the ore as it came back. More than a +dozen samples he dropped into envelopes, labeled them and put them +away in his pockets. + +"What ails this lot of ore?" inquired Harry, after looking at +specimens. + +"It is not running as well," said Tom briefly. "Go through the +stuff and see what you think of it." + +"But we have much more to see, _caballeros_," interposed Don Luis. + +"If you will be kind enough to indulge me here, for a few minutes +more, I shall be grateful," Tom informed him. + +"Oh, very good," assented Don Luis, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"But it is not my purpose to tire you with too many observations +on our first trip through the mine." + +With a fine sample of Castillian courtesy and patience, Don Luis +waited, smoking, until Reade had quite finished his inspection. + +"I am now at your service, Don Luis," announced the young chief +engineer, rising and going toward his employer. + +The remaining four tunnels of _El Sombrero_ Mine were visited. In +each tunnel was the same pile of ore awaiting them, and it all +looked good. That in number three was the richest ore of all. + +"Now, I think we have seen enough for today," announced Don Luis, +when they had inspected number three tunnel. + +"Then if you will go along and let me join you later, I shall +appreciate it," Tom suggested politely. + +"You wish to linger?" queried Don Luis, looking amused. + +"I wish to see a blast made here," Tom replied. + +"I, too, would like to see one," Harry added. + +"Then we will wait for you," agreed Don Luis, with a sigh that +contained just a trace of impatience. + +A drilling and a blast were made. Again a lot of poor rock was +loosened. Tom and Harry collected specimens, labeling them. + +"Now, we will return to the house," said Don Luis. + +"I would really like to put in a long day here at the mine," proposed +Reade, reluctantly. + +"To-morrow, then," nodded Don Luis. "But, for to-day, I am tired +of this place. There is much about which I wish to consult you, +_caballeros_, at my office." + +Tom glanced swiftly, covertly at Harry, then responded: + +"In that case, my dear Don Luis, we are wholly at your service." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MINE THAT DID AND DIDN'T + + +At the head of the shaft, Nicolas, the servant, awaited them. + +"Nicolas, you rascal!" exclaimed Don Luis, angrily. "You have +not been attending your _caballeros_." + +"Your pardon, excellency, but the automobile moved too swiftly for +me," pleaded Nicolas. "All the way to the mine I ran, and here I +have waited until now." + +"Keep pace with your duties hereafter, scoundrel," commanded Don +Luis, angrily. + +Nicolas stepped meekly to the rear of the party. It was his business +to attend Tom and Harry everywhere. In Mexico one of the grade +of gentleman, if he wishes only a glass of water, does not go +for it; he sends the attending servant. + +This time Nicolas slipped up on the front seat of the car beside the +chauffeur. The car traveled at a high rate of speed over the rough +road. + +"It must cost you a mint of money for tires and repairs, not to +speak of new cars," laughed Tom, after he had been bounced up +two feet in the air as the automobile ran over a rough place in +the road. + +"Pouf! What does it matter, to a man who owns _El Sombrero_?" +smiled Don Luis Montez. + +"I am answered," Tom agreed. "The price of a few imported cars +cannot matter much to you." + +"How many better mines than _El Sombrero_ have you seen?" questioned +the mine owner, leaning forward. + +"None," said Tom, promptly. + +"If all days' indications are as good as those of to-day," Harry +added. + +"To-day has been but a poor day at the mine," murmured Dr. Tisco. + +"Then _El Sombrero_ is indeed a marvel," Tom declared. + +"It is a very rich mine," nodded Don Luis. "Yet there may be richer +ones, in these mountains, yet undiscovered." + +"Where is the next best mine around here?" Tom inquired. + +"Perhaps it is _El Padre_," murmured Don Luis, after a slight pause. + +"Where is _El Padre_ (the Priest) located?" Tom wanted to know. + +"It is about four miles from here, up over that road," Don Luis +rejoined, pointing out the direction. + +"May I ask if _El Padre_ is one of your properties, Don Luis?" +Tom continued. + +"No; why should I want it when I own _El Sombrero_?" + +"Not unless you wish to own as many mines as possible." + +"_El Sombrero_ should be enough for my greatest dreams of wealth," +declared Don Luis, closing his eyes dreamily. + +Then the car stopped before the house. + +Don Luis alighted, Tom and Harry at his heels. A servant appeared +at the entrance to the court and informed him that the midday meal +was ready to serve. + +"We will go to the table, then," exclaimed the Mexican. "After +having luncheon we shall be ready for an afternoon of hard work." + +No sooner had the young engineers slipped into their seats at +table than Nicolas appeared behind their chairs. He served them +gravely and without a word. + +For nearly an hour the luncheon lasted. Finally the dishes were +cleared away and several boxes of cigars were brought. Tom and +Harry both declined them. Dr. Tisco lighted a cigar at once; +Don Luis spent much time in selecting his cigar. This he lighted +with the same deliberation. At last the mine owner settled back +in his seat. + +"_Caballeros_," he inquired, suddenly, "what did you think of +_El Sombrero_?" + +"I would call it, Don Luis," Harry replied, with enthusiasm, "the +finest mine I have seen or heard of." + +"You did not see the best of the ore to-day," Montez assured them. + +"What ore we did see is as fine as any we would ever wish to see," +Tom said. + +"Then you were delighted with the mine?" inquired their host, +turning to Reade and speaking more eagerly. + +"If the ore always runs as well," Tom rejoined, "it ought to be +one of the richest gold and silver properties in the world." + +"Pouf! The ore usually runs much better--is worth much more +than that which you saw to-day," protested Don Luis. + +"Then you are to be congratulated on possessing a treasure among +mines," Tom commented. + +"I am delighted to hear you say that." + +"But when we adjourn to your office," Reade continued, "there +are a few questions that I shall want to ask you." + +"Why not ask them here, Senor Tomaso?" queried Don Luis, in his +purring, half affectionate voice. + +"Here at your table?" protested Reade. + +"But this is not dinner. This is a mere business luncheon," replied +Don Luis, with another smile. + +"Yet I would like to discuss some of the samples with you, Don Luis," +Tom explained. "Surely, you do not wish me to bring out dirty +samples to spread on your fine linen." + +"It would matter not," declared the Mexican. "Still, if you have +scruples about the proprieties, then we will go to the office +within a few minutes." + +The two who were smoking continued to do so. Don Luis started +to describe some of his experiments in raising Spanish mules. +The finest mules that come out of Spain, class, in price, with +blooded horses. Don Luis talked with the enthusiasm of one who +understood and loved mules. + +Then, finally, they passed to the office. + +"Now, I shall be glad to talk with you for hours," the Mexican +hidalgo assured the young engineers. + +Dr. Tisco, as though to show that he took no personal interest in +the talk, retired to an armchair at the further end of the room. +Nevertheless, the secretary observed carefully all that was said. +Covertly he studied the faces of the young engineers at all times. + +"Ask me what you will," begged Don Luis, as he sank into an easy +chair close to the table on which Tom began to arrange his envelopes +of specimens taken from the mine. + +"First of all, Don Luis," Tom began, "you spoke of some problems +that you wished us to solve in the operation of your mine." + +"Yes, Senor Tomaso." + +"I would like to ask you what the problems are that we are to +consider," Tom announced. + +"Did you not see some of the problems before you, while we were +going through the mine?" inquired Montez. + +"At the risk, Don Luis, of appearing stupid, I must confess that +I did not." + +"Ah, well, then we shall come to the problems presently. You +have other questions. Ask some of them." + +For a moment or two Reade studied what he had written on the various +envelopes before him. Then he picked out two. + +"Here, Don Luis," the young chief engineer went on, "are samples of +two lots of ore. The first is from the pile that we found pried +loose when we went into the first tunnel that we visited. It +is rich ore." + +"It is good enough ore," Montez replied, with a polite shrug of +the shoulders. + +"Now, from the second tunnel that we entered, and where we also +found a pile of loose ore, here is another sample. It is as rich +as the first sample." + +"Certainly, Senor Tomaso." + +"But in this second tunnel I had a drilling made and a blast fired. +Here," picking up a third envelope and emptying it, "is a sample +of the ore that we saw taken from that blast. If this sample +contains any gold or silver the quantity is so small, evidently, +as to render this kind of ore worthless." + +"Yes?" murmured Don Luis, softly. "What is it that you have to say?" + +"Why, sir, how does it happen that, right on top of such extra-fine +ore we run upon blank rock at the very next blasting." + +"That sometimes happens in _El Sombrero_," Don Luis replied, smoothly, + +"How often has it happened?" asked Tom, looking up from the table +and glancing keenly at Don Luis. + +Dr. Tisco, though he appeared to be almost asleep, stirred uneasily. + +"How often has it happened?" repeated Don Luis. "Oh, perhaps +a dozen times in a few months, taking all the tunnels together." + +"How long have these streaks of blank rock been?" insisted Tom +Reade, while Harry wondered at what his chum was driving. + +"How long?" echoed Montez, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oh, +how should I know? Personally I am not interested in such things." + +"But have you gone as much as a whole week drilling and blasting +through blank rock?" Tom pressed. + +"A week? No; not for two days. Of that I am certain. But why +do you ask all this, Senor Tomaso?" + +"In order that I may better understand the nature of the mine," +Reade responded. "I want to know what the chances are, as based +on the record of the mine to date. Of course, Don Luis, you know +what it means, often, when pay ore fails to come out of a streak, +and a solid wall of blank rock is encountered." + +By "blank rock" Tom meant rock that did not contain a promising +or paying amount of metal in the ore. + +"What it means?" Montez asked. "No; I can't say that I do." + +"The wall of blank rock, found at the end of a vein of gold, Don +Luis, often, if not usually, means that the vein has run out, +and that it is useless to dig further." + +"I did not know that," murmured the Mexican, in a tone of merely +polite astonishment. "Then you believe that _El Sombrero_ will +not turn out much more profitable ore?" + +"I didn't say that," Tom continued. "But I will admit that finding +the wall of blank rock ahead made me a bit nervous. Some great +mines have been started, Don Luis, as you must be aware. For +a few weeks they have panned out ore of the highest value. Much +capital has been put into such mines, and for a time men have +thought they owned a new Golconda. Then--suddenly--the blank +wall, and no more gold has ever come out of that mine. In other +words, it was but a pocket of rich gold that had been struck, and +nothing more. Hundreds of men have ruined themselves by investing +in such mines." + +"I see," murmured Don Luis, thoughtfully. + +"You did not know this before?" Tom asked, in some amazement. + +"No, Senor Tomaso. I have been a good business man, I suppose, +for I have prospered; and much of my money has been made in mining. +Yet I have never had the assurance to consider myself a practical +mining man. Dr. Tisco, here, is--" + +"An ignoramus on the subject of mining," declared the secretary, +who appeared just then to wake up. + +"Carlos is modest," laughed Don Luis. "True, he is not a skilled +mining man, yet he knows so much on the subject that, compared +with him, I am an ignoramus. But that is what you are here for, +you two. You are the experts. Investigate, and then instruct +us." + +"Have you any record of the number of times that you have encountered +the blank rock, and the number of feet in thickness of the wall in +each case?" Tom asked. + +"Oh, no." + +"That is unfortunate," said Reade, thoughtfully. "Hereafter we +will keep such a record carefully. Don Luis, I will admit that +I am perplexed and worried over this blank rock problem. I know +Hazelton is, too." + +"Yes, it is very strange," agreed Harry, looking up. Truth to +tell, he had hardly been following the talk at all. Harry Hazelton +was quite content to be caught napping whenever Tom Reade had +his eyes open. + +"Now, I would like to go back to the mine and stay there until +some time in the night," Tom proposed. "I would like to take +Hazelton with me. Soon we will arrange it, if necessary, so that +Harry and I shall divide the time at the mine. Whenever, in any +of the tunnels, blank rock is struck, whichever one of us is in +charge will stay by the blank rock blasting, keeping careful record, +until pay ore is struck again." + +"You two young engineers are too infernally methodical," grumbled +Dr. Tisco under his breath." + +"That is a very excellent plan," smiled Montez, amiably. "We will +put some such plan into operation as soon as we are fairly under +way. But not to-day." + +"I would like to start at once," Tom insisted. + +"Not to-day," once more replied Don Luis, though without losing +patience. "Yet, if you are anxious to know how the blank rock is +coming I can telephone the mine and get all the information within +five minutes. That will be an excellent idea. I will do it now, +in fact." + +Crossing the room, Don Luis rang and called for the mine. + +"Our young engineers are very sharp--especially Senor Reade," +murmured Dr. Tisco to himself, while the telephone conversation +was going on in Spanish. "Yet I wonder if our young engineer +does not half suspect that Don Luis has no man at the other end +of the wire?" + +Tom did not suspect the telephone trick. In fact, the young chief +engineer had as yet no deep suspicion that Don Luis was a rogue +at heart. + +"The report is excellent," called Don Luis, gayly, as he came +back. "In that tunnel where we saw the blasting done the blank +rock has been penetrated, and the rich ore is coming again." + +"How I'd like to see it!" Tom glowed. + +"Why?" asked Don Luis, quickly. + +"Because I am anxious to know all the secrets, all the indications, +of fine old _El Sombrero_." + +"It _is_ a fine mine, isn't it, Senor Tomaso?" demanded Don Luis, +enthusiastically. + +"From all indications it ought to be," Reade answered. "Yet it's +a new formation of rock to me--this sandwich formation as I might +call it, with the alternate layers of rich ore and blank stuff." + +"I have been drawing up a report on the mine," murmured Montez, +opening a drawer in his desk. "This report describes the operations +and the profits so far. Glance through it with me." + +The report had been written in English, by either Dr. Tisco or +his employer. + +Tom and Harry listened carefully to the reading. + +"But why do you put so much enthusiasm into the report, Don Luis, +when the mine is not for sale and is not to be run as a stock +company property?" + +"Of course, _El Sombrero_ is my sole property, and of course I +shall keep it so," smiled the Mexican. "But I like, even in a +report to myself, for my own use, to have the report set forth +all the truths concerning the mine." + +"That is reasonable," Tom agreed. + +"Now, Senor Tomaso, as you have seen, this report is couched in +my own English. I would be glad if you would write this out for +me, putting it into better English." + +"It would seem like presumption in me to think that I could put +it into better English," Reade protested. + +"Nevertheless, to please me, will you put this report into your +own English?" requested Don Luis. + +"With all the pleasure in the world," Tom assented. + +"Here are writing materials, then." + +"But I see that you have a typewriting machine over in the corner," +suggested the young chief engineer. "I can write the report much +better and more rapidly on the machine." + +"Ah!" breathed the Mexican, looking highly pleased. "If you will +but do that! We will go outside so as not to disturb you." + +The report, being a long one and containing several tables of +figures, Reade was occupied nearly three hours. During this time +Don Luis conducted Harry over the estate, pointing out many things +of interest. At last Tom, with a slight backache from bending +so long over the machine, leaned back and carefully read what +he had written. + +"Do you wish anything, _caballero_?" inquired Nicolas, appearing +as though from hiding. + +"You might be good enough to tell Don Luis that I have finished, +and that I await his pleasure." + +Nicolas disappeared. Five minutes later Montez, his secretary +and Hazelton came in. Tom read through his typewritten draft +of the report. + +"Excellent! gr-r-r-rand! glorious!" breathed Don Luis. "Ah, +you are a master of English, Senor Tomaso. Myself, I understand +Spanish better. And now one stroke of the pen for each of you," +added the _hidalgo_, crossing the room to his desk. "As my new +engineers you shall both sign this report, and I shall have much +pleasure from reading this, many times, when I am an old man." + +Don Luis dipped a pen in ink, then held it up. Harry was about +to take the pen when Tom Reade drawled: + +"It wouldn't be quite right for us to sign this report, Don Luis." + +"Why not?" queried the Mexican, wheeling like a flash. + +"Just for the simple reason," Reade answered, "that to sign the +report would be to state all the facts contained in the report +as being of our personal observation. We haven't seen enough +of the mine, as yet, for it to be right for us to sign the report. +An engineer's signature to a report is his statement--ON HONOR--that +he personally knows such report to be true. So I am very certain +you will understand that it would be a breach of honor for us to +sign this document." + +"Ah! He is clever--and now the real trouble must begin!" Dr. +Tisco told himself. "These engineers are not easily duped, but +in Don Luis's hands they will destroy themselves!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +WATCHING THE MIDNIGHT LIGHTS + + +Don Luis Montez laid down the pen. Outwardly he was as amiable as +ever; certainly he was all smiles. + +"A thousand pardons, _caballeros_!" he murmured. "Of course, you +are quite right. It had not occurred to me in that light before. +True, the report was intended only for my own pleasure in later +years, but that does not alter the nice point of honor." + +Tom Reade was deceived by Don Luis's manner. He did not suspect +that, at this very instant, the Mexican was consumed with demoniacal +rage. + +"I shall not be patient another time," muttered Don Luis, between +his teeth and under his breath. Yet aloud he said: + +"We have had too much of business to-day. We are tiring ourselves. +Until dinner time let us go outside and be gentlemen. Business +for to-morrow or next week. And my dear daughter. Brute! I +have been forgetting her." + +Senorita Francesca, a darkly beautiful girl of eighteen, shy and +retiring from the convent schooling that had ended but lately, +soon came downstairs at her father's summons. Dr. Tisco bowed +low before the charming girl. Tom and Harry were presented, and +tried to make themselves agreeable to the young Mexican girl. +Senorita Francesca's shyness, however, made this somewhat difficult, +so the young engineers felt inwardly grateful when Dr. Tisco strolled +down the porch with her. + +Dinner proved to be a somewhat formal affair. Yet, as soon as +the meal was finished Senorita Francesca was escorted from the +dining room by her father and returned to her room. + +"What did you think of the young lady, Tom?" Harry asked his +chum when he could do so privately. + +"A fine-looking girl," Reade answered briefly. "But I fear she +would be highly offended if she knew that, all through dinner, +my every thought was on the mine and the problems that we shall +find there." + +"I want to talk with you about that mine, and about some impressions +that I have formed here," murmured Hazelton. + +"Then another time, my dear fellow, for here comes Don Luis, and +I see Dr. Tisco returning from the garden." + +That forestalled conversation for the time being. When the young +engineers, still relentlessly attended by Nicolas, sought their +own rooms Hazelton was so drowsy that he undressed hurriedly and +dropped into bed. + +Later in the night Harry sat up suddenly in the dark. Some one +was moving in the parlor that separated the two bedrooms. An +instant after awakening Harry slipped off the bed, then stole +toward the next room. + +In the darkness he made out a moving figure. Like a panther Harry +sprang, landing on the all but invisible figure. + +"Now, I've got you!" Hazelton hissed, wrapping his arms around +the prowler. + +"And small credit to you," drawled Tom's dry voice. "Hist!" + +"What's up?" demanded Hazelton, dropping his voice to a whisper. + +"You and I are." + +"But what's the matter?" + +"I couldn't sleep," Tom whispered. + +"You--troubled with nerves!" gasped Hazelton. + +"Not just the way you understand it," returned Tom. "But I was +thinking, thinking, and I sat by the window yonder. Come over +there, Harry, but step without noise." + +Wondering what it all meant, Hazelton softly followed his chum +to the open window. + +"Now, look," said Tom, pointing, "and tell me what you see." + +"A moment ago I thought I saw a light twinkling over there among +the hills." + +"Look sixty seconds longer, and you'll see more lights, Harry; +those lights are on the trail that leads from the nearest gold +mines to _El Sombrero_. It is the trail Don Luis pointed out +to us to-day." + +"But what--" + +"Harry, I'm going to get on my clothes and slip over in that direction. +Do you want to go with me?" + +"Yes; but what--" + +"I can tell you better when we're on the way. Come on; dress! We can +easily leave the house without being detected." + +Though Harry had already been through hosts of adventures, he +felt creepy as he dressed with speed and stealth, bent on slipping +unobserved out of their employer's house. But he was used to +following his chum's lead. + +When both were ready, which was very soon, Tom softly opened the +door of their parlor, thrusting one foot out into the broad corridor. +As he did so he kicked against a man lying prostrate on the floor. +It was Nicolas, the Mexican attendant, sleeping across their +threshold that he might be on hand when wanted. + +The man stirred, muttered something almost inaudible, then gradually +began to breathe more deeply. Tom, after waiting, took a step +over the body of Nicolas. Harry closed the door behind them, +then followed. Soon after they stood out on the lawn. + +"I'm glad Nicolas went to sleep again," muttered Tom, in a low +voice. "The fellow would have insisted on following us, and I +wouldn't want him with us to-night, to tell Don Luis everything." + +"But what on earth--" + +"Harry, old fellow, Don Luis is the essence of courtesy. He has +been very polite to us, too. Yet something has aroused a suspicion +in me that Don Luis Montez wishes to use us in some way that we +wouldn't care to be used. So I'm saying little, but my eyes are +going to be open all the time from now on." + +"Oh, Don Luis must be on the square," Hazelton retorted. "What could +he want of us that is crooked?" + +"I don't know, yet," Tom replied, as he led the way rapidly down +the road. "But I'm going to watch, and, if there's anything wrong, +I'm going to get a line on it." + +"_El Sombrero_ is Don Luis's own mine. Surely he hasn't hired +us to fool him about his own property." + +"I don't know what it is that's wrong," Tom admitted. "Nor am +I sure that anything is wrong. But I'm going to do my own watching +and gather some of my own information. See, there are the lights +on that trail beyond, and there are several lights. It looks +like a caravan moving down the trail." + +"A caravan?" Harry repeated. "Of what?" + +"I don't know, Harry. That's what I'm here to-night to find out." + +Brisk, soft walking brought them nearer and nearer to the twinkling +lights along the trail that ran into their own road at a point +lower down. + +"I wish I knew what on earth Tom is thinking about," Harry muttered +to himself. "However, I may as well save my breath just now. If I +hang to him I'm likely to know what it is." + +"We'll reach a hiding place from which we can watch that caravan, +or whatever it is, turn from the hill trail into this road," Tom +whispered, after they had gone somewhat further. + +At this point the main road that ran from. Don Luis's estate +to his mine was decidedly irregular. Many boulders jutted out, +making a frequent change in the course of the road necessary. +It was Tom's intention to gain the nearest ledge of rock of this +sort to the hill trail, and there hide to watch the caravan. + +They had nearly reached this point when out of the darkness a figure +stole softly to meet them. + +"Nicolas!" muttered Tom, in a low voice, all but rubbing his eyes. +"How on earth did you get here?" + +"Am I not commanded to keep with you everywhere, and serve you +in all things?" demanded the servant. "Do not go around that +next point in the road, _caballeros_. If you do, you will run +straight into Pedro Gato, who has other men with him." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DON LUIS'S ENGINEERING PROBLEM + + +"Gato?" whispered Harry. "What is he doing around here?" + +"There is no reason why we should care what he is doing," Tom +returned. "He isn't in the employ of the mine. Come along, Harry." + +But Nicolas seized the young chief engineer by the arm. + +"Beat me, if you will, Senor Americano," pleaded Nicolas. "But +don't encounter Gato. It would be as much as your life is worth." + +"Why? Is Gato on the warpath for us?" Tom questioned. + +"I fear so," Nicolas answered. "Don't let him see you." + +"But I must see him, if the fellow is out for us," muttered Tom. +"Show me where he is." + +"He and three or four men are camped just around there," said +the Mexican servant, pointing. + +"Come along, Harry," Tom whispered. "Go cat-foot." + +Ere the young engineers came in sight around the turn a slight +glow of light against the stones caught their glance. Tom held +a hand behind him as a signal to Hazelton to slow up. Then Reade +peered around a jutting ledge of rock. + +On the ground, around a low camp-fire, were seated four Mexicans. +Two of the number had rifles, that lay on the ground near them. +Behind them, an ugly scowl on his face, sat Gato, his back resting +against a rock. + +"But you will not find your enemies out here to-night, Senor Gato," +softly remarked one of the quartette around the fire. + +"No," admitted Gato, in a growling voice. + +"Then why are we waiting here?" + +"Because it pleases me," snapped the big fellow. "What ails you? +Am I not paying you?" + +"But two of us--and I am one of them--do not like to be seen," +rejoined the speaker at the fire. "The troops hunt us. There +is a price on our heads." + +"Bandits!" muttered Tom Reade, under his breath, as he drew back. +"I have heard that Mexico is overrun with bandits. These gentlemen +are some of the fraternity." + +"Take us up to the house, Gato," urged one of the men at the fire. +"We shall know how to enter and find your friends. Everyone sleeps +there. It will be the safer way." + +"It does not suit me," retorted Gato, sullenly. + +"But why not?" + +"Am I not paying you?" + +"Yes." + +"Then take my orders and do not ask questions." + +At this there were sounds of dissatisfaction from all four of +these bad men. + +"For one thing," Gato explained, "Don Luis would not like it. He +would accuse me of treachery--or worse. I do not want Don Luis's +ill will, you see." + +"But Don Luis will be angry, in any case, if you injure his engineers, +won't he?" asked one of the men. + +"A little, but after a while, Don Luis will not care what I do to +the Americanos," growled Pedro Gato. + +"Humph! That's interesting--if true," whispered Tom Reade. + +"Yet what are we doing here?" insisted one of the men. "Here, +so close to where the troops might pick us up?" + +"You are obeying orders," snarled Gato. + +"But that information is not quite enough to suit us," objected +one of the Mexicans. + +"You might go your own way, then," sneered Gato. "I can find +other men who are not so curious. However, I will say that, when +daylight comes, we will hide not far from here. None of you know +the Americanos by sight. I will point them out to you as they +pass by in the daylight." + +"And then--what?" pressed one of the rough men. "Are we to kill +the Americanos from ambush?" + +"Eh?" gasped Tom Reade, with a start. + +"If you have to," nodded Pedro Gato. "Though, in that case, I shall +call you clumsy. I shall pay you just four times as much if you +bring them to me as prisoners. Remember that. Before I despatch +these infernal Gringos I shall want the fun of tormenting them." + +"Oh, you will eh?" thought Tom, with a slight shudder. + +"I heard, Gato," ventured one of the Mexicans, incautiously, "that +one of the Americanos beat you fearfully--that he threw you down +and stamped on you." + +"It is a lie!" uttered Gato, leaping to his feet, his face distorted +with rage. "It is a lie, I tell you. The man does not live who +can beat me in a fight." + +"I was struck with amazement at the tale," admitted the Mexican +who had brought about this outburst. + +"And well you might be," continued Gato, savagely. "But the Americanos +procured my discharge. And that was humiliation enough." + +"Yet what difference does it make, Gato. As soon as Don Luis +is through with the Americanos he will restore you to your old +position." + +"It is because the Americanos treated me with such contempt," +retorted Pedro. "No man sneers at me and lives." + +"You unhung bandit!" muttered Tom under his breath. "Why don't +you tell your bandit friends that you are angry because of the +trouncing I gave you before a lot of men? But I suppose you hate +to lose caste, even before such ragged specimens as your friends." + +Suddenly one of the men around the fire snatched at his rifle. +Next scattering the embers of the fire, the fellow threw himself +down flat, peering down the road. + +"The troops are coming," he whispered. "I hear their horses." + +"The horses that you hear are mules," laughed Gato, harshly. +"It is the nightly transport of ore down to _El Sombrero_. Just +now Don Luis is having fine ore brought over the hills from another +mine and dumped into _El Sombrero_." + +"Why should he bring ore from another mine to _El Sombrero_?" +asked one of the men, curiously. + +"How should I know?" demanded Gato, shrugging his shoulders and +spitting on the ground. "Why should I concern myself with the +business that belongs to an hidalgo like Don Luis?" + +"It is queer that--" + +"Silence!" hissed Gato. "Do not meddle with the secrets of Don +Luis Montez, or you will be sorry for it." + +Gato's explanation about the mule-train had quieted the fears +of the bandits as to the approach of troops. In some mountainous +parts of Mexico the government's troops are nearly always on the +trail of bandits and the petty warfare is a brisk one. + +"Go to sleep, my friends. There will be nothing to do until day +comes." + +"Then, good Gato, take us somewhere off this road," pleaded one +of the men. "It is too public here to be to our liking." + +"You may go to a quieter place," nodded Gato. "You know where--the +place I showed you this afternoon. As for me, after the mule-train +has left the mine, I must go there. I will join you before daybreak." + +"We'll go now, then," muttered one of the men, rising. + +They were coming up the road in the direction of the young engineers. +There was no time to retreat. Tom glanced swiftly around. Then +he made a sign to Harry. Both young engineers flattened themselves +out behind a pile of stones at the roadside. Their biding-place +was far from being a safe one. But four drowsy bandits plodded +by without espying the eavesdroppers. As for Nicolas, he had +vanished like the mist before the sun. + +"Ha-ho-hum!" yawned Pedro Gato, audibly. + +Tom raised his head, studying their immediate surroundings. He +soon fancied he saw a safe way of slipping off to the southward +and finding the road again below where Gato stood. + +Signing to Hazelton, Reade rose softly and started off. Two or +three minutes later the young engineers were a hundred yards away +from Gato, though in a rock-littered field where a single incautious +step might betray them. + +"Come on, now," whispered Tom. "Toward the mine." + +"And run into Gato?" grimaced Harry. "Great!" + +"If we meet him we ought to get away with him between us," Tom +retorted. "One of us did him up this morning." + +"Go ahead, Tom!" + +Reade led the way in the darkness. They skirted the road, though +keeping a sharp lookout. + +"There are the lights of the mule-train ahead," whispered Tom. +"Now, we're close enough to see things, for there is _El Sombrero_ +just ahead." + +"What's the game, anyway?" whispered Harry. + +"Surely you guess," protested Tom. + +"Why, it seems that Don Luis is having ore from another mine brought +down in the dead of the night." + +"Yes, and a lot of it," Tom went on. "Did you notice how much +rich ore there was in each tunnel to-day? And did you notice, +too, that when blasts were made with us looking on, no ore worthy +of the name was dug loose? Don Luis has been spending a lot of +money for ore with which to salt his own mine!" + +"Salting" a mine consists of putting the gold into a mine to be +removed. Such salting gives a worthless mine the appearance of being +a very rich one. + +"But why should Don Luis want to salt his own mine?" muttered +Harry. + +"So that he can sell it, of course!" + +"But he doesn't want to sell." + +"He says he doesn't," Tom retorted, with scorn. "This afternoon, +you remember, he got me to copy a report in English about his +mine and then he wanted us to sign the report as engineers. Doesn't +that look as though he wanted to sell? Harry, Don Luis has buyers +in sight for his mine, and he'll sell it for a big profit provided +he can impose on the buyers!" + +"What does he want us for, then? He spoke of engineering problems." + +"Don Luis's engineering problem," uttered Tom Reade, with deep +scorn, "is simply to find two clean and honest engineers who'll +sign a lying report and enable him to swindle some man or group +of men out of a fortune." + +"Then Don Luis is a swindler, and we'll throw up the job," returned +Harry Hazelton, vehemently. "We'll quit." + +"We won't help him swindle any one," Tom rejoined. "We won't +quit just yet, but we'll stick just long enough to see whether +we can't expose the scoundrel as he deserves! Harry, we'll have +to be crafty, too. We must not let him see, too soon, that we +are aware of his trickery." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +DANGLING THE GOLDEN BAIT + + +Creeping closer to the mine, Tom and Harry saw the ore dumped +from a train of forty mules. They also heard the fellow in charge +of the train say that he would be back with two more loads that +night. + +"We don't need to wait to see the rest of the ore brought," Tom +whispered to his chum. "We know enough now." + +"Look over there," urged Hazelton. "There goes the rest of the +trick. Men are shoveling the borrowed ore into the ore hoists." + +"Of course," nodded Tom, disgustedly. "The ore is going below, +to be piled in the tunnels. It will be 'salted' there all right +for us to inspect in the morning. Oh, this trickery makes me +sick!" + +"What are you going to do now?" Hazelton asked. + +"We may as well go back to the house and get some sleep." + +"I'm strong for getting out of here in the morning," Harry muttered. + +"Fine!" Tom agreed. "So am I. But what I want to do is to find +out who is marked out for the victim of this gigantic swindle. +I want to put the victim wise. I'd be wild if I failed to find +Don Luis's intended dupe and tell him just what he's in for." + +"Do you imagine that Montez will ever allow us to get face to face +with the man who's to be fleeced?" + +"He won't do it intentionally, Harry. But we may have a way of +locating the victim in time to save him from being robbed." + +"Anyway, I should think the victim would have every chance in +the world to sue and get his money back," Harry mused. + +"How is one to get back the money that he has put into a gold +mine?" Tom demanded. "Everyone knows that the most honest mine +is a gamble. It may stop turning out paying ore at any hour. +Besides, what show would a stranger have in the courts in this +part of Mexico? You have heard Don Luis boast that he practically +owns the governor of Bonista. No, sir! The only way to stop +a swindle will be to stop it before it takes place." + +Tom rose from his hiding place, back in the dark away from the +lights at the mine shaft. He nudged his chum, then started to +creep away. Presently they rose and moved forward on foot. Ere +long they had left the mine well behind. + +"I hate to go back into that polished robber's house at all," +Harry muttered. "Tom, what do you say? We can cover at least +the first dozen miles between now and daylight. Let's make a +streak for the railway and get back to the States." + +"But what about saving the victim of the intended swindle?" objected +Reade. + +"We could come out with a newspaper exposure that would stop any +American from buying the mine, or putting any money into it," +proposed Hazelton. + +"We might, only no newspaper would print such stuff. It would +be libelous, and subject the newspaper editor to the risk of having +to go to jail." + +"All I know," sighed Harry, "is that I want, as speedily as possible, +to put as much distance as possible between us and Don Luis's home." + +"We'll go out through the front door, though, when we go," Tom +proposed. "We won't sneak." + +They did not encounter Gato on the way back to the big, white +house. Though they did not know it, the boys were being trailed +by the alert, barefooted Nicolas. Nor did that servant feel easy +until he had seen them softly enter the house. Then Nicolas, +as before, stretched himself on the floor before the door of the +rooms occupied by the young engineers. + +Tom's alarm clock woke him that morning. In another moment Reade +was vigorously shaking Hazelton. + +"Now don't give a sign to-day," Tom whispered to his friend. +"If Don Luis is going to be crafty, we shall have to fight him +with craft--at the outset, anyway." + +"I hate to eat the old scoundrel's food," muttered Harry. + +"So do I, but it can't be helped for the present. We're not guilty +of a breach of hospitality in planning to show the rascal up. +It is Don Luis who is guilty in that direction. He is planning +to use his guests as puppets in a dishonest game. Keep up your +nerve, Harry, and don't let your face, your manner, or anything +give you away." + +Nicolas knocked as soon as he heard the boys stirring. He moved +with speed this morning, spreading the table and then rushing away +for chocolate, _frijoles_ and _tortillas_. + +As soon as the boys had finished their breakfast they hastened +out to the porch, but they found their host ahead of them. More, +Don Luis wore field clothing and high-topped, laced walking boots. + +"Going afield, sir?" Tom inquired, genially. + +"I have been afield, already," replied Montez, bowing and smiling. +"Down to the mine I have been and back. The air is beautiful +here in the early morning, and I enjoyed the walk. You, too, +will enjoy our walks when you become used to them." + +Dr. Tisco came out, bowing most affably to the young Americans. + +"You look as though you had been walking, too," suggested Tom, +noting Tisco's high-topped shoes. + +"I went with Don Luis," replied the secretary. "Oh, by the way, +Senor Hazelton, I believe some of your property has come into +my possession. This is yours, is it not?" + +Tisco held out a fine linen handkerchief, with an embroidered +initial "H" in one corner. Harry was fond of fine linen, and +effected these handkerchiefs. + +"Yes; it's mine, thank you," nodded Harry, accepting the proffered +bit of linen and pocketing it. + +"I found it in a field, just this side of _El Sombrero_," remarked +Tisco, artlessly, turning away. + +Though the secretary did not watch Hazelton's face, Don Luis did, +and saw the slight start of surprise and the flush that came to +the young engineer's face. + +"You, too, have been walking then, Senor Hazelton?" inquired Don +Luis, pleasantly, though with an insistence that was not to be +denied. + +Harry didn't know how to lie. He might have dodged the question, +but he was quick enough to see that evasion would make the matter +worse. + +"Tom and I took a stroll last night," he admitted, indifferently. +"How far did we go, Tom?" + +"Who can say?" replied Reade, lightly. "It was so dark, and the +way so unfamiliar that we were glad when we got home, I know." + +"They have been prowling," muttered Don Luis, sharply, under his +breath. "I must have them watched." + +"Are we going to the mine this morning, Don Luis?" Tom asked, +carelessly. + +"Do you care to go, Senor Tomaso?" + +"Why, that's just as you say, sir," Reade rejoined. "Of course, +we would like to get actively engaged at our work. In fact, it +seems to me that Harry and I should rise earlier and be at the +mine at least from eight in the morning until six at night." + +"You would soon tire yourselves out. The mine is a dirty hole." + +"By the way, sir," Reade went on, carelessly, "how far do you +have to send ore to have it smelted." + +"About sixty miles." + +"By mule-train, I suppose." + +"Yes, Senor Tomaso." + +"It must be costly shipping." + +"So it is," sighed Don Luis, "and yet the ore is rich enough to +bear easily the cost of shipping." + +"In what direction is the smelter?" + +Don Luis pointed. + +"Straight ahead, as I am showing you," he added. + +"We saw the lights of a train last night," Tom went on. "I judged +that the mule-train came from the mines above. Yet the mule-train +did not follow the direction that you have just shown me. The +road runs crooked, I take it." + +"Oh, yes," nodded their host, as carelessly as Tom had spoken. + +"Do the other mines pay as well as _El Sombrero_?" + +"Oh, no, Senor Tomaso," Montez replied quickly. "The other mines +yield not anywhere near as rich ore as comes from _El Sombrero_." + +"Are you going to take us to see the other mines?" Tom hinted. + +"Gladly would I do so, Senor Tomaso, only I am not on good terms +with the owners." + +"I'm sorry," Tom sighed. "While we are here I wish that we could +see much of Mexican mines. Nevertheless, when we are through +here I have no doubt that you can give us letters to other mine +owners." + +"Beyond a doubt," smiled Don Luis, "and it will give me great +pleasure. But I, myself own many mines, and I am seeking to locate +more. If you are suited with my employment, and if we agree, +I shall be able, undoubtedly, to keep you both engaged for many +years to come. Indeed, if you display sufficient resourcefulness +in handling mines I do not believe it will be long ere I shall +be able to pay you each fifty thousand dollars a year. I have +plenty of money, and I pay generously when I am pleased and well +served." + +"The scoundrel is fishing for something," thought Tom Reade, swiftly. +"I must not let him beat me in craft." + +So he exclaimed, aloud: + +"Fifty thousand dollars a year, Don Luis? You are jesting!" + +"I beg to assure you that I am not," replied Montez, smiling and +bowing. + +"But fifty thousand a year is princely pay!" cried Reade. + +"Such pay goes, of course, only to the most satisfactory of employes," +declared Don Luis. + +"At such pay," Tom said, "Harry and I ought to be satisfied to +remain in Mexico all our lives." + +"We shall see," nodded Montez. "But the sunlight is growing too +strong for my eyes. Suppose, _caballeros_, that we move into +the office?" + +The others now rose and followed Don Luis. + +"What on earth is Tom driving at?" Harry wondered. "He's stringing +Don Luis, of course, but to what end?" + +Montez stood at the door of his office, indicating that the young +engineers pass in ahead of him. The instant they had done so +Montez turned to his secretary, whispering: + +"Send my daughter here." + +Dr. Tisco vanished, though he soon reappeared and entered the office. + +Don Luis, after indicating seats to the young Americans, crossed +to a ponderous safe, toyed with the combination lock, threw open +the door and then brought out a ledger that he deposited on one +of the flat-top desks. Five minutes later his daughter Francesca +entered the room. + +"Now, what part is the girl to play here?" wondered Tom, instantly. +"If I know anything of human nature she's a sweet and honest +girl. She is no rascal, like her father. Yet he has sent for +her to play some part!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DON LUIS SHOWS HIS CLAWS + + +Senorita Francesca greeted her guests with extreme courtesy. + +"She's a fine young woman," thought Harry, with a guilty feeling. +"Blazes, but it's going to come hard to show her father up as +a scoundrel." + +"_Chiquita_," (pet) called her father, "it has not been the custom +of this country to train our women in the ways of business. But +you are my only child. Every _peso_ (dollar) that I earn and +save is for you one of these days. I have much money, but I crave +more, and it is all for you, _chiquita_. It is my wish to see +you, one of these days, a very queen of wealth, as you are already +a queen of goodness and tenderness. Since you must handle the +great fortune that I am building for you I have concluded to override +the customs of our people for generations. In other words, I +am going to begin to train you, _chiquita_, in business." + +"Business?" murmured the girl. "Ah! That word frightens me--I +am so ignorant." + +"Your first lesson shall not tire or dismay you," promised Don +Luis, gently. "Now, place your chair close beside mine, and look +over this ledger with me. I shall not attempt to make you comprehend +too much at first." + +With pencil and paper beside the ledger, Don Luis read off many +items. Occasionally he did some figuring on the sheet of paper, +as though to make the matters more clear to his daughter. She +made a very pretty picture, trying to follow her father's explanations, +but the perplexed wrinkling of her brow showed how hard it was +for her to do so. + +The figures that Don Luis took from his ledger all tended to show +the immensity of the wealth already produced from _El Sombrero_. +Tom and Harry listened courteously, for they had been invited +to join the group. + +"You are tired, _chiquita_," said her father, at last. "I have +taken you too far on our first excursion into the realm of finance. +This morning we will have no more figures. But here is something +that cannot fail to interest you in parts at least." + +Shoving aside the ledger, Don Luis drew from a drawer a bulky +document. + +"This is the report which Senor Reade prepared for me yesterday," +Montez explained, looking at the young engineers for an instant. +"The report is written in English, as I desired it written so. +But I will read the most interesting parts in Spanish to you, +_chiquita_. You will observe that this report is a masterpiece +of business composition." + +"I am sure that it must be," murmured Francesca, and Tom bowed +his thanks. + +"This report, too, is a part of your fortune," continued Don Luis. +"That is, it will help to make your fortune, for it concerns +_El Sombrero_, one of the finest parts of your fortune. We have +been planning, these _caballeros_ and I, that they shall remain +in my employ indefinitely, and they are to be paid better and +better if they serve you through me and serve us well. I shall +reward them as an hidalgo ever rewards." + +"I do not need to be told that my father is generous when he is +pleased," murmured Francesca. + +"Listen, then, to what Senior Reade has written. It cannot help +but give you much pleasure." + +"The shameless rascal!" Tom exclaimed, inwardly, as the trick +became clear to him. "Don Luis is trading upon our sympathies +for the girl in order to induce us to sign his lying report." + +Don Luis began to read the report, translating into Spanish as +he went along. When he came to tables of tedious figures Montez +skipped over them hurriedly. He dwelt eagerly, however, on the +paragraphs of the report that asserted such vast wealth to exist +in _El Sombrero_. Francesca listened with rising color. Once +in a while she shot a pretty, sidelong glance at Tom to show her +pleasure over the report, the whole authorship of which she plainly +believed to belong to him. + +"Why, it reads like a romance!" the girl cried, clapping her hands +when the reading had finished. + +"A romance? Yes!" ground Tom, under his breath. "It is romance--pure +fiction and absurdly false in every line!" + +"It must be a wonderful talent to possess, senor," said Francesca, +turning to Tom Reade. "A wonderful talent to be able to describe +a matter of business in such eloquent language." + +"It is a rare gift," Tom admitted modestly, though he had a design +in what he was saying. "A rare gift, indeed, and one which I +must not claim. This is your father's report, not mine. He had +written it in English, and all I did was to copy it on the typewriter, +and to make the English stronger at points. So I am not the +author--merely the clerk." + +Don Luis frowned for a fleeting instant. Then his brow cleared, and +one of his charming smiles lighted his face. + +"The report is a superb piece of work, and you must not believe +as much as Senor Tomaso's modesty would lead him to believe, chiquita. +But this is an engineer's report, and, as such, it is not complete +until it is signed. Hand it to Senor Reade, _chiquita_, and ask +him to sign it. Then Senor Hazelton will do the same." + +Francesca accepted the document from her father, turned, and, +with a fascinating smile, handed it to the young chief engineer. + +It was a cleverly contrived bit of business, in which the girl +played a wholly innocent part. Francesca dipped a pen in ink +and offered it to Tom, who accepted it. Surely, he could not +embarrass the girl, nor could he seem to refuse to add to her +fortune by any means within his power. Don Luis had brought about +the climax with great cleverness, for he felt certain of Tom Reade's +gallantry. + +And gallant Tom Reade ever was. Yet he was keen and self-possessed +as well. While he held the pen in his hand be turned to the Mexican +with one of his pleasantest smiles. + +"Don Luis," said the young engineer, "I feel certain that you +did not wholly understand what I said yesterday. What I meant +to make clear was that an engineer's signature to a report is +his written word of honor that every word in the report is true, +to his own knowledge. As I merely transcribed this report from +your own, and have not yet had sufficient opportunity to prove +to myself the value of the mine, I could not in honor sign this +report as yet. As a man of honor you will certainly understand +my position." + +"But you are too particular on a point of honor," insisted Don +Luis Montez, with a shrug of his shoulders. "You do not need +to draw the line so sharply with a man of honor. I assure you +that every word in the report is true. Therefore, will you not +be so good as to sign the report?" + +"I regret that I have not yet succeeded in making an engineer's +point of honor clear," Tom replied, placing the pen back on the +stand. "It will be some weeks, Don Luis, before Hazelton and +I can possibly hope to find ourselves sufficiently well informed +about the mine to sign the report." + +Francesca was by no means stupid. While she did not understand +business matters, she was sufficiently keen to note, from her +father's very insistent manner, and from Tom's equally firm refusal +to sign, that some point of honor was in dispute between the two. +She flushed deeply, glanced wonderingly from one to the other, +and then her gaze fell to the floor. + +"_Chiquita_," said Don Luis, tenderly, "I have been thoughtless, +and have given you too long a lesson in business. Besides, Senor +Reade is not yet ready to serve us in this matter. You may go +to your room, my daughter." + +Without a word Francesca rose and left the room. + +As soon as the door had closed Don Luis broke forth bitterly: + +"You have done well to insult me before my daughter. She understands +only enough to realize that you have doubted my honor, and she +certainly wonders why I permitted you to live longer. Senor Reade, +whether or not your American ideas of courtesy enable you to understand +it, you have grievously insulted me in my own house, and have +intensified that insult by delivering it before my daughter. +There is now but one way in which you can retrieve your conduct." + +Don Luis Montez rose, dipped the pen freshly in ink, and thrust +it into Reade's hand. + +"_Sign that report_!" ordered the Mexican. + +Tom rose to his feet. So did Harry. + +"Don Luis," spoke Reade calmly, though he was inwardly raging. +"I always like to do business like a gentleman. I feel very +certain that I must have made it very clear to you yesterday that +I could not possibly sign any such report at the present time. +I still prefer to keep our talk within the limits of courtesy +if that be also your wish." + +"Sign that report!" + +"_I won't do it!_" + +Tom accompanied his response by tossing the pen across the room. + +"Don Luis, I don't believe that you are a fool," continued the +young chief engineer, calming down again. "If you consider that +I am utterly a fool, either, then you are doing your own intelligence +an injustice. I refuse to sign this report until I have gained +the knowledge for myself that every word in it is true. Further, +I don't believe that I would sign it after I had made the fullest +investigation. I am aware that, last night, mule-trains brought +ore down over the hills from another mine, and that ore was sent +down by the ore hoists into _El Sombrero_." + +"That's a lie!" cried the Mexican, hoarsely. + +"I am describing what I saw with my own eyes," Tom insisted. + +"You will sign this report, and at once!" quivered Don Luis Montez, +a deadly look glittering in his eyes. + +"I am quite satisfied that I shall never sign it," Tom retorted. + +"That goes for me, too," put in Harry, stolidly. + +"I feel that we have finished our work here, since we can do nothing +more for you, Don Luis," Tom went on. "I therefore ask you to +consider our engagement at an end. If you are disinclined to +furnish us with transportation to the railway, then we can travel +there on foot." + +"Do you hear the Gringo, my good Carlos?" laughed Don Luis, derisively. + +"I hear the fellow," indifferently replied Dr. Tisco, from the +other end of the room. + +"Will you furnish us with transportation from here?" Tom inquired. + +"I will not," hissed Montez, allowing his rage to show itself +now at its height. "You Gringo fools! Do you think you can defy +me--that here, on my own estates, you can slap me in the face +and ride away with laughter?" + +"I haven't a desire in the world to slap your face," Tom rejoined, +dryly. "All I wish and mean to do is to get back to my work in +life." + +"Then listen to me, Gringos," said Don Luis Montez, in his coldest +tones. "Your work here is to sign that report. If you do not, +then you shall never leave these mountains! Your lives are in +my hands. If you do not serve me as I have ordered, then I shall +feel obliged--in self-defense--to destroy you!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SPIRIT OF A TRUE ENGINEER + + +"Do you know, Don Luis," drawled Tom, "that you have one fine quality?" + +"What do you mean?" demanded the Mexican. + +"You are very explicit. You are also extremely candid! You don't +leave the other fellow guessing." + +Don Luis Montez frowned. He felt certain that fun was being poked +at him. + +"I am trying to make you young men understand that you must do +exactly what I wish of you," he returned, after a moment. + +"And we have tried to make it plain, sir, that we haven't, any idea +of doing what you want," Tom Reade answered him. + +"You will change your minds," retorted the mine owner. + +"Time will show you that, sir. In the meantime, since we cannot +live here, what do you expect us to do?" + +"I have said nothing about your not living here," uttered Don +Luis, looking astonished. "You are very welcome to all that my +poor house affords." + +"Thank you; but we can't live here, just the same." + +"And why not, _caballeros_?" + +"Because we shall henceforth be on the most wretched sort of terms +with the owner of this house." + +"There is no need of that, _caballeros_. You will, I think, find +me extremely courteous. My house is open to you, and there is +no other place that you can go." + +"Nowhere to go but out," mimicked Harry Hazelton, dryly. + +"You will find yourselves unable to get out of these hills," Don +Luis informed them, politely, though with an evil smile. "You +may decide to leave us, and you may start at any time, but you +will assuredly find yourselves stopped and brought back. You +simply cannot leave me, _caballeros_, until I give my consent. +Remember, no king could rule in these hills more absolutely than +I do. No one may enter or leave this part of the state of Bonista +without my consent." + +"As to that, of course we shall know more later, Don Luis," Tom +returned. "However, we cannot and shall not remain longer as guests +in your house." + +"I trust you will consider well and carefully on that point," +retorted the Mexican. + +"No; we simply can't and won't remain here unless--well, unless--" + +"What are you trying to say, senor?" + +"Then possibly you have overlooked building any dungeons under the +house? Dungeons, I understand, were a part of the housekeeping +scheme in old Mexico." + +"There are no dungeons here," said Don Luis icily. + +"You relieve me, sir. Then the last obstacle is removed to our +departure. We shall go at once. Come on, Harry." + +Tom turned to leave the room, Hazelton at his heels. But Montez, +with an angry exclamation, leaped to the doorway, barring their +exit. + +"_Caballeros_, you shall not leave like this!" + +"No?" Tom inquired. "Harry, our late host wishes us to leave +by the windows." + +"All right," nodded Hazelton, smiling. "I used to be something +of an athlete." + +"You shall not leave me in any such childish spirit," Don Luis +insisted, stubbornly. + +"If you are going to try to reopen the proposition that you made us," +said Reade, "you may as well stop." + +"You will come to your senses presently." + +"We are in full possession of them at present." + +"We shall yet come to a sensible arrangement of the matter," Montez +continued, coaxingly. Indeed, the Mexican had suddenly come to +see that he was absolutely dependent upon the young Americans +if he hoped to sell his mine in the near future. + +"You are wrong, Don Luis," Reade continued. "We can come to no +understanding. Matters have now gone so far that we are no longer +bound by the rules of courtesy. Nor do the laws of hospitality +weigh with us, for you have chosen to bully and threaten us under +your own roof. I will therefore be frank enough to tell you that +we regard you as a mere rogue. Am I right, Harry?" + +"Wholly right," nodded Hazelton. "Don Luis, I cannot see that +you are one whit more honest, or in any sense more of a gentleman, +than any of the outlawed bandits who roam these mountains. Therefore, +as Americans and gentlemen, we find it wholly impossible for us +to remain either your employs or your guests. There can be no +hope whatever that we shall consent to serve you, even in the +most innocent way." + +Don Luis heard them with rising anger, which, however, he kept down +with a fine show of self-control. + +"_Caballeros_, you are young. You have not seen much of the world. +You are mere boys. You have not even, as yet, developed good +manners. Therefore I overlook in you what, in men, might arouse +my anger. Take my advice. Go to your rooms. Think matters over. +When you have cooled we will talk again. No--not a word, now." + +Don Luis stepped aside. Tom bowed, very stiffly, in passing the +Mexican. Harry merely gazed into the Mexican's eyes with a steadiness +and a contempt that made the mine owner wince. + +Straight down the hallway, to their rooms, Tom marched, Harry +following. Barefooted Nicolas sprang forward, bowing, then swinging +open the door. He bowed again as the young engineers stepped +inside. Then Nicolas pulled the door shut. + +"Are you going to stay, Tom, and have any further talk with this +thief?" sputtered Harry, who had held in about as long as was +safe for him. + +"What do you think?" Tom asked, grimly, as he knelt upon his trunk +and tugged at the strap. + +"I reckon I think about the same as you do," rejoined Hazelton, +closing his own trunk and strapping it. + +"One--two _hoist_!" ordered Reade, settling his own trunk upon +his shoulder. + +Harry followed suit. In Indian file they moved across the room. + +"Nicolas," called Tom, "be good enough--the door!" + +The barefooted servant swung the barrier open. + +"Thank you," said Tom, marching out. Then he dumped the trunk, +noiselessly, to the floor. Going into an inner pocket he produced +a five dollar bill. + +"Nicolas," said the young chief engineer, "you have certainly +done all in your power to make us comfortable. I am sorry that +we are not longer to have the comfort of your services. Will +you do me the favor of accepting this as a remembrance? It is +American money, but you can easily get it changed. And now, let +us shake hands." + +Nicolas appeared dazed, both by the money and by Tom's desire to +shake hands with him. The hand that Tom clasped trembled. + +"Same here," murmured Harry, also producing a five-dollar bill. +"Nicolas, you're a Mexican, but I wish they produced more of your +kind on the American side of the Rio Grande." + +"The _caballeros_ have been too generous with me," protested the +poor fellow, in a husky voice. "I have not deserved this. And, +though I have been a stupid servant, you have not once beaten +me with your canes." + +"If you can find the canes you may keep them, then, as a souvenir +of what you didn't get," laughed Reade. "And now, Nicolas, we +must hasten, or we shall lose our trains." + +The Mexican would have said more, but he was too dazed. In his +left hand he held ten dollars in American money, about the same +thing as twenty in Mexican coin. It was more money than he had +ever held of his own before--it was almost a fortune. Surely, +these _Americanos_ must suddenly have taken leave of their senses! +Then, too, Senor Reade had just spoken of missing the train. +Did they not realize that the nearest railway train was seventy +miles away? Assuredly, they must be mad! + +In the meantime Tom and Harry, having once more shouldered their +trunks, kept on down the broad hallway and out on to the porch. +There was no one there to oppose them, though Don Luis was secretly +regarding them through the crack of a nearly closed door. There +was an evil, leering smile on the face of the Mexican mine owner. + +Down the steps, along the drive--it was not a short one, and +then out into the road, Tom continued. His back was beginning +to feel the unaccustomed load on his shoulder. + +"Drop it, pretty soon, Tom," muttered Hazelton, behind him. + +"I believe I will Reade nodded. Reaching the farther side of +the road he dropped one end of the trunk to the ground. Harry +did likewise. + +"Whew!" sputtered Tom. "I'd rather be an engineer, any day, than +a delivery wagon!" + +"Well, we're here," announced Harry. Then inquired, "What are +we going to do now?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A PIECE OF LEAD IN THE AIR + + +"Get your wind back," advised Tom. "Also ease your shoulder a bit." + +"And then?" + +"We'll carry the trunks up the slope and dump them in some depression +in the rock." + +"What's the use of the trunks, anyway?" Harry wanted to know. +"No one else will shelter us in this country. We can't get a +wagon to take our trunks away in. Surely, you don't intend to +shoulder these trunks to the railway station--seventy miles away?" + +"No," Reade admitted. "We'll have to abandon our trunks. All +I wanted to be sure about was to get them out of Don Luis's house. +And now I am just as anxious to get them out of sight of his +porch. As long as the trunks stand here they'll tell Don Luis +of our discomfort. I don't want that thieving rascal to have +the satisfaction even of laughing at our trunks." + +"All right, if that's the way you feel about it," Hazelton grunted. +"I'm ready to shoulder mine." + +"Come along, then," Tom nodded. "Up the slope we go." + +Their climb was a hard one. But at last they halted, dropping +their heavy baggage on a flat surface of rock that was not visible +from the big white house. Then up a little higher the now unencumbered +engineers trod. When they halted they could see far and wide +over this strange country. + +"Now, what?" asked Hazelton. + +"Luncheon, if I had my choice," muttered Tom. "But that's out +of the question, I fear." + +"Unless we can catch a rabbit, or something, with our hands." + +"Harry, I wonder if we can find the trail all the way back to +the railroad. These mountain paths are crooked affairs at best." + +"We know the general direction, and our pocket compasses will serve +us," Hazelton nodded. + +"Don Luis seems to think that he can stop us from getting through +to the railroad." + +"I'm not so sure that he can't, either, Tom. Hang these little +Mexicans. With our hands either one of us could thrash an armful +of these people, but a Mexican with a gun is almost the size of +an American with a gun. Tom, if we only had a brace of revolvers +I believe we could go through to civilization without mishap." + +"We haven't any pistols, so there's no use in talking about them," +Reade retorted. + +"But we would have had revolvers, at least in our baggage, if +you hadn't always been so dead set against carrying them," Harry +complained. + +"I'm just as much set against firearms as ever," Tom answered, +dryly. "Revolvers are made for killing people. Now, why any sane +man should desire to kill any one goes beyond me." + +"Humph! We'll be lucky if we can get out of these mountains without +killing any one," grunted Hazelton. + +"Cheer up!" laughed Tom. "The whole world hasn't turned black just +because we've skipped our luncheon." + +"I wouldn't mind the luncheon," Harry began, "if--" + +He stopped short, as he caught a glimpse of the spot where they +had left their trunks. + +"Tom, let's hustle back to where we left our trunks," he whispered. +"I just saw some one moving about on that spot" + +"Oh, if any thief is after our baggage, let him have it," smiled +Tom. "The stuff all goes to a thief in the end, anyway, for we +know that we can't carry our trunks with us." + +But that didn't suit. Hazelton, who still felt as though he owned +his own trunk. So he started back, soft-footed. Presently they +came in sight of a human being seated on Reade's trunk. + +"Nicolas!" breathed Tom. + +"_Si, senor_," (yes, sir) returned the servant. + +"But what are you doing here?" + +"I am your servant," replied the Mexican, calmly. + +"Wrong; you're Don Luis's servant." + +"But he ordered me to wait on you both unceasingly, senor." + +"We have left Don Luis's house, for good," Tom continued, walking +over to where the barefooted one sat. + +"That may be true, senor; it is true, since you say it, but my +orders have not been changed. Until Don Luis tells me differently +I shall go on serving you." + +"Did Don Luis send you after us, Nicolas?" Reade demanded, wonderingly. + +"No, senor." + +"Did any one at the house send you?" + +"No, senor. I did not need to be sent. I am faithful." + +Nicolas followed this with a smile that showed his white teeth. +He spoke in utter simplicity. + +"And now what can I do for you, _caballeros_?" the Mexican inquired. + +"Nicolas," asked Tom, with sudden inspiration, "is there any store +hereabouts? Any place where food can be purchased?" + +"No, senor; there is a store not far from the shaft entrance of +_El Sombrero_ Mine. That is where the _peons_ of the mine draw +their food, and have it charged against their pay accounts. But +no one may buy there for cash." + +"Is there no place where you can buy food for us?" + +"_Caballeros_, of course, I will not pretend not to understand +that you are on bad terms with Don Luis. Hence, both his storekeeper +and his _peons_ would hesitate to sell food for you or to you. +But I have a relative who works in the mine, and he is a brave +man. I think I can persuade him to sell me food and ask no questions. +In fact, _caballeros_, that is what I will do." + +"It won't get your relative into any trouble, will it, Nicolas?" +Tom asked. + +"I can manage it, senor, so that no trouble will follow." + +"Then take this money and get some food, my good Nicolas, if you +can manage it without getting any one into trouble." + +"It will have to be very plain food, Senor Reade, such as _peons_ +eat," urged Nicolas. + +"Plain food never killed any man yet," Tom laughed. "Well, then, +take this money and serve us at your convenience." + +"I have no need of money," replied the Mexican, shaking his head. +"I am well supplied, _caballeros_." + +Displaying the two banknotes that he had received an hour before, +Nicolas took three steps backward, then vanished. + +"There goes a faithful fellow!" glowed Tom. + +"If he isn't doing this under Don Luis's orders," muttered Hazelton. + +"Harry, I'm ashamed of you," retorted Tom, finding a soft, grass-covered +spot and stretching himself out. He pulled his sombrero forward +over his face and lay as though asleep. Any one, however, who +had tried to creep upon Reade would speedily have discovered that +he was far from drowsy. + +"Humph!" said Harry, after glancing at his chum. "You don't appear +to realize that there's any such thing as danger around us." + +"If there is, I can't keep it away," Tom rejoined. "Harry, this +idle life is getting into my blood, I fear. Now, I know just +how happy a tramp feels." + +"Go ahead and enjoy yourself, then," laughed Hazelton. "For fifteen +minutes at a time you'd make an ideal tramp. Then you'd want to go +to work" + +"I wouldn't mind having a little work to do," Reade admitted. +"Harry, it took nerve to throw up our connection with Don Luis. +At least, that meant some work to do." + +"It did not," Harry contradicted. "Don Luis didn't want us in +his mine at all, and showed us that as plainly as he could. All +the work he wanted out of us was the writing of two signatures. +The need of the signatures was all that ever made him bring us +down from the United States." + +"He'd he such a charming fellow, too, if he only knew a little +bit about being honest," sighed Tom, regretfully. + +"There is one thing about his rascality that I shall never forgive," +growled Hazelton. "That was, dragging his innocent daughter into +the game, just in the hope that her presence would influence us +to sign." + +"I trust, _caballeros_, that you did not find me too slow and +lazy," broke in the soft voice of Nicolas, as that servant stole +back in on them. He was well laden with parcels, at sight of +which Reade sat up with a jerk. + +"Anything in that lot that's all ready to be eaten without fussy +preparation, Nicolas?" the young chief engineer asked eagerly. + +"Oh, _si senor_!" + +"Then lead us to it, boy!" + +The Mexican servant unwrapped a package, revealing and holding +up a tin. + +"Food of your own kind, from your own country, _caballeros_," +the Mexican announced proudly. + +"Canned baked beans," chuckled Harry, after glancing at the label. +"Hurry and get the stuff open." + +Nicolas opened two tins of the beans, then produced a package of +soda biscuits. + +"This will be enough for one meal, _caballeros_?" he asked. + +"Oh, plenty," nodded Tom. + +"And then I have some of our Mexican beans, dried," Nicolas continued. +"They will do when we are not so near a food supply. I have +also a little dish in which to boil them over a fire. Oh, we +shall get along excellently, _caballeros_." + +Shortly the very simple meal was ready and eaten in record time. + +"And here is something else that we shall drink in the morning," +Nicolas announced, presently as he held up a package. "It is +chocolate." + +As Tom and Harry both detested this beverage, they were forced +to feign their enthusiasm. + +"Now, I feel as though we ought to do some walking," Tom declared, +rising and stretching. + +"Walking?" queried Nicolas. "Where?" + +"Over the hills to the nearest telegraph station. There is one +within twenty miles, is there not?" + +"There is, _caballero_," Nicolas assented, gravely, "but it will +be impossible for us to reach it." + +"Impossible? Why?" Reade demanded. + +"On my way back I kept my eyes open," the Mexican explained. +"As a result I discovered who is in these hills about us." + +"Who, then?" Harry asked. + +"Pedro Gato," Nicolas affirmed solemnly. + +"Who?" said Tom. "Oh, Gato? Only he?" + +"Only he and some of his worthless, criminal companions," the +servant went on, solemnly. "Senor Reade, at no greater distance +than this from Don Luis you may be safe from Gato. Yet, if you +stroll but a few miles from here Pedro Gato will not so greatly +fear the hidalgo. Then Gato will work his own will with you." + +"He will, oh?" Tom demanded grimly. + +"Of a surety, senor!" + +"If I should see Pedro Gato first, he would be likely to come in for +another walloping," Tom laughed, dryly. + +"But you would not see him, senor. You would hear him only, and +Gato's message would be a bullet." + +"Can Gato shoot any better than he fights?" smiled Reade. + +Bang! An unseen rifle spoke. Judged by the sound the marksman +was not more than three hundred yards away. + +"Sz-z-z-zz!" the leaden missile sang through the air. It flattened +against a rock in front of which the young chief engineer was +standing. + +"You are answered, _mi caballero_!" cried Nicolas, throwing himself +flat on the earth. "Drop to the earth, senor, before the second +shot is fired!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NICOLAS DOES AN ERRAND + + +Tom did not follow the advice to flatten himself on the ground. +Instead, he stood straighter--even rose on his toes and stared +in the direction whence he judged the shot to have come. + +"Gato, you treacherous scoundrel!" Read roared, in Spanish. "Do +you call yourself a brave man, to fight an unarmed foe like this?" + +All was silent amid the rocks in the distance. + +"Have you too little courage to answer me?" Tom again essayed. +"Or are you man enough to show yourself--to come forward and +listen to me. Don't be afraid. I can't hurt you. I have no +weapon worse than my fists." + +As the young chief engineer spoke in Spanish, Nicolas understood. + +"Don't! Don't, _mi caballero_," implored the Mexican servant +"Don't let him know that you are unarmed. Make a move as though +to draw a pistol, and Gato may run away instead of sighting his +rifle once more at you." + +"Now I know you, Gato, for the wolfish coward that you are," Tom +Reade shouted mockingly. "You are desperately afraid when you +won't meet me, unarmed as I am." + +"If Senor Reade is so utterly brave when he has no weapons," thought +the barefooted servant, "then if he had a gun in his hand he would +be the bravest man in all the world!" + +"I guess that yellow dog isn't going to bark at us again, just +now," laughed Tom, carelessly, when some moments had passed without +another shot. "Doubtless, the fellow was frightened away by the +sound of his own rifle." + +"That shot was a warning," chattered Nicolas. "It is his way +of sending you his defiance. When Gato fires again he will try +in earnest to kill you, and he will keep on firing until he succeeds. +Oh, _mi caballero_, if you will give me some more of your Americano +money, I will hasten about until I find some one who will sell +me a gun for you. You must have one in your hands all the time." + +"Not for mine," smiled Reade. "To tell you the truth, Nicolas, +guns sometimes make me nervous. If I had one I might be clumsy +enough to shoot myself with it." + +"Nicolas is talking sense," interrupted Hazelton, speaking in +English. "Both you and I should be armed." + +"By all means have Nicolas get a gun for you, Harry, if you will," +Reade answered, coolly. "But none for me." + +"I'd like to meet Gato face to face and on equal terms," Harry +went on, dropping back into the Spanish tongue. + +"So would I," agreed his chum. "I have much to say to Gato. +If there were mail boxes in this wild country I'd drop him a letter." + +"Do you really wish to send Gato a letter?" asked Nicolas, eagerly. + +"Why, I'd send him one if I could," nodded Tom. + +"Have you writing materials?" pressed the servant. + +"Yes--but what's the use?" + +"Write your letter, _mi caballero_, and I will hand it to Gato," +urged the Mexican. + +"You?" gasped Tom. + +"Certainly." + +"But how?" + +"I will hand the letter to him in person." + +"You--go to Gato?" + +"Yes. Why not?" + +"Gato would kill you!" + +"Kill a poor _peon_?" smiled Nicolas. "Oh, no; I am not worth +while. I am not a fighting man." + +"Do you mean to tell me," demanded Tom, astonished, "that you +could go openly and safely to Gato?" + +"Assuredly," declared Nicolas, composedly. "Gato would not harm +me. I am one of his own people, a Mexican, and have not the courage +to fight. So he would only disgrace himself in the eyes of his +countrymen if he tried to do me harm." + +"Is that the truth?" Reade persisted. + +"Certainly, Senor Reade. If there were a priest here I would +swear to it as the truth." + +"And you have the courage to try to hand a note to Gato?" + +"Under the circumstances it does not require courage, since I +am safe," replied Nicolas, steadily and easily. + +"Hanged if I don't think I will write a note to Pedro Gato!" chuckled +Tom. + +"Do so, _mi caballero_; at your convenience." + +Tom tore a page out of a notebook, and with his fountain pen wrote +the following note in Spanish: + +"Pedro Gato: If you had half the courage of a rabbit you would +not go skulking through the hills, shooting at me without giving +me any chance to tell you or show you what I think of you. A +shot has just struck near my head, yet no glimpse was to be had +of the man who fired the shot. If you did that, then you are +a coward of a low, mean type. If you do not feel like accepting +my opinion of you, then will you meet me and explain your conduct +as one real man talks with another? If you will not give me this +explanation, and persist in trying to shoot at me, then I warn +you that I will and must pummel you with my fists if I ever have +the pleasure of meeting you face to face." + +"Thomas Reade." + +Harry glanced through the note and smiled. "That ought to scare +the bold, bad man," said he. + +"Read this, Nicolas, and see if you think the note will shame +the scoundrel," laughed Tom. + +"Pardon, _mi caballero_," objected Nicolas, "but I am no scholar. +I do not know how to read or write." + +"Oh!" said Tom simply. "Then let me read it to you." + +Tom repeated what he had written, then asking: + +"Do you think, Nicolas, that it will be safe for you to take this +to Pedro Gato?" + +"Assuredly, senor." + +"And you are sure you can find the scoundrel?" + +"I think so, though it may take considerable time." + +Nicolas took the note, holding it tight in his left hand. He +was visible for a few steps, after which he dodged down behind +a rock and was seen no more. + +Moving stealthily over the hillsides, Nicolas spent a full hour +in obtaining the first glimpse of Gato. That worthy was seated +on the ground, smoking and chatting in low tones with his +desperate-looking companions. Suddenly Pedro caught sight of the +servant and started up. He beckoned, and Nicolas approached. + +"You have come to serve us," said Gato, delightedly. "You are +a good youth, and I shall reward you handsomely some day. You +are ready to tell us how we can trap the two Gringos. How many +weapons have they, and of what kind?" + +"Truly, I do not know, Senor Gato," Nicolas answered. + +"That taller Gringo taunted me with the claim that he was not +armed at all," grinned Gato, ferociously. "But I am too old a +man to be caught by any such lie as that. He was trying to lead +us on, that we might walk into their Gringo trap. Was he not?" + +"Truly I do not know," Nicolas repeated. + +"Then what are you doing here, if you bring us no news?" snarled +Gato, whereat Nicolas began to tremble. + +"I--I bring a letter from his excellency, _el caballero_, Reade," +faltered the servant. + +"A letter?" cried Gato, hoarsely. "Why did you not say so before." + +"I have been waiting, Senor Gato, until you gave me time to speak," +protested the messenger. + +"Hand me the letter," ordered Gato, stretching forth his hand. + +Nicolas handed over the page torn from Tom's notebook. Gato slowly +puzzled his way through the note, his anger rising with every +word. + +"The insolent Gringo!" he cried. "He insults my courage! This +from one who is a mere Gringo--the most cowardly race of people +on the earth. Oh, I shall exact revenge for this insolence. +And you, Nicolas, had the impudence to come here with such an +insult." + +"I assure you, Senor Gato, I was but the unfortunate messenger." +Nicolas replied, meekly. + +"Since you brought this insolence to me you shall take back my +message. Tell the dogs of Gringos that I laugh at them. Tell +the Gringo, Reade, that, in these hills, I shall do as I please. +That I shall let him pass safely, if I am so minded, or that +I shall shoot at him whenever I choose. Assure him that I regard +his life as being my property. Begone, you rascal!" + +Nor did Nicolas linger. From the outset he had been badly scared, +though he had been truthful in assuring Tom Reade that a bandit +would hardly hurt a poor _peon_. + +When Nicolas at last reached the young engineers he delivered +the message that Pedro Gato had regarded the whole matter as +insolence, and had been very angry. + +"Gato added," continued Nicolas, "that he would shoot at you when +and where he pleased. And he will do it. He is a ferocious fellow." + +"Humph!" muttered Tom. "If your feet don't mind, my good Nicolas, +I have a good mind to send Gato another and much shorter note. +Is it far to go!" + +"N-not very far," said Nicolas, though he began to quake. + +"Of course, I shall pay you well for this and all the other trouble +you are taking on my account," Tom continued, gently. + +"I am finely paid by being allowed to serve you at all, Senor +Reade," Nicolas protested. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PINING FOR THE GOOD OLD U.S. + + +"You will have to be very careful that Gato does not get another +chance to shoot at you, _mi caballero_," Nicolas went on. "He +does not believe that you are unarmed, or he would speedily settle +with you. But he will shoot at you frequently, from ambush, if +you give him the chance." + +"Then I hope he'll do it frequently," grimaced Reade. "The need +of frequent shooting indicates bad marksmanship." + +"Senor," begged Nicolas, "I would not joke about Gato. He means +to kill you, or worse." + +"Worse?" queried Tom, raising his eyebrows. "How could that be?" + +The Mexican servant made a gesture of horror. + +"It is worse when our Mexican bandits torture a man," he replied, +his voice shaking. "They are fiends--those of our Mexicans who +have bad hearts." + +"Then you believe that Gato plans something diabolical, just because +I walloped him in a fair fight--or in a fight where the odds +were against me?" + +"It matters not as to the merits of the fight," Nicolas went on. +"Gato will never be satisfied until he has hurt you worse than +you hurt him." + +"And perhaps Don Luis may be behind the rascal, urging him on +and offering to protect him from the law? What do you think about +that, Nicolas?" + +"I cannot say," Nicolas responded, with a slight shrug. "I am +Don Luis's servant." + +"Pardon my forgetting that," begged Harry. "I should not have +spoken as I did." + +"For more than one reason," Tom muttered, "we shall do well to +get out of this unfriendly stretch of country. Harry, we're pining +for the good old U.S., aren't we?" + +"Just a glimpse of the American side of the border--that's all +we want," laughed Hazelton. + +"And, if we're to be killed, we'll at least be killed while trying +to reach the border," Reade proposed. + +"Do you intend starting now, senor?" asked Nicolas, in a low voice. + +"Not before dark," Tom murmured. + +"Then why do you two not sleep for a while?" begged the servant. +"You will need some strength if you are to travel through these +mountains all night. Sleep! You can trust me to keep awake and +to warn you if danger gets close." + +"Thank you, old fellow; I know we can trust you," Tom replied. +He stretched himself out on the ground, pulling his hat down +over his eyes. Within two minutes he was sound asleep. Not more +than a minute after that Harry, too, was dozing. + +It was still daylight when Tom awoke. He sat up. Harry was sleeping +soundly, and Nicolas was not in sight. + +"Abandoned?" thought Reade. "No; that's hardly likely. Nicolas +rings true. Hiding close to here, undoubtedly, that he may keep +better watch. A call will bring him here." + +Tom rose, to look about. + +"Be cautious, senor," came the whispered advice from an unseen +speaker. "If you expose yourself you may invite a bullet." + +Tom promptly accepted the advice. Going toward the sound of the +voice, he found Nicolas crouched in a trough of rock not far from +where they had lain down. + +"Now, Nicolas, it's your turn," whispered Reade. + +"My turn for what, senor?" + +"Sleep!" + +"I am but a servant, senor. I do not need rest." + +"Nicolas, you go in and lie down near Hazelton, and go to sleep." + +The Mexican grumbled a little, but all his life he had been taught +to obey orders. Within sixty seconds the servant was sound asleep. + +An hour later it began to darken. + +Harry Hazelton awoke with a start, to find Tom with his finger +on his lips. + +"Nicolas is asleep," whispered Reade. "Don't make any noise that +will awaken him. I have no doubt that he would go through with +us and be our guide. But that would put him in bad with Don Luis, +and we have no right to expose the poor fellow to blame. Move +about without noise, and we'll eat some of the stuff that Nicolas +brought us." + +This was done. It was dark by the time that the simple meal had +been finished. Tom drew out another five-dollar bill, which he +pinned to the shirt of the poor Mexican. + +"Now we'll take all the food with us," Tom whispered. "Nicolas +won't need any of it, as he's less than twenty minutes' walk from +a square feed. Come along--on tip-toe." + +Tom led the way through the darkness, not halting until they were +well away from the Mexican. + +"Now, wait a moment, until we get our bearings from the stars," +Tom proposed. "Then we'll make a straight, fast, soft hike to +the telegraph station." + +"Only twenty miles away, over the boulders," murmured Hazelton. + +"This is where our past physical training comes in finely," Tom +rejoined. He looked up at the sky, pointing to and naming several +of the fixed stars. + +"Now, as we know our course, we can hardly, go astray," Reade +suggested. "Ready! Forward march!" + +Tom took the lead in this, as he did in nearly everything else. +For more than an hour the young engineers trudged ahead. When +at last they halted for breath they had covered at least three +miles of their way. + +"Nicolas will feel insulted when he wakes, I'm afraid," suggested +Hazelton. + +"I'm afraid he will. Nicolas may have a copper skin, and be under-sized +and illiterate, but he's one of the old-fashioned, true-to-the-death +kind. But, if he helped guide us out of this wilderness, Don Luis +would probably flay the poor fellow alive afterwards." + +"I wonder if we're going to make the telegraph station by daylight!" +Harry went on. + +"I'm afraid not. But we ought to be there some time during the +forenoon." + +"That will give Don Luis time, perhaps, to wake up to our disappearance +and send men after us," hinted Harry. + +Tom's face grew long at this suggestion. He was well aware that +Don Luis Montez was a man who was both dreaded and obeyed in these +mountains. + +"Oh, well, we'll do all we can for ourselves," Tom proposed. +"We'll keep cheerful about it, too--until the worst happens." + +"I'm rested, Tom. Shall we start along?" + +"Yes; for we're both anxious to get through!" + +Once more Reade took the lead. They trudged another mile, often +without finding the semblance of a trail. Finally, they discovered +what seemed to be a crude road leading in their general direction. + +Ahead boulders loomed up. They were getting into a rough part +of the mountains. + +As Tom plodded around a bend in the road, past a big rock, he +heard a low laugh. + +"Oblige me, senores, by showing me how high you can reach in the +air!" came a mocking voice. + +Tom and Harry had both stepped around into the plain range of +vision of Pedro Gato. + +That scoundrel stood with rifle butt to his shoulder, his glance +running along the barrel. The weapon covered them. + +"Don't forget! Your hands, _caballeros_!" insisted Gato, jubilantly. + +For a brief instant Tom Reade hesitated. He was doing some lightning +calculating as to whether he would be able to spring forward under +the rifle barrel and knock up the weapon. + +But a second glance showed him that he could not hope to do it. +Pedro Gato was completely master of the situation. + +"For the third time--and the last, _caballeros_ your hands! +Up high!" commanded Gato exultantly. + +"Now, stand just so, until I get back of you," ordered Gato. +"Do not attempt any tricks, and do not turn to look back at me. +If you do I shall pull the trigger--once and again. This rifle +shoots fast." + +While talking Gato had placed himself to the rear of his captives, +who, with hands up, remained facing ahead. + +"Do you want us to keep our hands up forever?" demanded Tom Reade, +gruffly. + +"To take them down will be the signal for death," replied Gato +coolly. "Take your hands down, or turn this way, if you deem +it best. Possibly you will prefer to die, for to-night's entertainment +may strike you as being worse than death. The matter is within +your own choice, wholly, _caballeros_. Perhaps on the whole it +would be far better for you to lower your hands and die." + +"Cut out the thrills and the mock-comedy, Gato, and tell us what +else you want us to do," Tom urged, stiffly. + +"Oho! My Gringo wild-cat is much tamer, isn't he?" sneered Gato. +"But he shall be tamer still before the night is over. Now--are +you listening?" + +Harry made no sign, but Tom shrugged his shoulders. + +"Keep your noses pointed the same way. March!" commanded Gato. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +NEXT TO THE TELEGRAPH KEY + + +Tom and Harry started along the trail, side by side. + +Something whizzed through the air. Then something struck the +earth heavily, and there was a slight, quickly repressed groan. + +"Quick, _caballeros_!" + +For the life of him Tom could not help halting and wheeling about. +The next second he uttered a low cry of glee. + +For Pedro Gato lay flat on the ground, Nicolas bending over him. + +"Quick, _caballeros_!" implored Nicolas again. + +"You fine chap," chuckled Reade, bounding back and bending over +Gato, as Nicolas was doing. + +"There was no other way to save you," whispered the servant. +"I had to do it." + +As Nicolas raised his right hand, Reade could not help seeing +that it was stained with blood. + +"See here," gasped Tom, recoiling. "You didn't--you didn't knife +the scoundrel?" + +He had all of an American's disgust of knife-fighting. + +"Oh, no--not I," returned the little Mexican. "I do not use +the knife. I am a servant, not a coward. But I had to throw +a stone. I am thankful, senor, that my aim was good." + +Tom now discovered that blood was coming from a wound in Gato's +head. Moreover, the rascal was beginning to moan. He would soon +recover consciousness. + +"Do you know how to use this, senor?" Nicolas asked, as he passed +over a small coil of stout hempen cord. + +"I think we can fix the fellow," Tom nodded. "Roll him over, +Harry, and hold him. Don't let the scoundrel reach for any other +weapons." + +Gato's rifle lay on the ground. Tom pushed it aside with one +foot as Harry turned the fellow. + +"Get his hands behind him," muttered Tom. "I'll do the tying." + +In a very short space of time Gato's hands had been securely bound +behind him. More cord was tied around his ankles, in such a way +that Gato would be able to take short steps but not run. + +Suddenly Gato groaned and opened his eyes. + +"You'll be more comfortable on your back, old fellow," murmured +Tom. "Wait. I'll turn you." + +Gato stared blankly, at first. Evidently he did not realize the +situation all at once. At last a curse leaped to his lips. + +"Go easy on that bad-talk stuff," Tom urged him. "Gentlemen don't +use such language, and men who travel with us must be gentlemen." + +"You miserable Gringo!" wailed Gato, gnashing his teeth. "You +will always be full of treacherous tricks. Even when I had you +in front of me, and my eyes on you, you managed to knock me down." + +"Oh, no!" laughed Tom. "The credit for this stunt belongs to +good little Nicolas!" + +The servant uttered a protesting cry, but too late. Tom had spoken +indiscreetly. + +"Nicolas! You? You little mountain rat of a _peon_!" growled +Gato. "Excellent! I am glad I know, for I shall destroy you." + +Nicolas cowered and shivered before the baleful glare in the larger +Mexican's eyes. But Tom took a savage grip of one of Gato's shoulders, +digging in with his pressure until he made the scoundrel wince. + +"You'd better go slow with that talk, Gato," Tom warned him. +"If you don't we'll turn you over to Nicolas to do with as he +pleases." + +"All right," sneered Gato, not a whit dismayed. "He would dare +to do nothing to me. He would be too afraid of the vengeance that +he well knows stalks in these hills." + +"It is all too true," shuddered Nicolas. + +"Come, brace up, Nicolas, and be a man," Tom urged, slapping the +servant cordially on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid of any man. +Let Gato threaten you if he wants to. Nothing has happened to +you yet, and he who is afraid is the only man that suffers. Come, +Gato, you will have to get up on your feet. We can't let you +delay us." + +"I shall not stir a step," declared the fellow, grimly. + +"Oh, yes, you will." + +"Not if you kill me for refusing. If you wish to take me anywhere, +Gringos, you will have to carry me every step of the way." + +"We won't carry you, either," Tom continued, coolly. "Gato, a +few moments ago, you had the whip-hand. Now, we're carrying the +whip. We don't want any nonsense. If you carry matters too far +you'll discover that Hazelton and I have had more or less experience +as wild animal trainers. But, first of all, your head. It must +be attended to." + +Tom wiped away the blood, which was now clotting, with his own +handkerchief. + +"Help me to stand him on his feet, Harry," Reade then commanded. + +Between them they dragged the heavy fellow to his feet, but Gato +promptly cast himself down again. + +"We'll haul you up again," Tom went on, patiently. "Don't try +that mulish trick any more, Gato, or I promise you that you'll +regret it." + +No sooner had he been placed on his feet than. Gato once more +threw himself down. As soon as he went down, however, Tom jerked +him to his feet. + +A roar like that of an angry bull escaped the lips of the suffering +Mexican. + +"He is trying to summon his men!" cried Nicolas, snatching up +the rifle. + +No sooner was Gato upright than he threw himself down once more. + +Again he was roughly jerked to a standing position. + +The fourth time that Gato was placed on his feet he stood, though +he was shaking with fury. + +"That's a little better," Tom nodded. "Now, Nicolas, I imagine +you know more than I do about where your countrymen carry their +extra arms. Search this fellow for weapons, and don't overlook +anything." + +No pistol was revealed by the search, but a long, keen-edged knife +was brought to light. + +"No gentleman has any occasion to carry a thing like that," mocked +Reade. Thrusting the blade into a cleft of rock close by, Tom +snapped the blade, rendering the weapon useless. + +"Now, we're ready to go on," announced Tom. "Harry, will you +keep behind our guest of the evening and spur him on if he shows +signs of lagging?" + +"Take this gun, Senor Reade," Nicolas hinted, trying to pass the +weapon to the young chief engineer. + +"I don't want it," returned Tom, shaking his head and making a +gesture of repulsion. "I don't like guns. They always make me +nervous. I'm afraid of accidents, you see." + +"You take the gun, then, Senor Hazelton," begged Nicolas, turning +to the other engineer. + +"Don't you believe it," retorted Harry, gruffly. "I'd lose caste +forever with Tom if I carried firearms. Tom says that nobody +but a coward will carry firearms. You keep the gun yourself." + +"_Muy bien, senor_," (very good, sir) agreed Nicolas, meekly. +"It is better that I should carry the weapon then, for I am truly +worthless. I am but a _peon_." + +"Oh, confound you!" choked Harry. "I didn't mean that. You're +one of the best fellows on earth, Nicolas, for you're a man that +can be trusted. Better unstrap that belt of cartridges from Gato, +too." + +The big Mexican ground his teeth and cursed in helpless rage while +the little servant stripped him of the belt and adjusted it about +his own waist. + +"Now, let's get along," Reade urged. "We've been losing a lot +of valuable time. Besides, we don't know when we'll run into +some of this mountain pirate's choice friends." + +Tom strode on ahead. Nicolas ran to his side, walking with him. +Then came Gato, urged on by Harry Hazelton. + +"See here, you Nicolas," remarked Tom, protestingly, "why on earth +didn't you stay put? We left you behind to-night so that you +wouldn't run into trouble with Don Luis." + +"Don Luis himself told me to wait on your excellencies night and +day, as long as you remained in Bonista," Nicolas affirmed, solemnly. +"Don Luis hasn't yet changed those orders, and so I must remain +with you. But I had flattered myself that just now I was of enough +service to you so that you wouldn't be displeased." + +"Displeased? Not a bit of it," muttered Tom. "But we didn't +want you to get yourself into trouble on our account. Now, you've +gone and written your name in Gato's bad books for certain." + +"I have, senor," the _peon_ admitted. "Gato will take delight +in cutting my throat for me one of these days." + +"Great Scott!" Reade gasped, shivering. "That's cheerful." + +"So that, perhaps, senor," suggested the _peon_, slyly, "you will +be willing to take me with you to your own country. Perhaps there, +also, you will be able to give me work as your servant." + +"Rest assured of one thing, Nicolas. If we can get you safely +over on to the American side of the border we'll look after you +properly." + +"I am very grateful, senor," protested Nicolas, humbly. + +"But we're a long way from the American border as yet," Tom went on. + +"You will get there safely, senor," predicted the _peon_. "You +are a great man, and you know how to do things." + +"Well, for simple faith you're the limit, Nicolas, my boy. For +one thing, though, it strikes me that our getting over the border, +which is some hundreds of miles away, might be hindered if we +have the tough luck to run into any of Gato's armed pals along +this route." + +"You do well to remind me, senor!" cried Nicolas, in a low tone, +but one, nevertheless, which was full of self-reproach. "So much +have I enjoyed my talk with you that I have been forgetting to +look after your safety. Pardon me, senor. I will vanish, but +I shall watch over you with the wide-open eyes of the panther." + +In another instant Nicolas had vanished from the trail. Tom, +however, did not worry. He knew that Nicolas was not far away, +and that the little _peon_ was doubtless as valuable a scout as +their expedition could have. + +"I wish I had asked him to unload that gun, though," Reade muttered +to himself. "He's likely as not to hurt some one else beside +the enemy with a stray bullet or two." + +Three miles further on Tom, Harry and their prisoner halted, for +on the rough road they were now becoming winded. + +"I am near, senores," whispered a familiar voice, though Nicolas +did not show himself over the rocks that concealed him. + +"Yes," sneered Gato, harshly, "you are indeed near--near death, +you silly little fool. Always before you have been safe because +you were not a fighting man. But now you have taken to deeds +of arms, and you shall take your chances whenever you stir in +these mountains. For that matter you will surely be cut down +before the dawn comes." + +"That reminds me," muttered Tom. "We want to be farther from +Don Luis before dawn arrives. Gato, oblige us by rising and joining +in the hike." + +Though Gato snarled, he allowed himself to be hoisted to his feet. +Then, with alert Harry behind him the villain allowed himself +to be ordered along the trail. + +When dawn came Nicolas informed the young engineers that they +were now within about four miles of the nearest telegraph station. +The food that they had brought along was opened; even Gato had +his share. Then Nicolas vanished once more, and the march was +resumed. + +The sun was well up, and beating down hot and fiery when Nicolas, +standing on a jutting ledge of rock, pointed down into the valley +at a little clump of wooden buildings, roofed with corrugated iron. + +"That third house is the telegraph station," said the _peon_. +"You will know it by the wires running in." + +"Shan't we all go down?" asked Harry. + +"I'm afraid it wouldn't be wise," Tom answered. "We can't turn +our prisoner loose. On the other hand, if we took him with us, +roped as he is, it might stir up a lot of questioning and make +some trouble. But Nicolas will know better. What do you say, +my boy?" + +"I say that Senor Reade is right." + +Tom therefore started down into the valley alone. A few half-clad +natives lounged in the street. They stared curiously at this +stalwart-looking, bronzed young Gringo who walked toward them +with alert step. + +Two or three of the children, after the custom of their kind, +called out for money. Tom, smiling pleasantly, drew forth a few +loose American coins that he had with him and scattered them in +the road. Then he hastened on to the telegraph station, a +squalid-looking little one-room shanty. But the place looked good to +Tom, for its wires reached out over the civilized world, and more +especially ran to the dear old United States that he was so anxious +to reach with a few words. + +Tom passed inside, to find a bare-footed, white-clad Mexican soldier +at a telegraph desk. The soldier wore the chevrons of a sergeant. + +"Sergeant, may I send a telegram from here?" Tom inquired in Spanish. + +"Certainly, senor," replied the sergeant, pushing forward a blank. +As this telegraph station was a military station, it was under +the exclusive control of the soldiery. + +Tom picked up the blank and the proffered pencil. He dated the +paper, then wrote the name and address of the manager of his and +Harry's engineering office in the United States. Below this Reade +wrote: + +"Hazelton and I are now endeavoring to reach railway and return +immediately. If not heard from soon, look us up promptly through +Washington." + +"Our man will know, from this, if he doesn't hear from us soon," +Tom reflected, "that there has been foul play, and that he must +turn the matter over to the United States Government at Washington +for some swift work by Uncle Sam on our behalf. Once this message +gets through to the other end, Harry and I won't have to worry +much about being able to get out of Mexico in safety." + +The sergeant read the English words through carefully. + +"Will the senor pardon me for saying," ventured the telegrapher, +"that this message reads much as though yourself and a friend +are trying to escape?" + +The man spoke in English, though with a Spanish accent. + +"What do you mean, Sergeant?" Tom queried, quickly. + +"Why should you need to escape, if you are honest men, engaged +in honest business?" demanded the sergeant, eyeing Reade keenly. + +"Why, it isn't a felony to try to get out of Mexico, is it?" Tom +counter-queried. + +"That depends," said the sergeant. "It depends, for instance, +on why you are leaving." + +"We're leaving because we want to," Tom informed him. + +"You are Senor Reade, are you not?" pressed the sergeant, after +eyeing the telegram once more. "And your friend, who does not +appear here in person, is Senor Hazelton? Unless I am wrong, +then you are the two engineers whom Don Luis Montez engaged. +How do I know that you have any right to leave Mexico? How do +I know that you are not breaking a contract?" + +"Breaking a contract?" Tom retorted, somewhat indignantly. "Sergeant, +we are not contract laborers. We are civil engineers--professional +men." + +"Nevertheless," replied the sergeant, handing back the telegram +into the hands of bewildered. Tom Reade, "I cannot undertake +to send this message until it is endorsed with the written approval +of Don Luis Montez, your employer." + +"Does Don Luis own this side of Mexico, or this wing of the Mexican +Army?" Tom inquired, with biting sarcasm. + +"I cannot send the telegram, senor, except as I have stated." + +Whereupon the sergeant began firmly, though gently, to push Tom +out of the room. Comparing the size and muscular development +of the two, it looked almost humorous to see this effort. But +Tom, who now realized how hopeless his errand was, allowed himself +to be pushed out. Then the door was slammed to and locked behind +him. + +"Nothing doing!" muttered Reade, in chagrin and dismay. "In fact, +much less than nothing! Harry and I will simply have to tramp +fifty miles further and find the railway. Great Scott! I doubt +if the conductor will even let us aboard his train without a pass +signed by Don Luis. Hang the entire state of Bonista!" + +Deep in thought, and well-nigh overwhelmed by the complete realization +of his defeat, Tom stalked moodily back up among the rocks. + +As he turned a sharp, jutting ledge, Tom suddenly recoiled, as +a brisk military voice called: + +"Para! Quien vive!" (Halt! Who goes there?) + +Reade found a Mexican military bayonet pressing against his chest, +behind the bayonet a rifle, and to the immediate rear of the rifle +a ragged, barefooted young soldier, though none the less a genuine +Mexican soldier! + +Further back other soldiers squatted on the ground. In their +centre sat the scowling Gato, handcuffed and therefore plainly +a prisoner. + +Harry and Nicolas were also there--not handcuffed, yet quite +as plainly prisoners. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE JOB OF BEING AN HIDALGO + + +"This must be a part of the army that Don Luis also owns!" flashed +through Reade's mind. + +From behind the group stepped forth a boyish-looking young fellow +at whose side dangled a sword. He was a very young lieutenant. + +"Are these your men?" inquired Tom. + +"Yes," nodded the lieutenant. + +"Why have they stopped me?" Tom demanded, calmly. + +"On suspicion, senor." + +"Suspicion of what?" demanded Reade, his eyes opening wider. +"Is it suspicious for a foreigner to be walking about in Mexico?" + +"I am not here to answer questions, senor," replied the young +officer. "You will be good enough not to resist." + +"I haven't any intention of resisting," Tom retorted. "I know +better than to think that I can thrash the whole Mexican Army +that is behind you." + +"You are as sensible as I had hoped you would be, senor," continued +the lieutenant, with a slight bow. + +"But I wish you would tell us why you are holding us," Tom insisted. + +"I am not obliged to tell you, senor, and I am not certain that +it would be wise of me to do so," the officer answered. "However, +I will say that I found your party with a Mexican citizen as a +prisoner." + +"And you seem to have made a prisoner of the same fellow yourself," +Reade retorted. + +"As an officer of the Mexican Army, senor, that is my privilege," +came the lieutenant's response. "As to your right, however, to +arrest and hold a Mexican citizen, there may be some question. +I shall have to satisfy myself on this point before I can release +you." + +"Why, I'll be wholly frank with you," Tom Reade offered. "This +fellow, Gato, is a rascal whom I had occasion to thrash. In revenge +for the humiliation he has given me to understand that he would +kill me. Last night he held us up at the point of his rifle. +Our servant, Nicolas, threw a stone that bowled Gato over. Then, +for our own safety, we tied him up and brought him with us." + +"Why was it necessary to your safety, senor, since you had the +fellow's rifle and his ammunition? You see, I have gained this +much from your friend." + +"Why was it necessary?" Tom repeated, wonderingly. "Why, Lieutenant, +do you feel that we should have turned a deadly enemy loose?" + +"But you had no right to arrest him, senor." + +"Nor did we arrest him in the sense that you mean, Lieutenant. +All we did was to render Gato helpless and bring him along with +us until we should have passed out of the bit of country in which +he might have been dangerous to our safety." + +"How could he be dangerous when you had his weapon?" the lieutenant +demanded, argumentatively. + +"Why, he had other men out with him. How long would it have taken +Gato to find his men and bring them down upon us--three or four +guns against one?" + +"But did you see his other men at any time in the night?" + +"No," Tom admitted. + +"Senor, you have made a grave mistake in arresting and holding the +man, Gato. You had no right to do so." + +"Why, in our own country," Tom protested, "any one may arrest +a man who is committing a crime. In our own case we very likely +would have lost our lives to bandits if we had not tied Gato and +brought him with us." + +"Had you tied him and left him behind it might have been different," +explained the lieutenant. "But what you did, Senor Reade, was +to make an actual arrest, and this you, as an American, had no +right to do. Therefore, I shall hold you until this matter has +been further inquired into." + +It was a bad plight, and there seemed to be no simple way out +of it. The young chief engineer began to see that, innocently, +and wholly for the purpose of self-protection, he very likely +had infringed upon the kinds of rights that foreigners in Mexico +do not possess. + +"All right, Lieutenant," sighed Tom. "I suppose we shall have +to go along with you. Where are you taking us?" + +"That will have to be decided," said the officer. "Nowhere for +the presents my men are tired and need rest. We will not humiliate +you, Senor Reade, by placing you in irons, but I will ask your +word of honor that you won't attempt to escape from us." + +"I give you that word of honor," said Tom, simply. + +"And I have only to remind you, senor, that, if you make the mistake +of breaking your word, bullets travel fast and several of my men +are sharpshooters." + +"I am an American and a gentleman," Reade returned, with offended +dignity. "My word of honor is not given to be broken." + +"Then you will seat yourself, senor, or stroll about and amuse +yourself within the narrow limits of this small camp." + +Tom stepped over, rested his hand on Harry's shoulder, then dropped +to a seat beside his chum. + +"Can you beat it?" Tom demanded, in ready American slang. + +"It would be hard to, wouldn't it?" Harry asked, smiling sheepishly. + +Pedro Gato turned to regard them with a surly grin. Though handcuffed, +Gato seemed to feel that he was now enjoying his own innings. + +For an hour or more the soldiers continued to rest. All of them, +including the lieutenant, who sat stiffly aloof from his men, +rolling and smoking cigarettes. + +"I see a bully argument against cigarette smoking," whispered +Tom in his chum's ear. + +"What is it?" Harry wanted to know. + +"All of these fellows are smoking cigarettes. I am proud of myself +to feel that I don't belong in their class." + +"A year ago Alf Drew would have felt at home in this cigarette-puffing, +sallow-faced lot, wouldn't be?" grinned Harry. + +"I am glad to say that Alf now knows how measly a cigarette smoker +looks," answered Tom. + +Alf Drew, as readers of the preceding volume will remember, was +a boy addicted to cigarettes, but whom Tom had broken of the stupid +habit. Alf was now employed in the engineering offices of Reade +& Hazelton. + +"There's something coming," announced Reade, presently. "It sounds +like a miniature railroad train." + +"I wish it were a real one, and that we had our baggage aboard," +muttered Harry, with a grimace. + +One of the sentries had gone to intercept the approaching object. +Instead the soldier now permitted the approaching object to roll +into camp. It proved to be Don Luis's big touring car. In the +tonneau sat the mine owner and Dr. Carlos Tisco. + +"What is this, Senor Reade?" cried Don Luis Montez, in pretended +astonishment. "In trouble? Lieutenant, these gentlemen are friends +of mine. May I ask you what this means?" + +Tom was not deceived by this by-play. He snorted mildly while +the young army lieutenant explained why he had detained the engineers. + +"But these gentlemen are friends and employes," Don Luis explained. +"What they tell you about Gato is quite true. Will you oblige +me by releasing these gentlemen, Lieutenant." + +The young officer seemed to hesitate. + +"It's all a part of the comedy," whispered Tom, and Harry nodded. + +"I--I will let these Americanos go, for the present, Don Luis," +suggested the lieutenant, "provided you will take them back to +your estate, and agree to be responsible for them if they are +wanted. + +"Thank you very much, Lieutenant. I will readily undertake that," +agreed Montez, smiling. "Then come, Senores Reade and Hazelton, +and I will interrupt my journey to take you back to safety under +a hospitable roof." + +"I don't know that I wouldn't rather go with the soldiers," Harry +muttered to his chum. + +"No!" murmured Reade. "I've heard too much about these Mexican +prisons to care anything about going to one. I reckon we'd better +go with Don Luis. After we've rid ourselves of military guard, +and have reached the Montez estate, we are at least released from +our word of honor not to attempt an escape. I guess, Harry, we +had better take up with Don Luis's rascally offer." + +"Well, _caballeros_, does it need much discussion to enable you +to accept my kindness?" called Montez, banteringly. + +"Not at all, Don Luis," Tom made answer. "We're going with you--with +the lieutenant's consent." + +The young lieutenant bowed his agreement. Tom and Harry lifted +their hats lightly to the officer, then stepped into the tonneau +of the car. + +"Home," said Don Luis. + +The chauffeur made a quick turn, and the car speedily left the +camp behind. + +"I have often heard, gentlemen, that foreigners have difficulty +in understanding our laws," observed Don Luis. He spoke affably, +but mockery lurked in his tones. "Without realizing it you two +have committed a serious offense against our laws. You have ventured +to arrest a Mexican citizen." + +Nicolas, who sat in front with the chauffeur, sat as stiff and silent +as though he had been a figure of stone. + +"What will be the outcome of this adventure, under the law?" Tom +inquired, dryly. + +"It would need one of our judges to say that," replied Don Luis, +shrugging his shoulders. "However, I may be able to arrange the +matter with the authorities." + +"And, if you can't arrange it--?" + +"Why, then, I dare say, my friends, you will have to be arrested +again. Then you would be taken to one of our prisons until your +trial came off. You might even be held _incommunicado_, which +means that, as prisoners, you would not be allowed to communicate +with the outside world--not even with your American government." + +"And how long would we be held _incommunicado_?" Tom asked. + +Don Luis gave another shrug of his shoulders. + +"You would be held _incommunicado_, Senor Reade, until the judges +were ready to try you." + +"And that might be years off," Tom muttered. + +Don Luis beamed delightedly, while a thin smile curled on Dr. Tisco's +lips. + +"You are beginning, senor, to get some grasp of Mexican law," +laughed Montez. + +"In other words, Don Luis," said Tom, dryly, "it's a game wherein +you can't possibly lose, and we can remain out of prison only as +long as you are gracious enough to will it?" + +"That might be rather a strong way of stating the case," murmured +the Mexican. "However, after your unlawful act of last night, +you undoubtedly are liable to a long confinement in one of our +prisons. But believe me, Senor Reade, you may command me as far +as my humble influence with our government goes!" + +The situation was certainly one to make Tom think hard. He was +certain that Don Luis had engineered the whole situation, even +to urging Gato on to a part in this grin drama. + +"Well, you've got us!" sighed Tom. + +"You will find me your best friend, always," protested Montez. + +"You have us," Tom continued, "but you haven't our signatures +to the report on your mine. That is going to be more difficult." + +"Time heals all breaches between gentlemen who should be friends," +declared Don Luis, quite graciously. + +After that it was a silent party that rode in the touring car. +Though the road back to the estate was worthy of no such name +as road, the big car none the less "ate up the miles." It was +not long before the young engineers caught sight of the big white +house. + +"Come, gentlemen," begged Don Luis, alighting, and turning to +the young engineers with a courtly grace that concealed a world +of mockery. "You will find your rooms ready, and my household +ready to minister to your comfort." + +Tom Reade, as he stepped upon the porch, drew himself up as stiffly +as any American soldier could have done. + +"We've had to come this far with you, Don Luis," admitted the +young engineer, dropping all his former pretense of dry good humor, +"but you can't make us live under your roof unless you go so far +as to have us seized, tied and carried in." + +"I have no intention of being anything but a gracious friend and +host," murmured Montez. + +"Then, while we probably must stay here," Tom resumed, "we'll +leave your place and go to live somewhere in the open near you. +We can accept neither your house nor your food." + +"Very good," answered Montez, meekly, bowing again. "I will only +suggest, _caballeros_, that you do not attempt to go too far from +my house. If you do, the soldiers will surely find you. Then +they will not bring you back to me, and you will learn what +_incommunicado_ means in our Mexican law. _Adios_, _caballeros_!" + +"Am I still the servant of the American gentlemen, Don Luis?" +asked Nicolas, humbly. + +"You may go with them. They will need you, little Nicolas," answered +Don Luis, and watched the three out of sight with smiling eyes. + +Montez could afford to be cheerful. He knew that he had triumphed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +TWO VICTIMS OF ROSY THOUGHTS + + +"There is one thing about it," remarked Reade, as he rose and +stood at the doorway of the tent. "We're not being overworked." + +"Nor are we getting awfully rich, as the weeks go by, either," +smiled Harry. + +"No; but we're puppets in a game that interests me about as much +as any that I ever saw played," Tom smiled back. + +"This game--interests you?" queried Harry, looking astonished. +"That is a new idea to me, Tom. I never knew you to be interested, +before, in any game that wasn't directly connected with some great +ambition." + +"We have a great ambition at present." + +"I'd like to know what it is," grumbled Harry. "It's three weeks +since that scoundrel, Don Luis, brought us back in triumph. We +refused to enter his house as guests, and started to camp in the +open in these two old tents that Nicolas secured for us. In all +these three weeks we haven't done a tap of work. We haven't studied, +or read because we have no books. We sleep, eat, and then sleep +some more. When we get tired of everything else we go out and +trudge over the hills, being careful not to get too far, lest +we run into the guns of Gato and his comrades, for undoubtedly +Gato was turned loose as soon as he was lost to our sight. We +don't do anything like work, and we're not even arranging any +work for the future. Yet you say that you're boosting your ambitions." + +"I am," Tom nodded solemnly. "Harry, isn't it just as great an +ambition to be an honest engineer as it is to be a highly capable +one?" + +"Of course." + +"Don't capitalists usually invest large sums on a favorable report +from engineers?" + +"Often." + +"And, if the engineers were dishonest the capitalists would lose +their money, wouldn't they?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then here's our ambition, and we're working it out--finely, +too," Tom went on, with much warmth. "Don Luis has a scheme to +rob some people of a large sum of money by selling them a worthless +mine in a country where there are several good ones. If he could +get us to help him, to our own dishonor, Don Luis Montez would +succeed in swindling this company of men. Harry, we're just lying +around here, day after day, doing no hard work, but we're blocking +Don Luis's game and saving money for honest men. Don Luis doesn't +care to have us assassinated, for he still hopes to break down +our resistance. He can't bring the capitalists here to meet us +until we do give in, and so the game lags for Don Luis. He can't +bring in other engineers, for they'd meet us and we would post +them. The American engineer must be a serious problem for Don +Luis. He thought he could buy almost any of us. Our conduct +has made him afraid that American engineers can't be bought. +Evidently he must have his report signed by American engineers +of repute, which means that he is trying to sell his worthless +mine to Americans. Harry, we're teaching Don Luis to respect +the honesty of American engineers; we're saving some of our countrymen +from being swindled, probably out of thousands of dollars; we're +proving that the American engineer is honest, and we're discouraging +rascals everywhere from employing us in crooked work. Now, honestly, +isn't all that ambition enough to hold us for a few weeks?" + +"I suppose so," Harry agreed. "But what is the end of all this +to be. Won't Don Luis merely have us assassinated in the end, +if we go on proving stubborn?" + +"He may," Tom answered, pressing his lips grimly. "But, if he +does, he'll pay heavily for his villainy." + +"How?" + +"Every man has to pay for his sins." + +"That's what we were taught in Sunday school," Harry nodded, "and +I've always believed it. Yet here, in these remote mountains +of the state of Bonista, if anywhere, Don Luis would appear to +be safe. If a few of his men crept up here, late some night, +with pistols or knives, and finished us before we had time to +wake up, do you imagine that any one hereabouts would dare to +make any report of the matter? Would our fate ever reach the +outside world?" + +"It would be sure to, in time, I believe," Tom answered, thoughtfully. + +"How?" + +"That I can't tell. But I believe in the invariable triumph of +right, no matter how great the odds against it may seem." + +"Let right triumph, after we're buried," continued Harry, "and +what good would it do us?" + +"None, in any ordinary material sense. Yet good would come to +the world through our fate, even if only in proclaiming, once +more, the sure defeat of all wicked plans in the end." + +Harry said no more, just then. Tom Reade, who ordinarily was +intensely practical, was also the kind of young man who could +perish for an ideal, if need be. Tom went outside, stretching +himself on the grass under a tree. He sighed for a book, but +there was none, so he lay staring off over the valley below. + +Twenty minutes later Harry, after trying vainly to take a nap +on a cot in the tent, followed his chum outside. + +"Odd, isn't it, Tom?" questioned Hazelton. "We're living what +looks like a wholly free life. Nothing to prevent us from tramping +anywhere we please on these hills, and yet we know to a certainty +that we wouldn't be able to get twenty miles from here before +soldiers would have us nabbed, and marching away to a prison from +which, very likely, no one in the outside world would ever hear +of us again." + +"It is queer," agreed Tom, nodding. "Oh, just for one glimpse +of Yankee soil!" + +"Twice," went on Harry, "we've even persuaded Nicolas to bribe +some native to take a letter from us, to be mailed at some distant +point. After two or three days Don Luis, in each instance, has +come here, and, with a smile, has shown us our own intercepted +letter. Yet Nicolas has been honest in the matter, beyond a doubt. +It is equally past question that the native whom Nicolas has +trusted and paid has made an honest attempt to get away and post +our letter; but always the cunning of a Montez overtakes the trusted +messenger." + +"And one can only guess what has happened to the messengers," +Tom said, soberly. "Undoubtedly both of the two poor fellows +are now passing the days _incommunicado_. It makes a fellow a +bit heartsick, doesn't it, chum, to think of the probable fates +of two men who have tried to serve us. And what, in the end, +is to be the fate of poor little Nicolas? Don Luis Montez is +not the sort of man to forgive him his fidelity to us." + +"And where's Nicolas, all this time?" suddenly demanded Harry, +glancing at his watch. "Why, the fellow hasn't been here for +three hours! Where can he be?" + +"_Quien sabe_?" responded Reade, using the common Spanish question, +given with a shrug, which means, "Who knows! Who can guess?" + +"Can Nicolas have fallen into any harm?" asked Hazelton, a new +note of alarm in his voice. "The poor, faithful little fellow! +It gives me a shiver to think of his suffering an injury just +because he serves us so truly." + +"I shall be interested in seeing him get back," Tom nodded thoughtfully. + +"And I'm beginning to have a creepy feeling that he won't come +back!" cried Harry. "He may at this moment be past human aid, +Tom, and that may be but the prelude to our own craftily-planned +destruction." + +Tom Reade sat up, leaning on one elbow, as he regarded his chum with +an odd smile. + +"Harry," Tom uttered, dryly, "we certainly have no excuse for being +blue when we have such rosy thoughts to cheer us up!" + +"Hang Mexico!" grunted Hazelton. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE STRANGER IN THE TENT + + +By and by Tom Reade began to grow decidedly restless. He would +sit up, look and listen, and then lie down again. Then he would +fidget about nervously, all of which was most unusual with him, +for Reade's was one of those strong natures that will endure work +day and night as long as is necessary, and then go in for complete +rest when there is nothing else to do. + +Harry did not observe this, for he had gone back into the tent. +Two sheets of a Mexican newspaper had come wrapped around one +of Nicolas's last food purchases. Hazelton was reading the paper +slowly by way of improving his knowledge of Spanish. + +At last Tom called, in a low voice: + +"Don't worry about me, chum, if you miss me. I'm going to take a +little stroll." + +"All right, Tom." + +Reade did not hurry away. He had to remember that in all probability +he was being watched. So he strolled about as though he had no +particular purpose in mind. Yet, after some minutes, he gained +a point from which he could gaze down the hill-slope toward the +little village of huts in which the mine laborers lived. + +There were a few small children playing about the one street that +ran through the village. A few of the women were out of doors, +also, but none of the men were in sight, for these were toiling +away at the mine. Though _El Sombrero_ had so far shown no ore +that amounted to anything, Don Luis, while waiting to sell his +mine for a fortune, kept his _peons_ working hard in the hope +that they might strike some real ore. + +After Tom had been gazing for three or four minutes his eves suddenly +lighted, for he saw Nicolas come out of one of the huts. + +"I wonder what has kept the little fellow so long," Tom murmured. +But he turned away with an appearance of listlessness, for, if +he were observed, he did not care to have a watcher note his interest +in the servant's coming. + +So Nicolas passed on toward the tents without having observed Reade. + +"I won't get back too soon," Tom decided. "If we are watched +at all it wouldn't do to have me appear too much interested in +the _peon's_ doings." + +Now that his mind was somewhat easier, Tom strolled on once more. +His roundabout path took him along among the rocks that littered +the ground over the principal tunnels of _El Sombrero_. Hundreds +of feet beneath him now toiled some of the _peons_ who lived in +the village of huts yonder. + +Presently Reade increased his speed considerably, deciding that +now it would be safe to return directly to camp. Suddenly he +stopped short, head up, his gaze directed at the tops of three +or four rocks. Some human being had just dodged out of sight +at that point. + +Tom felt a swift though brief chill. Something had made him suspect +that the prowler might be Gato, or one of the latter's companions. + +Instead of running away Tom made for the place of hiding in short +leaps. + +"Hold on there a minute, my friend," Tom called in Spanish. "I +think it may be worth my while to look you over." + +Just as Reade was ready to bound over the rocks a figure rose +as though to meet him. A light leap landed Reade on top of the +stranger, who was borne to earth. + +"Mercy senor!" begged the other. "Do not be rough with me. I +am not strong enough to stand it." + +The man spoke Spanish and was well past middle age, of a very +spare figure, and his face was very thin, although there was a +deep flush on his cheeks. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Tom in Spanish. He touched the +stranger's cheeks, which were hot with fever. + +Then Tom slid off his poor captive and squatted beside him. Reaching +for the man's left wrist and resting two fingers on his pulse, +Tom added, gently: + +"Tell me all about it, senor." + +"There is not much to tell," panted the stranger, weakly, for +Tom's landing on him had jarred him severely. "I am sick, as +you can see." + +"Oh, that isn't much," said Tom, blithely. "With decent care +you will soon he well. It is plain that you are a gentleman--no +_peon_. Yonder, some distance, is a house where I think you are +very likely to be well taken care of. Don Luis Montez--" + +Despite the hectic flush in the cheeks, the stranger's face paled +visibly. Tom, always observant, noted this. + +"Oh, I see," Reade went on, calmly. "You do not like Don Luis +Montez, or you do not care about going to his house." + +The stranger gazed up wistfully at the young engineer's kindly face. + +"Senor," he asked, "you would not betray me?" + +"You mean to Don Luis?" + +A weak nod was the answer. + +"Rest easy on that score, my friend," Tom begged, dryly. "Don Luis +and I are not on the best of terms. I do not like him very +well myself." + +"Will you help to hide me here, and then go away and be silent?" + +"Go away and leave you here?" suggested Reade. + +"Yes, senor. It will be a great favor." + +"It would be murder," Tom retorted. "Man, you're ill and you +need care--nursing. I don't know much about doctoring, but if +you have any reason why you don't want Don Luis to know you're +here, then I'll do the best I can for you here. I have a chum +who'll help me. You have been traveling for some time?" Tom continued, +his glance taking in the stranger's well-worn shoes and trousers. + +"That is true, yes," nodded the stranger. + +"You've been over a rough road, also," Tom continued, "and now +you're ill. Your pulse is a hundred and twenty, and you're breathing +thirty-two times to the minute. You must have a good bed, be +covered comfortably and have plenty of water to drink while we're +getting some medicines for you." + +"You are indeed kind, but I fear," protested the stranger, "that +you will attract attention my way, and then I shall be captured." + +Tom studied the face of the sick man keenly. + +"I wish you would tell me something about yourself," the young +engineer hinted. "It might help me to decide what it is best +to do for you." + +"Senor," begged the stranger, with a start of dread "it would +be a great kindness to me if you would go away and leave me here. +Do not come back--and forget that you have seen me." + +"It can't be done," replied Tom, with gentle positiveness. "It +wouldn't be in American nature to go away and leave a fellow creature +to die of helplessness when a little care and nursing ought to +put that man on his feet again. But I won't argue with you, for +I see the excitement is bringing a deeper flush into your face. +Senor, as you are a gentleman trust another gentleman to serve +you loyally and not betray you. I am going to leave you for a +little while. Will you give me your word to remain here until +I return?" + +"Yes," nodded the other, weakly. + +"I'll wrap this around you," Reade continued, taking off his own +blouse and wrapping it around the thin body of the older man. +"This will help you a little if you are taken with chills. I +shall be back as soon as I can possibly come without attracting +attention. Do not be startled if you hear other footsteps than +my own. I shall bring with me a friend. I would trust in his +hands anything or all that I have in the world. Will you trust +me to serve you, senor?" + +"I shall trust you," promised the other, simply. "In truth, my +young friend, I have many reasons why I could wish to recover of +this illness and be well again." + +Tom slipped away, then rose to his full height, and resumed his +late appearance of lounging along without an object. As he neared +the camp he espied Nicolas, whom he had forgotten. + +"Our little fellow came back, you see," called Harry, as Tom neared +the tents. "What have you been doing?" + +"Loafing," yawned Reade, as he strolled up. When he reached the +cook tent, however, he stepped inside and the Mexican servant +followed him. + +"Senor," Nicolas reported, in a whisper, "I think I succeeded in +my errand." + +"But you do not yet know?" queried Tom. + +"How can I know so soon, senor?" questioned Nicolas. + +"True," nodded Tom. + +Then he stepped outside the tent, remarking: "Our food supply is so +low, Nicolas, that I fear you will have to take the basket and go +after more." + +"It shall be done, senor," promised the servant, and going into +the tent appeared a moment later with a basket. + +Tom handed him some money. + +"I am listening to your orders, senor." + +"Oh, you know as well what food to get as I do," Tom rejoined. +"But," he added, under his voice, "you _must_ get me some--" + +Here Tom added the Spanish names of three or four drugs that he +wanted. + +"I think I shall be able to get the drugs, senor. Some of the +_peons_ must keep them in their houses." + +"You must get them, as I said. Now, make good time. I will await +your return." + +Then Tom drew Harry aside, describing the finding of the fever-stricken +stranger. + +"Who on earth can he be?" wondered Harry, curiously. "And what +can he be doing in this out of the way part of the world?" + +"That's his own secret," retorted Tom, dryly; and the man is bent +on keeping it. There are only two things that we need to know--one +that he is ill, and the other that he is very plainly a gentleman, +who would be incapable of repaying our kindness with any treachery. +What do you say, Harry? Shall we bring him here and look after +him?" + +"That's for you to say, Tom." + +"It's half for you to say, Harry. Half the risk is also yours, +if anything goes wrong." + +"Tom, I feel the same way that you do about it," Harry declared, +his eyes shining brightly. "A fellow creature in distress is +one whom we can't pass by. We can't leave him to die. Such a +thing would haunt me as long as I live. When do you want to go +after him?" + +"Just as soon as it's dark," Reade replied. "That will be within +the hour, for here in the tropics night comes soon after the sun +sets." + +When the time came Tom and Harry left their tent, strolling slowly. +It was very dark and the young engineers listened intently as +they went along. They found their stranger and lifted him from +the ground. He was so slight and frail that he proved no burden +whatever. Apparently without having been seen by any one Reade +and Hazelton bore their man back to camp. + +"Into the cook tent," whispered Reade. "Don Luis, if he should +visit us, is less likely to look there than anywhere else." + +Into the cook tent they bore the stranger, arranging a bed on +the floor, and covering the sick man with such blankets as his +condition appeared to call for. + +"I am back, _caballeros_," announced Nicolas, treading softly +into the tent. "To the praise of Heaven, be it said, I secured +the medicines you told me to get." + +Then Nicolas stopped short, gazing wonderingly at the fever-flushed +face of the stranger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CRAFT--OR SURRENDER? + + +"He's a puzzle," remarked Harry, four days later. + +"Meaning our sick man?" + +"Of course. But he isn't going to be a sick man much longer, +thanks to you, Tom. You were born to be a physician." + +"Don't you believe it," smiled Reade. "The only previous experience +I've had was when I simply had to pull you through out on Indian +Smoke Range last winter. Harry, I was afraid you were a goner, +and I couldn't let you go. But then, just when you were at your +worst I had the best of outside help in pulling you through." + +"You mean you got help after you had pulled me out of all danger," +Hazelton retorted. "And now you've pulled our stranger through. +Or the next thing to it. His fever is gone, and he's mending." + +"Nothing much ailed him, I reckon, but intense anxiety and too +little food. Our man is resting, now, and getting strong." + +"But he's a mystery to me," Harry continued. + +"How so?" + +"I can't make anything out of him." + +"That's right." + +"Do you figure out anything concerning him?" Hazelton inquired. + +"I don't want to. It isn't any of my business. Our unknown guest +is very plainly a gentleman, and that's enough to know about him. +If he hasn't told us anything more then it's because he thinks +his affairs are of more importance to himself than to us." + +"Oh, of course, I didn't mean that I wanted to pry into his affairs," +Harry protested. + +"No; and we won't do it, either, Harry. If our guest should happen +to be missing some morning, without even a note of thanks left +behind, we'll understand what it cost him to slip away without +saying farewell." + +The day before Don Luis had made one of his occasional visits, +but he had not gone into the cook tent. Even had he done so the +mine owner would probably have seen nothing to make him curious. +At the further end of the cook tent lay the stranger, and his +bed had been curtained off by a dark-colored print curtain that +looked as though it might have been placed there to partition +off part of the tent. Don Luis had called merely to chat with +the young engineers, and to use his keen eyes in determining whether +his enforced guests were any nearer to the point of yielding to +his demands upon them. + +Concerning the sick man, Nicolas had remained wholly silent. +He did not offer to go near the sick man, but brought whatever +Tom or Harry had called for. To have the sick man on their hands +had been a rather welcome break for the young engineers, since +it had given them something with which to occupy themselves. + +Just before dark on the fifth day, Tom strolled into the cook +tent, going to the rear and parting the curtain. + +"How do you feel, now?" Reade asked in a whisper. + +"Much stronger, senor," came the grateful answer. "Last night, +when your servant slept, I rose and walked about the tent a little +to find the use of my legs again. To-day, when alone, I did the +same thing. By morning I shall be fit to walk once more. Senor, +do not think me ungrateful if you come into this tent, some morning, +soon, and find my end of it deserted. I shall go, but I shall +never forget you." + +"You will please yourself, sir," Tom answered, simply. "Yet I +beg you not to attempt to leave until you are able to take care +of yourself. We shall not think you ungrateful if it be a long +time before we hear from you again. Another thing, sir. When +you go do not fail to take with you, in your pockets, food enough +to last you for some days." + +"I--I cannot pay for it," hesitated the stranger. "Nor, for +the present, can I offer to pay you back the money you have expended +on my medicines." + +"Now, who said anything about that?" Tom asked, nearly as gruffly +as it was possible for him to speak to a sick man. "Pay for nothing +here, sir, and do not worry about it, either. You do not know +how much pleasure your coming has given us. We needed something +to do needed it with an aching want that would not be stilled. +Looking after you, sir, has been a very welcome treat to us." + +"You have been kinder to me, senores, than any one has been to me in +many years," murmured the stranger, tears starting to his eyes. + +"There, there! Forget it," urged Tom. + +"Good evening, Don Luis!" sounded Harry's voice outside. "Ah, +Dr. Tisco." + +"That's our warning to stop talking," whispered Tom in the stranger's +ear, then rose and slipped outside the curtain. + +"Where is Senor Reade?" inquired Don Luis. + +"Any one calling me?" inquired Tom, looking out of the cook tent. +"Ah, good evening, gentlemen." + +Tom stepped outside, offering his hand. As this was the first +time of late that he had made any such overture to the mine owner, +Montez was quick to grasp the hope that it conveyed. + +"You are not comfortable here, Senor Reade," said Don Luis, looking +about. "I regret it the more when I remember how much room I +have under my poor roof. Why don't you move up there, at once. +There are several apartments any one of which you may have." + +"On the contrary we are very comfortable here," Tom rejoined, +seating himself on the ground. "We have lived the open-air life +so much that we are really happier in a tent than we could be +in any house." + +"I cannot understand why you can feel so about it," murmured the +Mexican stepping to the entrance of the larger tent and glancing +inside. "I will admit, Senor Reade, that you keep a very tidy +house under canvas, and your wants may be extremely simple. But +a house offers comforts that cannot possibly be found in a tent +like this. And the other is still smaller and more cheerless," +he added, crossing into the other tent. + +Don Luis was now within arm's length of the thin curtain, and was +apparently about to push it aside. + +"Won't you come outside," suggested Tom, "and tell me the object +of your call this evening? It is too warm in here." + +"Gladly," smiled the Mexican, letting go of the curtain, which +he had just touched, and wheeling about. + +"Hang the rascal!" muttered Tom, inwardly. "Has he gotten wind +of the fact that we have a stranger here? Does Don Luis know +all about the man? Is he playing on my nerves at this moment?" + +But Montez, with an appearance of being wholly interested in Tom +Reade, went outside with him. Harry placed campstools for the +callers, while the young engineers threw themselves upon the ground. +Don Luis Montez, as usual, was to do the talking, while Dr. Tisco's +purpose in being present was to use his keen, snapping eyes in +covertly studying the faces of the two Americans. + +"I have called to say," declared Don Luis, coming promptly to +the point, "that within three days a party of American visitors +will be here. They come with a view to buying the mine, and I +shall sell it to them at a very handsome profit. Before we can +deal with these Americans it will be absolutely necessary for +me to have that report, signed by you both. Moreover, you must +both give me your word of honor that you will meet the Americans, +and stand back of that report. That you will do all in your power +to make possible the sale of the mine." + +"We've discussed all of that before," said Harry, dryly. + +"And we shall yet require a little more time before we can give a +too definite answer," Tom broke in hastily, to head off his chum. + +"But the time is short, _caballeros_," Don Luis urged, a new light, +however, gleaming in his eyes, for this was the first time that +the young engineers had shown any likelihood of granting his wishes. + +"A great deal can be decided upon in three days, Don Luis," Tom +went on, slowly. "You will have to give us a little more time, +and we will weigh everything carefully." + +"But you believe that you will be ready to meet my views?" Don +Luis demanded, eagerly. + +"I cannot see how our endorsement of your mine can be of any very +great value to you," Tom resumed. "It is hardly likely that any +of these capitalists who are coming have ever heard of us. In +any case, they are quite likely to feel that we are much too young +to be able to form professional opinions of any value." + +"You give me your help in the matter," coaxed Montez, "and I will +attend to the rest. More, _caballeros_; stand by me so well that +I dispose of the mine, and I will promise you twenty thousand +dollars, gold, apiece." + +"That is a lot of money," Reade nodded, thoughtfully. "But there +are other considerations, too." + +"Yes; your liberty and your safety," Montez broke in, quickly, +with a meaning smile. "_Caballeros_, do not for one moment think +that I can be hoodwinked, and that you will be safe as soon as +you meet your fellow Americans. One single flaw in your conduct, +after they arrive, and I assure you that you will be promptly +arrested. That would be the end of you. It is always easy for +government officers to report that prisoners attempted to escape, +and were shot dead because of the attempt. That is exactly what +will happen if you do aught to hinder the sale of this mining +property." + +"Nothing like a clear understanding," smiled Tom, rising, and +once more holding out his hand. "Don Luis, it will be enough +if we give you our answer by the morning of day after to-morrow? +And I will add that I think we shall see our way clear to help +along the sale of this mining property at a high figure. Let +me see; at what value do you hold it?" + +"At two million and a half dollars, Senor Reade." + +"I think we can assure your visitors that they are doing well +enough," Tom nodded. + +"One word more, _caballeros_," said Montez, as he let go of the +young chief engineer's hand. "If you fail us, do not either of +you imagine, for a moment, that you have any further lease of life." + +"I don't believe we shall fail you," Tom assured the Mexican. +"I believe that the visiting Americans will buy. If they don't +it won't be our fault." + +"And now that we are at such an excellent understanding once more, +Senor Reade," proposed the mine owner, "can't we prevail upon +you to come up to the house and spend a pleasant evening." + +"Thank you," Tom returned, graciously. "But not to-night. I +am restless. I must do considerable thinking, and I don't want +to talk much. Action is what I crave. If you see us running +all over your property, don't imagine that we are trying to run +away from here." + +"My property is at your disposal," smiled Don Luis. "I shall +feel assured that you will not go many miles from here." + +The remark covered the fact that Montez had all avenues of escape +so well guarded that the young engineers simply could not escape +by flight. + +Good nights were exchanged, and the visitors, smiling politely, +departed. + +"Now, why on earth did you talk to Don Luis in that fashion?" +Harry demanded, as soon as they were alone. "You know, well +enough, that not even the certainty of immediate death would make +you accede to his rascally wishes." + +"I'm afraid I don't know anything of the sort," Tom drawled. +"On the contrary, we may help Montez sell out to the American +visitors." + +Harry gasped. + +"Tom Reade, are you going crazy?" + +"Not that I've noticed." + +"Then what are you talking about?" + +"Harry, I'm tired, and I think you are." + +"I'm sick and tired with disgust that Don Luis should think he +could use us to bait his money-traps with," Hazelton retorted. + +"Let's turn in and get a good night's rest." + +"Oh, bother!" retorted the junior engineer. "I couldn't sleep. +Tom, I shan't sleep a wink to-night, for dreading that you'll turn +rascal-helper. Tell me that you've been joking with me, Tom!" + +"But I can't truthfully tell you that," Reade insisted. "I am +not joking, and haven't been joking to-night." + +"Then I wish you'd open up and tell me a few things." + +"Wait," begged Tom. "Wait until I'm sure that the few things +will bear telling." + +With that much Harry Hazelton found that he would have to be content. +He allowed himself to be persuaded to turn in. + +Tom Reade was asleep in a few minutes. It was after two in the +morning ere Harry, after racking his brains in vain, fell asleep. + +The next morning it was found that the stranger in the back of the +cook tent had made good his prophecy by vanishing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE HIDALGO PLANS GRATITUDE + + +Soon after an early breakfast Tom and Harry were afield. + +From behind a window in the upper part of his big house, Don Luis, +equipped with a powerful field glass, watched them keenly whenever +they were in sight. + +"What on earth are the Gringos doing?" he wondered, repeatedly. +"Are they just walking about, aimlessly? At times it looks like +it. At other times it doesn't." + +Then Montez sent for Tisco and discussed with him the seeming +mystery of the actions of the young engineers. + +"Don't ask me, Don Luis," begged the secretary. "I am not clever +at guessing riddles. More, I have not pretended to understand +this Gringo pair." + +"Are they, in the end, going to trick me, Carlos?" + +"Who can say?" demanded Dr. Tisco, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"Of course, they both know that it will be but a short cut to +suicide if they attempt to fool you." + +"Their deaths will cause me no anxiety, Carlos, either before +or after the sale," murmured Montez. "In fact, my good Carlos--" + +"Say it," leered Dr. Tisco, as his employer paused. + +"I may as well say it, for you have guessed it, Carlos. Yes, +I will say it. Even if this Gringo pair appear honestly to aid +me in making the sale--and even if I do make the sale and receive +the money--this Gringo pair must die. We know how to arrange +that, eh, my staunch Carlos?" + +Dr. Tisco shrugged his shoulders. + +"Of course, we can put them out of the way, at any time, with +secrecy and dispatch, Don Luis. But what will be the use--provided +they help you to get the American money into your hands? To be +sure, the new buyers will soon find that they have a worthless +mine on their hands, but that may happen with the finest mine. +The new buyers will never be able to prove that you brought all +of your pretty-looking ore from another mine. You can depend +upon the secrecy of the people from whom you have been buying +the baiting ore for _El Sombrero_." + +"Ah, but there is another side to that, Carlos. If Senores Reade +and Hazelton serve us, and then go safely back to the United States, +they can swear that they found and knew _El Sombrero_ to be worthless. +Then their evidence, flanked by the sudden running-out of _El +Sombrero_, will make a case that the new American buyers could +take into court." + +"Let them take it into court," proposed the secretary, contemptuously. +"The governor of Bonista rules the judges of the courts of the +state of Bonista with an iron hand. Rest assured that, if the +Americans were to take their claims into the courts of this state, +the judges would decide for you, and that would be the end of +the matter. And do you believe, Don Luis, that, after Senores +Reade and Hazelton once get alive out of Bonista, any consideration +would tempt them to come back here to testify? They have sampled +your power," + +"Yet why do you object, Carlos, to having the Gringo pair put +out of the way?" + +"I do not care anything about their lives," Tisco declared, coolly. +"It is only on general business principles that it seems to me +unwise to have human lives taken when it is not necessary. He +who resorts too often to the taking of life is sure to meet his +own doom." + +"Not in Bonista," jeered Montez, "and not where Don Luis is concerned +in business matters." + +"As you will, then," sighed the secretary. "You will please your +own self, anyway, Don Luis." + +"Truly, Carlos. And so I have decided that these Gringo engineers +shall perish, anyway, as soon as they have served my purpose." + +This talk had taken place in a cupola. Down the stair, with stealthy +steps, crept a young, horrified, trembling girl. + +Francesca, knowing that her father had gone to the cupola, had +followed him to talk with him. She had halted on hearing voices. +Now, with despair in her eyes, the terrified girl stole away +like one haunted and hunted by evil spirits. + +"My father--an intending murderer! He, of a proud hidalgo family, +a vile assassin, in thought at least?" moaned the girl, wringing +her hands as soon as she had stolen to the privacy of her own rooms. + +"My father's hands--to be covered with human blood!" sobbed Francesca, +sinking down before a crucifix to pray. + +For hours the girl remained in terror-stricken solitude. Then +she rose, somewhat comforted at last, and with the aid of cold +water removed the traces of her tears from her dark, beautiful face. + +Her plan was to seek her father, throw herself at his feet, and +beg him not to disgrace the blood of the hidalgos nor to destroy +his own soul with a hideous crime. + +"I must seek him in private. There must be no others near when +I make my appeal!" thought the girl. + +Just then a servant entered. + +"Your father is in the garden, Senorita Francesca," reported the +woman, "and wonders why you do not join him. It is his wish that +you join him now." + +"Say to my father that his wish is my law," quavered the terrified +girl. + +Five minutes later Francesca went timidly up to her father in +the gardens before the house. + +Don Luis turned to her. He was thinking, at the moment, of his +dark plans regarding the young engineers. In his eyes, despite +his effort to smile on his daughter, was a deadly glitter that +dried up hope in the heart of the daughter. + +"You have been secluding yourself more than usual to-day, _chiquita_," +chided Montez. + +That word _chiquita_, meaning "pet," caused the girl to recoil +inwardly. Could it be that this hard, cruel man had the right +to address her in endearing terms? + +"I am not well to-day, my father," she answered, in a low voice. + +"Then take my arm, _chiquita_, and walk with me," urged Montez. + +"My father," she cried, shrinking back, "if you will indulge me, +I will walk alone. Perhaps, in that way, I shall gain more strength +from the exercise." + +"As you will," smiled Don Luis, coldly. "For myself, I have much +to think of. I have American guests coming soon. I expect that +they will buy _El Sombrero_ for money enough to make you one of +the richest heiresses in all Mexico, _chiquita_." + +"For me? And I do not know how to care for money!" answered the +girl, unsteadily. Then she turned away, swiftly, unable to stand +longer looking into Don Luis's eyes. + +Through the day Tom and Harry had tramped about almost feverishly, +stopping at intervals as though for rest. Now, in the late afternoon, +they were on their way back to camp by a route that took them +not far from Don Luis's grounds. + +As they came within sight of the place, Tom espied Montez and +Dr. Tisco walking slowly at one end of the garden, seemingly engaged +in earnest conversation. At the farther end of the garden from +them, Francesca walked by herself, seeming outwardly composed. + +"It seems strange, doesn't it," asked Harry, "that such a fine +girl can possibly be Don Luis's daughter?" + +"She inherits her mother's purity and goodness, doubtless," Tom +replied. + +"Ouch!" grunted Hazelton, stumbling over a stone with which his +foot had collided. At Harry's exclamation Tom glanced up, then +his eyes met a strange sight. + +Lying in a cleft in the rocks, with his head behind a bush, and +well concealed, lay the stranger whom the young engineers had +nursed through an illness. + +That stranger was intently gazing at the garden of Don Luis. +So absorbed was he that he had either not heard or did not heed +the passing of the two Americans. + +For a brief instant Tom Reade halted, regarding the face of the +absorbed stranger. + +"I didn't have an idea about you, Mr. Stranger," muttered Tom +to himself, as he plodded forward once more. "But now--now, +I'll wager that I've guessed who and what you are. Mr. Stranger, +I believe that this one glance at your face has told me your +story and your purpose in being in these mountains of Bonista!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +TWO REAL SIGNATURES + + +Though they were in Mexico the young engineers found it chilly +that evening, after sundown. + +"Nicolas, can you spare wood enough to start a little campfire?" +Tom asked, as he put on his blouse after supper. + +"Yes," replied the little Mexican. "For what is the use of being +strong if I could not tramp after more wood to-morrow?" + +"We'll pay you well for all your trouble for us, _mi muchacho_" +(my boy) Tom promised. + +"I am rewarded enough in being allowed to serve you, _caballeros_," +Nicolas answered. + +"And the queer part of it is that he means what he says," muttered +Tom, gazing after the departing little _peon_. + +Very shortly a cheerful fire was crackling away. Tom and Harry +brought their campstools and sat down before it. + +"I'll be thankful when we get back to the States," mused Tom. + +"I hope it'll be soon, too," answered Harry, with a wistful glance +toward the north, where, several hundred miles away, lay their +country. + +Nor did either one expect to be many days more away from home. +The young engineers had arrived at a somewhat surprising conclusion. +They had agreed to sign a suitable report and to stand back of +Don Luis in all the claims he might make concerning _El Sombrero_ +Mine. + +Much different would their feelings have been had they known all +that frightened little Francesca had overheard that they were +to be secretly slain, as soon as their usefulness in the swindle +was past. + +Rather late into the night the young engineers sat up, talking +in such low tones that even Nicolas, squatted on the ground beside +a smaller fire, could not hear what they were saying. He would +not have understood, anyway, as the young engineers were talking +in English. + +It was very late when the young engineers turned in that night. +It was eight in the morning when Nicolas aroused them. + +"Is the stranger back in your tent, Nicolas?" Tom inquired, as +soon as his eyes were open. + +"No, senor." + +"Well, I'm not astonished. I didn't really expect him to return." + +Tom and Harry were quickly astir, and ready for breakfast. Nicolas +served them carefully, as always. + +"We're not through much too early, anyway," Tom murmured. "Here +come Don Luis and his artful shadow." + +The touring car stopped, at a little distance from camp. After +the two passengers had alighted the chauffeur drove on two hundred +yards further ere he drew up to wait for them. + +"Good morning," hailed Don Luis, cordially. "I see you are waiting +for us." + +"We have been ready for you since we first rose," Tom answered. + +"Is your answer ready?" Don Luis demanded, eyeing them searchingly. + +"Don Luis," Tom replied, instantly, "the report that you wanted +us to sign for you would hardly answer the purpose with shrewd +American investors. That report goes back too far; it covers +too many points that you might be supposed to know were true, +but which engineers who had been here but a few weeks could hardly +be expected to know at first hand. Do you see the point that +I am raising?" + +Don Luis deliberated for a few moments. + +"I think I do see the point, Senor Reade. You mean that the report +will not do." + +"So," Tom continued, "Hazelton and I don't feel that we ought +to sign that report. However, we will get up and sign for you +a report that will answer in every way, and this new report will +be satisfactory. If you will let your driver take Nicolas up +to the house, Nicolas can bring the typewriting machine from your +office, and some stationery with it. We can set the machine up +on the camp table, and within the next two hours we can agree +upon a satisfactory report, which I will write out on the machine." + +"And you will sign the new report--when?" + +"Just as soon as we have it written out in form that will suit you." + +"You will want the big ledger for facts?" asked Montez. + +"No," smiled Tom; "because the ledger doesn't contain facts anyway. +We can invent just as good statements without any reference to +the ledger." + +Don Luis laughed softly. Then he turned to his secretary. + +"My good Carlos, see that Nicolas knows what he is going after. +Then let him go in the car." + +Nicolas sped away in the automobile. Presently he was back, with +the typewriting machine and an abundance of stationery. + +Tom quickly fitted a sheet of heavy bond paper to the carriage +of the typewriter. + +"Now, let us agree," asked Tom, "on what the report is to contain." + +Slowly at first, then more rapidly, the matter was planned. Tom +winced a bit, as he made up some tables of alleged output of the +mine supposed to have come under his own observation and Harry's. +But he wrote it all down with lead pencil and afterwards copied +it on the machine. + +At the end of three hours the report was finished. Tom read it +all over slowly to Don Luis. As Tom laid down each page Dr. Tisco +picked it up to scan it. + +At last the infamously lying document had been read through and +approved. + +"Let us have the end of it over with quickly," begged Tom, producing +and shaking his fountain pen. He affixed his signature. Hazelton +did the same. + +"So far, good," declared Don Luis, passing the complete, signed +document to Dr. Tisco. "Now, senores, let us have the whole matter +understood. The report is excellent; it could not be better for +the purpose. The American visitors will be delighted with it. +But you are not to play me any tricks of any kind!" + +"Don Luis," promised Tom, earnestly, "we shall stand by that report +first, last and through to the finish. We shall not--by word, +gesture, wink, or by any trick or device--give your coming American +visitors the least warning that the report is not fully as honest +as it appears to be." + +We shall back you firmly and as strongly as we know how, and help +you in any way in our power to put the deal through. Can we promise +you more?" + +"No," said the mine owner. "And, on my part, I promise you that, +if I sell the mine, as I now surely shall do, you shall have twenty +thousand dollars, gold, apiece, and your lives also. Here is +my hand on the pledge of an hidalgo." + +Don Luis shook hands with both American engineers. Even as he +did so a wolfish gleam crept into his eyes. Montez, in his mind's +eye, already saw the two Gringos stretched on the ground in death +in a remoter part of the mountains. That was to be his real reward +to the young dupes of his villainy. + +"When do you expect your purchasers?" Tom Reade inquired. + +"Two days after to-morrow, Senor Reade. But, in the meantime, +now that we are friends and really partners--will you not come +over and share the comforts of my poor home while we wait?" + +"You will pardon us for not accepting, Don Lids," Tom urged. +"We have met your wishes, and shall continue to meet them, but +we feel that we would rather remain where we are--at least, until +your visitors arrive." + +"So be it, then," muttered Don Luis. Yet he appeared slightly +offended by their decision. Since the young engineers had now +proved themselves to be as great rascals as he himself, Don Luis +Montez could not understand why they should refuse to associate +with him. + +"You wish me to leave you alone, now?" asked the mine owner, smiling +rather coldly. + +"Only when you wish to leave us, Don Luis," Tom protested, so +artlessly that the Mexican felt less offended. + +"Sit down and chat with us until you tire of our company," urged +Harry Hazelton. + +So Montez and Tisco dropped into the campstools again. They tried +to chat on various topics, but conversation proved a failure. + +"We will go, now," said Don Luis, rising twenty minutes later. +"But, senores, we shall hope to see you daily until our investors +arrive and then all the time." + +"You will find us always at your command, Don Luis," Tom remarked, +cordially. + +"Ah, my good Carlos," murmured Don Luis, as the Mexican pair sped +homeward in the car, "for once you made a bad guess. You insisted +that the Gringos would hold out and would not serve me. You have +seen my patience and my firmness win over their foolish, stubborn +objections." + +"But they still hope to trick you, my patron," suggested Dr. Tisco. +"Doubtless, now, their intention is to serve you until they can +escape; then they plan to get back to the United States and furnish +the testimony on which the American investors can sue you in the +courts for the return of the purchase money on a charge of fraud." + +"There, again, the Gringos can meet only defeat," chuckled Don +Luis, his lips to his secretary's ears. "As soon as the sale +is made I shall see to it that our pair of young American engineers +are promptly done to death!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FINAL TOUCH OF TRAGEDY + + +On the day announced, at about eleven in the morning, two automobiles +reached Don Luis's home. Besides the mine owner the cars contained +nine other travelers, all Americans. + +These were the investors who were expected to buy _El Sombrero_ +at a price of two and a half million dollars. + +Over at the camp Tom and Harry saw the party arrive. They could +see the travelers being served with refreshments on the veranda. + +"There's the crowd, Harry. And here's a car, coming this way, +undoubtedly for us. Now, we've got to go over there for our first +practice as bunco men." + +Harry Hazelton made an unpleasant grimace. "I feel like a scoundrel +of the worst sort, but it can't be helped," he muttered. + +The car was soon at hand. Tom and Harry were dressed and ready. +Though their clothing suggested the field engineer, they were +none the less dressed with a good deal of care. They entered +the tonneau of the automobile and started on their way to help +put the mine swindle through. + +"Here are my engineers, gentlemen," smiled Don Luis, "and at least +three of your number, I believe, are well acquainted with Messrs. +Reade and Hazelton." + +Tom ascended the steps, feeling rather weak in the knees. Then +the young engineers received one of the severest jolts of their +lives. + +Three of the gentlemen in that group, both young men knew well. +They were President Haynes, General Manager Ellsworth and Director +Hippen of the A.G.& N.M. Railroad. These gentlemen Tom and Harry +had served in railroad work in Arizona, as told in "_The Young +Engineers in Arizona_." + +Now, in a flash, it was plain to both young Americans why Don +Luis had wanted them, especially, to report favorably concerning +_El Sombrero_ Mine. President Haynes and his associates in the +A.G.& N.M. R.R. had every reason in the world to trust the young +engineers, who had served them so faithfully on another occasion. +These gentlemen would believe in anything that Reade and Hazelton +backed with their judgment. + +"You?" cried Tom, with a start, as President Haynes held out his +hand. Then, by a mighty effort, Reade recovered himself and laughed +easily. + +"This is a pleasant surprise, Mr. Haynes! And you, Mr. Ellsworth, +and you, Mr. Hippen." + +"And we're equally surprised to find you here, Reade, and you, +Hazelton," rejoined President Haynes. "But we feel more at home, +already. You know, Reade, we're quite accustomed to looking upon +anything as an assured success when you're connected with it." + +"And, in its way, this mine is the biggest success we've backed +yet," Tom declared readily. + +Don Luis Montez, though he was keenly watchful, was delighted so far. + +"What do you really think of this mine, Reade?" broke in Mr. Ellsworth. +"Is it all that a careful investor would want?" + +"If you're getting what I think you are," Tom answered, "you're +getting a lot more, even, than you might be led to expect. _El +Sombrero_, if it includes the limits that I suppose the tract +does, will be worth a great deal more than you are paying for it." + +"The limits?" asked Mr. Ellsworth, keenly. "Don't you really +know, Reade, what the limits of the property are?" + +"Why, that is a matter to which I haven't given much attention, +so far," answered Tom, with disarming candor. "But, if we can +have a map of this part of the country, I'll quickly mark off the +limits on which I think you should insist." + +Don Luis caught at this readily. + +"My good Carlos," Don Luis directed, turning to his secretary, +"place in Senor Reade's hands a map of this part of the country." + +"A map of your possessions only, Don Luis?" asked Dr. Tisco. + +"A map of my possessions, of course," agreed Don Luis. + +The map was brought, a large one, and spread on the table. + +"Now, perhaps," suggested Tom, "the tract I am about to mark off +on this map is a larger one than Don Luis had intended to include +in the sale, but let us see what Don Luis will have to say." + +With Harry's help Reade marked off on the map a tract containing +about forty-four hundred acres. This was fully twice as large +as the tract Don Luis had planned to deed with _El Sombrero_. +However, as Don Luis reckoned all this wild mountain land to +be worth not more than twenty-five cents an acre, he did not care +about Tom's liberality in the matter of real estate. + +"We will have these limits ruled in with red ink," Montez proposed, +"and the deed shall cover the limits so indicated. Yes; I will +sell that whole tract of rich mineral land to you, gentlemen, +for two million and a half of dollars." + +"Then," declared Tom Reade, "you will find that you will not regret +your purchase, gentlemen." + +"You are confident of that, Reade?" asked President Haynes, anxiously. + +"I am more than confident," Tom declared, promptly. "I am as +certain of what I state as ever an engineer can be of anything." + +"If we were alone," thought Don Luis Montez, exultantly, "I would +take off my hat to this young Gringo, Reade. He is a far more +accomplished liar than I can ever hope to be. And these Americanos +are becoming convinced all ready." + +"Do you agree with your associate, Hazelton?" inquired Mr. Ellsworth. + +"Absolutely," Harry proposed. "I have been watching Tom Reade to see +if he was making the statement emphatic enough to suit my ideas. +Gentlemen, the property we have staked off on this map is a good +investment one that will soon make the American financial markets ring." + +"I'm satisfied, on Reade and Hazelton's report," declared Mr. Haynes. +"I know these young men, and I'd trust my life or my fortune to their +honesty or their judgment alike." + +"I'm satisfied, too," nodded Ellsworth. + +"I can say the same," nodded Mr. Hippen. + +"Then we hardly need to look or inquire further," laughed another +of the intending investors, pleasantly. + +From this will be seen how much frequently depends upon the reputation +of an engineering firm for honor and judgment. In New York City, +downtown, is an almost dingy suite of offices. It is the business +headquarters of a firm of mining engineers known and trusted the +world over. Probably the entire equipment of these offices, including +the laboratories and assay rooms, could be purchased for seven +or eight thousand dollars. The real asset of this firm is its +reputation for splendid judgment and unfailing honor. Let this +firm of engineers indorse a new mine sufficiently, and Wall Street +will promptly raise twenty million dollars to finance the scheme. +This firm of engineers, despite its rather dingy quarters, often +earns a yearly income running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. + +These men of the A.G.& N.M. R.R. knew Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton +as well and favorably as the mining world at large knows the New +York firm which has been referred to above. + +"It all looks good to me," declared President Haynes, speaking again. + +"And to me," nodded several others of the visitors. + +"In the mine, this afternoon," Tom proposed, "we can show you much +more that you will like." + +Now, as by magic, Don Luis's servants appeared with tables which +they set and spread on the porch and luncheon was served. + +"Now, we will go see _El Sombrero_ itself," Don Luis proposed. +"I shall not have much to say to-day. I understand that you are +willing to have Senor Tomaso Reade do the explaining." + +"More than willing--anxious," replied General Manager Ellsworth. + +That night Tom and Harry returned to their tent. As they went +at a late hour their absence from the house was barely noted. + +All through the afternoon the visitors had been busy inspecting +ore supposed to have been blasted in the tunnels of _El Sombrero_ +Mine. As the reader will understand, every bit of this ore had +been brought from a profitable mine further up in the mountains. + +"How does it seem to be a rascal, Tom?" inquired Harry, as he blew +out the candle in their tent. + +"Great!" muttered Tom Reade. + +The day following was given somewhat to sight-seeing in and around +the mine, but still more to a discussion of the intended purchase. +As Don Luis would not hear to reducing his price, the visitors +were finally satisfied to pay the money demanded. + +"When will you be ready to turn the money over, gentlemen?" inquired +Montez. + +"As soon as we can reach a town where there is both a bank and +a telegraph office," replied Mr. Haynes. "The whole amount of +money is on deposit in New York City, subject to sight draft. +If you are well enough known at the bank, Don Luis, to introduce +us, the draft may be drawn at that bank, and accepted from New +York on telegraphic inquiry." + +"The speed of you American business men is marvelous!" cried Don +Luis Montez, delightedly. + +The next morning Don Luis, Mr. Haynes and a New York capitalist +in the party departed in an automobile, going back to the railway +town. Two days later they returned. The entire deal had been +put through. The mine had become the property of this group of +American capitalists. Don Luis's home was included in the sale. +The money had been paid over on telegraphic advice from New York. +Don Luis, in turn, had transferred his huge credit to Mexico +City by wire, and this fortune now awaited his orders at the capital +of the republic. + +Soon after Don Luis had returned he called the young engineers aside. + +"_Caballeros_," he murmured, "I am delighted with the loyal service +you have rendered me. Before to-day is over I shall hand you +drafts on my bank at the capital for twenty thousand dollars each, +gold. Then the transaction will be closed. Again I thank you. +Be good enough to remain about, for I shall soon want you." + +Over the hills a white-clad figure rode on horseback. As he came +nearer, still at a gallop, the man was seen to be a soldier. + +"I wonder if there is any treachery in this?" muttered Harry, +in Tom's ear. "Does Don Luis intend to have us arrested, after +all, and sent to prison to be held _incommunicado_, and so make +sure of keeping us out of the way?" + +"I don't believe so," Tom replied. "It wouldn't be a wise move +on his part. He'd be afraid that we'd denounce him even as we +were being led away." + +"Then why the soldier?" + +"Let's wait and see." + +No one else appeared to have paid any heed to the horseman. A few +minutes later the soldier rode up the driveway. + +"Senor--Haynes?" called the soldier, holding up an envelope. + +Tom passed the word. Messrs, Haynes and Ellsworth were absent, +it seemed, on a walk. + +"If it's a telegram," said Mr. Hippen, "I'm a director in the same +road. It may be on railroad business. I'll take the telegram." + +It was turned over to him. Mr. Hippen broke the seal of the envelope, +took out the enclosure and read it. Then he read it aloud, as +follows: + +"Train thirteen wrecked this forenoon." It was signed by President +Haynes's secretary. + +"Humph!" said Mr. Hippen. "I don't see the need of wasting the +railroad's money to send that despatch here." + +He folded it and placed it in his pocket, against Mr. Haynes's +return. + +"I shall want to talk with you two for a few minutes," Don Luis +presently whispered to Tom. "I shall have my car here soon. +When you see it, both of you come forward and be ready to take +a short ride with me." + +In the background stood Dr. Tisco, looking on with cynical eyes. + +"Of course, the poor American fools haven't any idea that they +will set out on the ride, but will never return," murmured Don +Luis's secretary, to himself. "Pedro Gato, turned loose on the +same day he was arrested, has waited a long time for his revenge. +He and the dozen bandits he has gathered around him will shoot +the American engineers full of holes out on the road, and Don +Luis, when he returns, deluged in his own tears, will tell the +awful story of the encounter with the bandits. What a clever +scoundrel Don Luis is!" + +Fifteen minutes later the automobile stood before the steps to +the big porch. + +"You two, my friends," called Don Luis, resting a hand on Tom's +shoulder and beckoning to Harry. "You will take one last ride +with me, will you not? And, while we are gone, I shall discuss +a few more of my plans with you." + +Wholly unsuspicious of this final tragic touch to the drama, Tom +Reade and Harry Hazelton went down the steps, following Don Luis +Montez into the car. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +MR. HAYNES ASKS A FEW QUESTIONS + + +Slowly the car started clown the drive. "Oh, Don Luis!" called +Mr. Hippen, running to the corner of the porch. + +"Stop!" said Montez to his chauffeur. "Mr. Haynes is signaling you," +continued Mr. Hippen. "I think he wants to say something to you." + +Don Luis turned, and beheld the president and the general manager +of the A.G.& N.M. Railroad hastening toward the gate. + +"Drive down to the gate and await the gentlemen there," was Don +Luis's next order. + +Mr. Hippen, too, started down the roadway, seeing which Dr. Tisco +reached his side and went with him. + +There was a general meeting of the different parties at the gate. + +"I signaled you, Don Luis, to inquire if Ellsworth and myself +might go on your drive with you?" explained Mr. Haynes. + +"Gentlemen, I am truly sorry," began Don Luis Montez, in his most +honeyed tones, "but the truth is that I desire to have a private +conference with Senores Reade and Hazelton." + +"Then we won't ask to accompany you, this time." said Mr. Haynes, +laughing. + +"We would be glad to take you, but our business conversation would +then be delayed," Don Luis explained. "However, if you wish--" + +"I don't want to spoil your talk," laughed Mr. Haynes. "But I +have this to say to Reade and Hazelton. We gentlemen have been +discussing the new management of the mine, and we are united in +feeling that we want these young men to remain here and manage +our new property for us. In fact, with such a valuable mining +property on our hands we wouldn't feel in the least easy with +any one else in charge." + +"Here is a telegram that came for you, Mr. Haynes," said Mr. Hippen, +quietly, handing over the sheet. "Of course, Reade and Hazelton +are not going to sign with any one else." + +"Pardon me," said Mr. Haynes, and let his glance fall on the telegram. + +Any one noting the railway president's face at that moment would +have noted a quick, though suppressed, change there. + +"Don Luis," went on Mr. Haynes, quickly, "I fear that I really +shall have to interrupt your drive for a little while. I have +just received news that I shall want to discuss with you." + +"Why, your news refers to nothing more than a wreck on your Arizona +railway system, doesn't it?" inquired Don Luis, who was eager +to get away and attend, as speedily as possible, to the impending +assassination of the young engineers. + +"You will oblige me by coming back to the house, won't you, Don +Luis?" insisted Mr. Haynes, who seemed, somehow, a changed man +within the last minute. + +"Certainly," agreed the Mexican courteously, and the chauffeur +turned the car. + +As they walked along, Mr. Haynes managed to whisper a few words +in Mr. Ellsworth's ear. + +"I have sent Ellsworth to call all our associates together," explained +Mr. Haynes, as he joined Don Luis and the young engineers on the +porch. Something in the changed atmosphere of the place made +Don Luis Montez feel decidedly uneasy. + +The Americans responded quickly to Mr. Ellsworth's rounding up. +Each of them, as he came forward, looked unusually grave. Mr. +Haynes waited until he saw all of his associates around him. +Then he began: + +"Don Luis, in my recent absence a telegram came for me. Mr. Hippen, +though a director of our railway, is not familiar with the telegraph +code that we use in our inner office. This telegram, sir"--unfolding +it--"is from my private secretary, a most careful and trustworthy +man of affairs. I feel certain, Don Luis, that he would not have sent +this telegram unless he had had the strongest reasons. Now, in our +office code a wire relating to a wreck of Train Thirteen--there's +no such train on our schedule--means always just one thing. The +significance of this telegram is, 'Don't on any account put through +the impending deal.'" + +If Don Luis Montez felt any inward start he controlled his facial +expression wonderfully. + +"Senor Haynes," he replied, "I don't understand the meaning of +your code message. You have no deal here to put through. You +have made and closed the only deal here about which I have the +honor to know anything." + +"But my secretary doesn't yet know the state of affairs here," +continued Mr. Haynes, gravely, "and he doesn't know that we have +yet bought the _El Sombrero_ Mine. Therefore, his despatch can't +refer to anything else. My private secretary is certainly warning +me not to buy _El Sombrero_ Mine until we have further information." + +"But you have bought it," cried Don Luis, in a voice pitched rather +higher than usual. "You have bought it and have the deed to all +this property. The money has been paid, and is now mine, subject +to my order." + +"Don Luis," continued the American railway president, "I ask you, +before all my associates, to consider the matter still open until +I can receive further particulars from my private secretary. +If there is any good and sound reason why we should not have bought +this mine--" + +"But you have bought it, paid for it, and the money is mine!" +cried Don Luis Montez. "There is no more to be said about it." + +"Sir," went on Mr. Haynes, gravely, "there is but one question +of fact that can affect the sale. Suppose--I hate to say it, +but suppose that the mine is not a rich one, not worth any such +price as we paid for it, and that you sold it to us, knowing--" + +"The mine is a rich one--one of the richest in Mexico," insisted +Montez, "and you have secured a very great bargain." + +"I trust and hope that all that is true," continued Mr. Haynes. +"Yet, if such should not be the case, and if we have bought a +property under conditions that would make it certain swindle had +been perpetrated--" + +"Senor!" warned Don Lids, taking a step forward, a deadly light +in his eyes. "Be Careful!" + +"I am only stating a supposition," resumed Mr. Haynes, coolly. +"Don Luis, I believe I have stated enough of that supposition +to make it all clear. If that supposition is true, then you would +have to buy the mine back from us again." + +"Would I?" sneered the Mexican. + +"Yes, Don Luis, or we could bring the matter about in another +way. I know the name of the bank in Mexico City to which you +have transferred the funds received from us. Our attorneys, acting +through Mexican lawyers, can tie that money up and keep it in +the bank until the question has been decided as to whether--" + +"Be careful, senor!" again warned Don Luis. + +"Sir," demanded Mr. Haynes, bluntly, "is the mine a valuable one, +or is it a swindle?" + +"You should not ask me," Montez retorted, bitterly. "You have +your own engineers on the ground--engineers whom you trust. +Ask them! They will tell you." + +"Thank you," assented Mr. Haynes, bowing. Then, turning to Tom, +the American railway president went on: + +"Reade, tell me the truth about this matter in a word. Have we +been defrauded in any way?" + +"You have not, Mr. Haynes," Tom answered steadily. "You have +now in your possession a property that is worth far more than +has been paid for it." + +"You agree with that statement, do you, Hazelton?" asked Mr. Haynes. + +"I do, sir," Harry nodded. + +Dr. Tisco, standing in the background, had all he could do to keep +himself from dancing a few jig-steps. + +"Decidedly, these young Americans are champion liars!" he thought +to himself. "They can readily outlie Don Luis or myself. Now, +if Don Luis still insists on having these gifted young engineers +killed I am afraid I shall look upon him as being a man without +honor." + +"You have heard your own engineers, senores," broke in Don Luis. +"You trust them. Now, are you not satisfied that I have dealt +fairly with you?" + +"Somehow, I ought to be satisfied," agreed Mr. Haynes. "And yet +my private secretary is such a very careful and dependable man +that I shall have to await further advices. Of course, I place +the fullest confidence in the honesty of our American engineers, +Reade and Hazelton. Tom, do you believe that you could possibly +have been deceived as to the valued of this mining property?" + +"I do not believe it possible, sir," Tom replied, as steadfastly +as before. "In the face of anything that might be said, Hazelton +and I will continue to claim that you have bought a property here +worth more than you have paid for it." + +"Then I apologize, Don Luis, for what might have seemed to be +slighting language," Mr. Haynes continued, bowing to the Mexican. +"You will understand, of course, what good reason I had to be +anxious." + +"Say no more, senor. You had most excellent reasons," smiled +Don Luis, at ease once more. "I cannot blame you in the least for +your passing doubts, but I am glad they have been set at rest by +these capable and honest young engineers. And now, Senores Reade +and Hazelton, shall we resume our interrupted ride in the car?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ENGINEER TURNS + + +"You are about to have more visitors, I see," announced Mr. Hippen, +from a corner of the porch. + +Barely five hundred yards from the house, on one of the roughest +roads coming down the mountains, were some forty or fifty horsemen. +Nor did it require more than a second glance to show that the +newcomers were cavalry troops of the Mexican army. + +At the head of the cavalcade rode three or four men who had an +official appearance. + +"It is one of the periodical visits of the governor of the state +of Bonista," explained Don Luis. "Ah, if the governor is with +that party, Senor Haynes, you will soon have more reason to know +that it would be impossible for me to defraud you. The governor +himself will assure you that I am of an old Spanish family and +of the highest personal honor." + +"I shall be most glad to meet the governor," remarked Mr. Haynes, +dryly. + +Don Luis Montez stepped to where he could obtain a better view +of the horsemen, who were moving their horses at a walk. He held +his hands over his eyes to keep the light from interfering with +his view. + +"I am afraid, after all, that his excellency, the governor of +the state, is not one of the horsemen," said Montez, regretfully. +"Not unless he is riding at the rear of the party. But we shall +soon know." + +Just inside the limits of the estate all of the cavalrymen except +a half dozen halted. Three officers, six troopers and a gentleman +in citizen's dress rode on up to the porch. + +"Is Don Luis Montez of your number?" called the man in citizen's +clothes. + +"I am Don Luis," responded Montez, going forward and raising his +hat. + +"I am Manuel Honda," continued the stranger, raising his hat in +return. "Will you be good enough to have one of your servants +take my horse?" + +This was done at a gesture from Montez. Senor Honda dismounted, +then came up the steps. + +"You are very welcome, senor," said Don Luis, holding out his hand, +which the other accepted. Then the stranger swept his glance over +the others grouped on the porch. + +"These are your American visitors?" inquired Honda. + +"Yes," nodded Don Luis. + +"We will withdraw if you two gentlemen have business to discuss," +suggested Mr. Haynes. + +"I beg that all of you gentlemen will remain," urged Senor Honda. + +"I wish to show you every courtesy, senor," said Montez, quickly, +"but it seems to me that you are taking the liberty of giving orders +in my home." + +"Have you sold your mine?" asked Honda. + +"Yes," Montez acknowledged. + +"And this estate was part of the mine property?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I would suggest, Don Luis," Honda answered, with a smile, +"that this place is no longer your home." + +"Senor, are you making fun of me?" demanded Don Luis, with heightening +color. + +"By no means, Don Luis. But you have observed that I have an escort +of our country's troops." + +"Assuredly." + +"From that what would you infer?" + +"You may very likely hold some government commission," guessed Don Luis. + +"Assuredly I do," Honda replied. + +"In the state of Bonista especially?" + +"Even so." + +"Then if you hold a commission in the state of Bonista," replied +Don Luis Monte; "you must represent my very good friend, his excellency, +the governor of this state." + +"Just at present the governor of Bonista is in difficulties," hinted +Senor Manuel Honda. + +"How?" demanded Don Luis. + +"Yes; in difficulties," continued the visitor. "At least, his +excellency, the governor, is not able to leave his house." + +"Ah! He is ill, then?" + +"Ill in spirit, yes," smiled Senor Honda. + +"Will you be good enough to explain?" Montez asked, anxiously. + +"Don Luis, it was I, Manuel Honda, who confined his excellency +to his official dwelling and placed a guard about the buildings." + +"Oh? Is there a revolution, then, in the state of Bonista?" + +"None that I know of," Honda rejoined. "Don Luis, I am from the +national capital. I represent the government of the Republic +of Mexico, and I have considerable power in this state. I am +solely in command, at present, of all the national troops within +this state. These army officers will assure you that I hold a +national commission to investigate affairs even in this remote +state of Bonista. I could show you my credentials from the national +government, if it were worth while." + +"Then will you be good enough, Senor Honda, to tell me what you +wish here." + +"Don Luis, I am here because I believe this to be one of the central +points in the investigation that I am about to hold. I will come +to the point at once. You have sold your mining property here. +One of my first acts will be to make sure that you do not draw the +proceeds of the sale from any Mexican bank until after the national +government is satisfied." + +"That is a high-handed proceeding, Senor Honda!" cried Montez, a +deadly glitter in his eyes. + +"It is such a proceeding as a national government may take at +need," replied Senor Honda, calmly. "Of course, Don Luis, if +your conduct in selling the mine is found to be blameless, then +you will soon be able to use your money in any way that you please. +But, first of all, the government must be satisfied." + +"Have you any further questions that you wish to ask me at present?" +Montez demanded, suddenly. + +Though he had kept himself rather calm up to the present, the +rascal felt that he must soon vent the spite and hate welling +up within him, or explode from the pent-up force of his own emotions. +The late mine owner, though he could not penetrate the mysteries +of the present situation, was now sure that Tom Reade and Harry +Hazelton must be in some way behind it. No matter what happened +to him afterwards, Don Luis was now furiously bent on getting +the young engineers off on the lonely mountain trail where Gato +and his comrades were lying in wait for the two young Americans. + +"I shall have no more questions for you, for the present," Senor +Honda replied. "Just now I wish to have some conversation with +these Americans." + +"Then come, senores," cried Don Luis, with forced gayety, as he +thrust a hand under the arms of Tom and Harry. "Come, we will +have our ride and our talk. We will be back here in half an hour +and then we shall hear this affair through. Come!" + +Tom Reade threw off the fellow's arm, exclaiming, warningly: + +"If you touch me again, you snake in the grass, I'll reduce you +to powder with a fist that's fairly aching to hit you!" + +The vehemence of Tom's declaration made every one within hearing +gasp with astonishment. + +"What does this mean, Reade?" gasped President Haynes, looking +thunderstruck. + +"It means, sir," reported Tom, wheeling about, "that this fellow, +Montez, threatened us with death if we did not sign a glaringly +false report concerning _El Sombrero_ Mine. We were also to be +killed if we did not stand by our report to the fullest degree +after you and your friends arrived." + +"Then _El Sombrero_ Mine is worthless?" cried Mr. Haynes, his +face turning a ghastly white. + +"As far as I know, sir, or as far as Hazelton knows," Tom Reade +made prompt answer. "_El Sombrero_ isn't worth the cost even +of filling up the shaft." + +"And you, Reade--and you, Hazelton--the men we trusted +implicitly--you stood by and saw us robbed!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"I don't blame you for being angry," Tom answered, quickly. "However, +you may safely go a bit slow on the idea that we stood by to see +you robbed, merely to save our lives. We had tried to escape +from here. We even sent out two letters by secret messengers, +these letters to be mailed at points distant from here. The letters +would have told our friends in the United States what was up. +But, in some way of his own, Don Luis managed to catch the messengers +and get hold of the letters." + +"Then," added Harry Hazelton, "we thought we were doomed if we +didn't yield to Don Luis's commands. Even at that, we were prepared +to accept death sooner than sell ourselves out. Death would have +been the cheapest way out of the scrape. But at last we found +a way of helping Don Luis in the way he wanted, and of getting +square with the rascal at the same time. Tell them what I mean, +Tom." + +"Why, it was like this," said Tom, seating himself on the railing +of the porch, and facing the assemblage. "Harry and I began to +roam all over this property, as though to kill time. Out in Nevada, +as it happens, we two and a friend of ours own a mine that seemed +almost worthless. Almost by accident we discovered that we were +working the mine just a little off from the real vein. Now, we +didn't find that _El Sombrero_ was being worked off the vein. +What we did find was in that big strip of forest over to the +east of _El Sombrero_--" + +Tom turned, for an instant, to point to the forest that he meant. + +"You will remember, Mr. Haynes, that we had Don Luis include that +forest tract in the title of the _El Sombrero_ purchase. That +forest is really a jungle. One has the greatest time forcing +his way through it. When you open it up on a big scale you'll +have to send hundreds of men in there with machetes to chop paths +through and clear off the tangled brush. We spent days in that +jungle, at first because we had nothing better to do. Mr. Haynes, +and gentlemen, if we know anything about mining, then that forest +land is worth an immense fortune in the minerals it will yield. +You paid two and a half millions of dollars for the entire property. +That great forest stretch, in our opinion as engineers, is worth +as much and perhaps more than that." + +"That's right!" leered Don Luis. "Jest with them, Senor Reade, +to your heart's content." + +"I'm telling these countrymen of mine the truth, fellow," retorted +Tom Reade, casting a look of withering scorn at Don Luis Montez. +"Had you been square and decent with us, we would have told you +of the mineral wealth in yonder forest. As it is, we've punished +your conduct by beating you at your own game." + +"If I believed you, Senor Reade--" began Don Luis, bending his +head low as he thrust it forward and gazed piercingly at Tom's face. + +"I don't care anything about your believing me," retorted Tom. +"But Harry and I will prove to these real men every word that we've +been saying." + +"You have robbed me!" hissed Don Luis, now believing. + +His hand flew to a rear pocket. He drew a pistol. But two soldiers +had crept up behind Montez at a sign from Senor Honda. Now, one +of the barefooted soldados struck the weapon down. It clattered +on the porch, and the other soldier picked it up. + +There was a struggle between Don Luis and the soldiers. Two other +soldiers came to their aid, and--Click! snap! Montez was +securely handcuffed. + +"Take them off!" screamed Montez, paling like one about to die. +"Senor Honda, this is an outrage, and you shall--" + +"Peace, fellow! Hold your tongue!" ordered Honda. "Do you not +understand? You are a prisoner, nor are you ever likely to be +much better off than that. A complaint of the treatment of these +Americans, Reade and Hazelton, was forwarded to our government +by the American minister in Mexico City. The complaint mentioned +that the governor of Bonista was a confederate of yours in more +than one underhanded bit of business. On account of the urgings +of the American minister to this country, I was despatched here +to investigate, and with authority to arrest the governor of Bonista, +if necessary, and any other rogues." + +"That's a lie!" snarled Don Luis. "How could the American minister +learn what was going on in this country? These mountains of Bonista +have never told my secrets." + +"They did, for this one time," Tom broke in, gleefully. "And +I can tell you how it happened. Harry, do you remember the day +that Nicolas was gone so long that you were uneasy about him? +Well, I knew where Nicolas was, for I had sent him off. He thought +he had found a messenger who would have more success in getting +our letters mailed than had fallen to the lot of the messengers +with our first two letters. Nicolas's messenger, from to-day's +developments, must have got through. While I was sending one +letter I thought it as well to send two. One letter was to our +home offices, directing that the matter contained in my letter +be taken on the jump to the government at Washington. The other +letter, Mr. Haynes, was directed to you, sir, for I did not then +know that you were one of the Americans expected here. I thought, +Mr. Haynes, that your active hustling with the Washington government +might help in rushing matters. For some unknown reason, my letter +to our offices must have gotten through before the letter did +that was sent to Arizona. Your private secretary, Mr. Haynes, +must have opened my letter addressed to you. He realized that +he could not with safety to us send you more than the telegraphic +code warning to keep out of the deal. I never told Hazelton, +until just now, in the presence of you all, that I had ordered +Nicolas to send off more letters by a messenger whom Nicolas felt +that he could trust. But you remember the day well enough, Harry?" + +"I do," nodded Hazelton. "I was fussing about the long absence of +Nicolas just before you turned up with that stranger whom we nursed." + +"And speaking of strangers," muttered Reade, glancing off down +the driveway, "there's the identical stranger, at this moment +talking with the soldiers halted by the gate." + +Almost as though he had heard himself called the stranger glanced +up at the group on the porch, then came forward. He walked briskly, +despite his lean, wasted frame. + +"How? So this fellow is in irons?" queried the stranger, halting +as he saw the handcuffs on Don Luis's wrists. "Justice is sometimes +very tardy, though in this instance she has not failed. Handcuffs +become this felon; they are his natural jewelry!" + +"Then you know Don Luis?" questioned Tom, after an instant's silence. + +"I should know Don Luis well," boasted the stranger, drawing himself +up proudly. "Also I know this fellow!" + +"My father!" cried a startled feminine voice from the doorway. +Then Francesca, her eyes filled with fright, hastened across +the porch. She would have thrown her arms around the neck of +the manacled man had not the stranger caught her by one arm and +held her back. + +"How dare you, senor?" panted the girl, turning upon the stranger. +"And who are you?" + +"Do not touch this felon with your clean hands," warned the stranger, +with a sternness that was tempered with gentleness. + +"Who are you, senor?" the girl insisted. + +"Can't you guess?" broke out Tom Reade, wonderingly. "Senorita +Francesca, I helped take care of this man while he was ill in +our cook tent. In his fever I heard some words fall from his +lips that started me to wondering. But the other day I beheld +this gentleman gazing upon you from a distance. In his eyes, +as he looked at you, Senorita, I saw a light that I had never +seen in the eyes of this manacled brute. Then my guess was turned +to knowledge!" + +"Then, Senor Reade," begged the girl, "who is this man who would +hold me back from my--" + +"Tell her, sir," Tom urged the stranger. + +"Child," said the latter, with wonderful gentleness and tenderness, +"I am the real Don Luis Montez--your father!" + +"Then who is _he_?" cried Francesca, pointing to the handcuffed +Mexican, who had sunk upon a chair looking more dead than alive. + +"His true name," said the stranger, "is Paulo Rabasco. He was +born of good family, but was always dissolute and criminal. Once +he was my friend, I am ashamed to say; at least, I believed myself +his. We traveled, once, in a part of Mexico in which we were +both strangers. While there Rabasco became engaged in a budding +revolution, that was quickly nipped by the central government. +In my efforts to shield my supposed friend from the consequences +of supposed rebellion, I myself became suspected. In the night +Rabasco stole my papers, putting his own in my pocket. When the +police came they searched us both. I was believed to be Rabasco, +and this scoundrel insisted that I was. The papers in our respective +pockets seemed to prove it. The papers in mine connected me with +the intended rebellion. A swift military trial, and within a +few hours I was on my way to serve a life sentence of imprisonment +in Yucatan. + +"Rabasco, the self-asserted Don Luis, was turned loose. We looked +not unlike in those days. Rabasco, as I have since learned, grew +a beard. Then he went back to my home. My wife had died within +a few days. Most of the old servants had gone. Rabasco, the +unutterable scoundrel, set himself up as Don Luis Montez. He +imposed on the nurse, and took her away with my infant child whom +I had never seen after she was three months old. Rabasco went +to the United States as soon as he had established a flimsy title +to my modest property. In after years he returned, an older and +more successful impostor. Yet he feared to live on my estate, +dreading that some day his treachery might be discovered. So, +still calling himself Don Luis Montez, this scoundrel sold my +estate and took my child away to other parts of Mexico. My estate +was a modest one. On that foundation this fellow has been building +a larger fortune--but fate has overtaken him at last. There +are still friends of mine alive who will help me to unmask this +scoundrel and prove him Paulo Rabasco. He never would have been +known, had I not, after many years, escaped from Yucatan. I did +not dare proclaim myself at once, for fear of being arrested as +Paulo Rabasco and sent back to Yucatan. But now I no longer fear. +I am Don Luis Montez. I shall prove it without difficulty at last." + +"Then, if this be so, we haven't bought this mining property of +the rightful owner," interposed Mr. Haynes. "I imagine that the +real Don Luis will establish full claim to a property that was +founded on his stolen fortune. We shall recover our money from +the sham Don Luis, but I fear we shall not be able to obtain this +rich mineral property." + +"Tell me the particulars," begged the real Don Luis. + +Tom Reade stated the case fully, though in the fewest words that +would accomplish the telling. + +"You shall have the property by transferring the purchase price +to me after I have recovered this estate at law," promised the +real Don Luis simply. + +"But, my dear sir," objected Mr. Haynes, honestly, "do you realize +that we paid two and a half millions for the property, and that +our trusted engineers assure us that it may be worth more." + +"That makes no difference, Senor," replied the new Don Luis. +"The money you were first willing to pay is far more money than +I shall ever need. I crave only life and my child. If you journeyed +down into Mexico, expecting to buy a property at a certain figure, +and if you did do it, acting in perfectly good faith, then that +is enough. I will ratify the bargain." + +"But that would hardly be good business," smiled Mr. Haynes. + +"Business is a word that will interest me but little after I have +established my rights in the world," remarked Don Luis, mildly. + +The true Don Luis Montez did establish his rights. He secured +the estate built by Rabasco on the looted Montez fortune. The +money paid Rabasco for the mining property was easily recovered +through the courts and turned over to the rightful Don Luis. +Then the Americans secured the property at the original figure. +Don Luis soon won the affection of his daughter, and the two were +wonderfully happy together. + +Rabasco, the impostor, was sentenced to twenty years of penal +servitude. On his way to begin serving his sentence he broke +away from the military guard, and was shot to death. + +Dr. Carlos Tisco died, of fever, within six months of the time +of the real Don Luis's arrival. The governor of Bonista was discovered +guilty of so much corruption in office that he died, while serving +a sentence in prison. + +Pedro Gato became an avowed outlaw. Senor Honda, while acting +for the government in Bonista, sent the troops in pursuit of the +outlaw. He was caught and shot by the soldiers. + +As for Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, they were happy indeed when +they found themselves wholly reestablished in the respect of Mr. +Haynes and his friends. The young engineers had played a most +daring game throughout, and would have gone to their deaths at the +hands of the sham Don Luis sooner than to have betrayed their own honor. + +Tom and Harry spent days showing the American investors through +that forest stretch. It proved an amazingly wonderful mineral +claim, and has since paid enormous dividends. + +"Mr. Haynes," Tom asked, anxiously, one day, "would you have done +the same as we did, had you been in our place?" + +"I don't know, my boy," replied the railway president, with a +frank smile. "I'd hope that I would have done the same, but I +don't know that I would have had the same magnificent courage +that you two displayed throughout. It isn't every man who has +the courage to back his conscience with his life." + +Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton remained some three months longer +in the mountains of Bonista. Finally, when they could be spared +from the task of superintending the start of this rich mineral +claim they returned to the United States. + +"And what is to become of me, _caballeros_?" Nicolas mournfully +inquired, the day before their departure. + +"Do you think you could stand life with us, in the United States?" +asked Tom. + +"Could I?" exclaimed the poor fellow, clasping his hands. "Senor, +do not jest with me! Can it be that you mean it?" + +"I certainly do," nodded Tom. + +Ambition's lure led the young engineers back to the home country. +We shall speedily find them engaged again in the great fields +of their calling, and we shall find them, too, in a setting of +truly extraordinary adventure. All that happened to them will +be stirringly told in the next volume of this series, which is +published under the title, "_The Young Engineers On The Gulf; Or, +The Dread Mystery of the Million-dollar Breakwater_." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12778 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77fa01f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12778 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12778) diff --git a/old/12778.txt b/old/12778.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dcca1ee --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12778.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7195 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Young Engineers in Mexico, by H. Irving +Hancock + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Young Engineers in Mexico + +Author: H. Irving Hancock + +Release Date: June 29, 2004 [eBook #12778] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO*** + + +E-text prepared by Jim Ludwig + + + +THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO + +or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers + +by + +H. IRVING HANCOCK + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTERS + I. The Land of Golden Eggs + II. The Wolf Who Showed His Teeth + III. Gato Strikes the Up Trail + IV. Tom Does Some Sampling + V. The Mine That Did and Didn't + VI. Watching the Midnight Lights + VII. Don Luis's Engineering Problem + VIII. Dangling the Golden Bait + IX. Don Luis Shows His Claws + X. The Spirit of a True Engineer + XI. A Piece of Lead in the Air + XII. Nicolas Does an Errand + XIII. Pining for the Good Old U.S.A. + XIV. Next to the Telegraph Key + XV. The Job of Being an Hidalgo + XVI. Two Victims of Rosy Thoughts + XVII. The Stranger in the Tent +XVIII. Craft--Or Surrender? + XIX. The Hidalgo Plans Gratitude + XX. Two Real Signatures + XXI. The Final Touch of Tragedy + XXII. Mr. Haynes Asks a Few Questions +XXIII. The Engineer Turns + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE LAND OF GOLDEN EGGS + + +Luis Montez, mine owner, stood on the broad veranda in front of +his handsome home, looking out over the country sweeping away +to the eastward. + +"Gentlemen, you are in a land of golden promise," began Senor +Montez, with a smile and a bow. "I should call it more than promise. +Why not? My beloved country, Mexico, has been shipping gold +to the world ever since the days of Montezuma." + +"Yes; in a mineral sense Mexico has truly a golden history," nodded +Tom Reade, one of the engineers to whom Montez was speaking. + +"And a golden history in every sense," added Senor Montez, with +a quick rush of patriotism. "Mexico is the finest country on +earth. And, though we are neither as numerous in population, +or as progressive as your own great country, still Mexico has +greater possibilities than the United States." + +Tom was too polite to argue that point. And Harry Hazelton, whom +a seventy-mile ride in an automobile over dusty roads, that day, +had rendered very drowsy, didn't consider an argument worth while. + +"Mexico has almost incredible natural wealth," Montez went on, +his voice soft and purring, his eyes glowing with something that +might have passed for pride. "Yet, through all the centuries +that white men have been here, I am confident that not one per +cent. of the country's natural resources has yet been taken from +the ground. Enough wealth lies at man's beck and call to change +the balance of power between the nations of the world. I have +been in your great city, New York. It is a place of tremendous +wealth. Yet, within ten years, gold enough can be taken from +the ground within a radius of twenty miles of here to buy the +whole great city of New York at any sane valuation." + +"That purchase would require billions of dollars," broke in the +practical Hazelton. + +"But the wealth is here," insisted Senor Montez, still smiling. +"Truly, _caballeros_, as I have told you, this is the land of +golden--" + +Again the Mexican paused, eloquently. + +"The land of golden eggs?" suggested Harry. + +For an instant there was a flash in the Mexican's eyes. Then +the friendly smile reappeared. + +"Of course, you jest, senor," he replied, pleasantly. + +"Not at all, Senor Montez," Hazelton assured him. "When gold +is so plentiful that it can be picked up everywhere, there must +be a goose at hand that lays golden eggs. Eggs are among the +most common things that we have. When gold nuggets are as large +and as abundant as eggs then we may properly call them golden +eggs." + +Senor Montez, flipped away the cigar that he had finished, and +reached for another. This he carefully cut at the end, lighting +it with graceful, elegant deliberation. The Mexican was a +distinguished-looking man above medium height. A little past forty +years of age, he possessed all the agility of a boy of twenty. +Frequently his sudden, agile movements indicated the possession of +unusual strength. Dark, like most of his countrymen, constant +exposure to the tropical sun had made his face almost the color of +mahogany. His carriage was erect, every movement instinctive with +grace. Clad in a white linen suit, with white shoes, he wore on his +head a Panama hat of fine texture and weave. + +The house of which the broad veranda was a part, was a low, two-story +affair in stone, painted white. Through the middle of the house +extended the drive-way leading into a large court in which a fountain +played. Around the upper story of the house a balcony encircled +the court and around the windows there were also small balconies. + +Many servants, most of them male, ministered to the wants of those +in the house. There were gardeners, hostlers, drivers, chauffeurs +and other employs, making a veritable colony of help that was +housed in small, low white houses well to the rear. + +Some thirty acres of grounds had been rendered beautiful by the +work of engineers, architects and gardeners. Nature, on this +estate, had been forced, for the natural soil was stony and sterile, +in keeping with the mountains and the shallow valleys in this +part of the little and seldom-heard-of state of Bonista. + +To the eastward lay, at a distance of some two miles, one of the +sources of Senor Montez's wealth _El Sombrero_ Mine, producing +some silver and much more gold. At least so the owner claimed. + +It was Senor Luis Montez himself who had gone to the nearest railway +station, seventy miles distant, and there had made himself known, +that forenoon, to the two young engineers from the United States. + +Tom and Harry had come to _El Sombrero_ at the invitation of Montez. +After many careful inquiries as to their reputation and standing +in their home country, Montez had engaged the young men as engineers +to help him develop his great mine. Nor had he hesitated to pay +the terms they had named--one thousand dollars, gold, per month, +for each, and all expenses paid. + +Over mountain trails, through the day, much of the way had of +necessity been made slowly. Wherever the dusty, irregular roads +had permitted greater speed, the swarthy Mexican who had served +Senor Montez as chauffeur on the trip had opened wide on the speed. +At the end of their long automobile ride Tom and Harry fairly +ached from the jolting they had received. + +"There are other beautiful features of this gr-r-rand country +of mine," the Mexican mine owner continued, lighting his second +cigar. "I am a noble, you know, Senor Tomaso. In my veins flows +the noble blood of the hidalgos of good old Spain. My ancestors +came here two hundred and fifty years ago, and ever since, ours +has been truly a Mexican family that has preserved all of the +most worthy traditions of the old Spanish nobles. We are a proud +race, a conquering one. In this part of Bonista, I, like my ancestors, +rule like a war lord." + +"You don't have much occupation at that game, do you, senor?" +Tom asked, with an innocent smile. + +"That--that--game?" repeated Senor Montez, with a puzzled look +at his young guest. + +"The game of war lord," Reade explained. "Mexico is not often +at war, is she?" + +"Not since she was forced to fight your country, Senor Tomaso, +as you help to remind me," pursued Montez, without a trace of +offense. "Though I was educated in your country, I confess that, +at times, your language still baffles me. What I meant to say +was not 'war lord,' but--but--" + +"Over lord?" suggested Reade, politely. + +"Ah, yes! Perhaps that better expresses what I mean. In Mexico +we have laws, senor, to be sure. But they are not for _caballeros_ +like myself--not for men who can boast of the blood of Spanish +hidalgos. I am master over these people for many miles around. +Absolute master! Think you any judge would dare sign a process +against me, and send _peon_ officers of the law to interfere with +me? No! As I tell you, I, Luis Montez, am the sole master here +among the mountains. We have laws for the _peons_ (working class), +but I--I make my own laws." + +"Does it take much of your time, may I ask?" + +"Does what take much of my time?" repeated Senor Montez, again +looking puzzled. + +"Law making," explained Tom Reade. + +Montez shot a swift look at the young engineer. He wondered if +the American were making fun of him. But Reade's face looked +so simple and kindly, his eyes so full of interest, that the Mexican +dismissed the thought. + +"I spend no time in making laws--unless I need them," the Mexican +continued. "I make laws only as the need arises, and I make them +to suit myself. I interpret the laws as I please for my own pleasure +or interests. Do you comprehend?" + +"I think so," Tom nodded. "Many of the big corporations in my +country do about the same thing, though the privilege has not yet +been extended to individuals in the United States." + +"Here," continued the mine owner, earnestly, "no man disputes +my will. That, of itself, is law. Here no man sues me, for if +he attempted to do so, he would go to prison and remain there. +If I tell a man to leave these mountains, he does so, for otherwise +he would never leave them. If a man annoys me, and I tell one +of my trusted servants to attend to my enemy--then that enemy +never troubles me further." + +"That is interesting--it's so simple and effective!" cried Tom, +pretended enthusiasm glowing in his eyes. "Say, but that's practical! +A man annoys you, and you send a servant to tell him to stop. +Then he stops." + +"Because my enemy also vanishes, you understand," smiled Senor +Luis, indulgently. + +"But doesn't the governor of Bonista ever hear of the disappearances?" +suggested Reade, very casually. + +"What if he does?" demanded Don Luis, snapping his fingers gayly. +"Are not his excellency, the governor, and I, the best of friends? +Would he give heed to rumors against me, brought by evil-tongued +men? Oh, no! _El gobernador_ (the governor) has, at times, even +kindly lent me his troops to make sure that an enemy of mine doesn't +travel too far. No! I tell you, Senor Tomaso, I am over lord +here. I am the law in these mountains." + +"It must be a great comfort, Don Luis--if you have many enemies," +suggested Tom Reade smilingly. + +"Ah, no! I have no enemies to-day," cried the Mexican. "Why +should I? I am generous and indulgent, and the soul of honor. +No one has just reason to disagree with me. Here I give all +men the round trade--no, what in your country you call the square +deal. But you shall see. You are now associated with me in a +great, a gr-r-rand enterprise. You shall soon see how just and +generous I can be--am always. You shall understand why the son +of a noble house need have no foes. Senor Tomaso, I have taken +one great liking to you in the few hours that we have been together. +And as for you, Senor Henrico--" + +With a courtly flourish Don Luis wheeled about to face young Hazelton. +But the sound of deep breathing was all that came from Harry. +Fatigued by the long, rough automobile ride, that young engineer +had dropped fast asleep in the broad porch rocker. + +"Your friend is much fatigued," spoke Don Luis, with fine consideration. +"If you deem it best, Senor Tomaso, we will arouse him and he +shall go to his room for an hour's sleep before the evening meal." + +"If his sleeping in the chair doesn't annoy you, Don Luis, my friend +will wake up, refreshed, in twenty minutes or so." + +"So be it, then. Let him sleep where he is. But you, Senor Tomaso, +would you not like to step inside and lie down for a while?" + +"No, I thank you," Reade answered. "Unlike Hazelton, I feel very +wide awake. When shall we go to the mine?" + +"To-morrow, or the next day," replied the Mexican, with a gesture +which almost said that "any day" would do. "First, you must both +rest until you are wholly refreshed. Then you may want to stroll +about the country a bit, and see the odd bits of natural beauty +in these mountains, before you give too serious thought to work." + +"But that is not our way, Don Luis," Tom objected. "When we are +paid a thousand dollars a month apiece we expect to do an honest +day's work six days in every week." + +"Ah, then, to-morrow, perhaps we will talk about the work. And +now, if you will pardon me, I will go inside for a few minutes +in order to see about some business matters." + +Readers of the "_Grammar School Boys Series_," the "_High School +Boys Series_" and of the preceding volumes in the present series, +will feel that they are already intimately acquainted with Tom +Reade and Harry Hazelton, a pair of young civil engineers who, +through sheer grit, persistence and hard study had already made +themselves well known in their profession. + +In the first volume of the "_Grammar School Boys Series_," Dick +Prescott and his five boy chums, Greg Holmes, Dave Darrin, Dan +Dalzell, Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, were introduced under the +name of Dick & Co. These six chums, standing shoulder to shoulder, +made a famous sextette in school athletics. Their start was made +during their grammar school days, when they had many adventures +and did much in the field of junior sport. Their high school +life, as set forth in the series of that name, was one of athletics, +mixed with much study and efforts to find their true paths in +life. In high school athletics the members of Dick & Co. won +a statewide reputation, as to-day members of winning high school +athletic teams are bound to do. It was during their high school +days that Dick & Co. determined on their professions through life. +Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes both secured competitive appointments +to the United States Military Academy, and their further doings +are set forth in the "_West Point Series_." Dave Darrin and Dalzell, +with a burning desire for naval life, obtained appointments to +the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. What befell them +is fully told in the "_Annapolis Series_." As for Tom Reade and +Harry Hazelton, while still in high school they became seized +with a strong desire for careers as civil engineers. They were +fortunate enough to secure their first practice and training in +a local engineering office in the home town of Gridley. Then, +with vastly more courage than training, Tom and Harry went forth +into the world to stand or fall as engineers. + +Their first experiences are told in the opening volume of this +series, "_The Young Engineers In Colorado_." Joining a western +engineering force as "cub" engineers, at first the laughing-stock +of the older engineers on the staff of a new railroad then building +in Colorado, the two boys did their best to make good. How well +they succeeded is known to readers of that volume. Their adventures +in the Rocky Mountains were truly astounding; some of them, especially +those with "Bad Pete," a braggart and scoundrel of the old school, +were sometimes mirth-provoking and sometimes tragic. Other adventures +were vastly more serious. When the boys reached the crisis of +their work it seemed as though every tree in the mountains concealed +an enemy. All these and many more details are told in that first +volume. + +In "_The Young Engineers In Arizona_," we found the pair engaged +in a wholly new task--that of filling up an apparently unfillable +quicksand in the desert so that a railway roadbed might be built +safely over the dangerous quicksand that had justly earned the +name of the "Man-killer." Here, too, adventures quickly appeared +and multiplied, until even the fearful quicksand became a matter +of smaller importance to the chums. How the two young engineers +persevered and fought pluckily all the human and other obstacles +to their success the readers of the second volume now know fully. + +Then Tom and Harry, who had been putting in many spare hours, +days and weeks on the study of metallurgy and the assaying of +precious metals, went, for a "vacation," to Nevada, there further +to pursue their studies. Quite naturally they became interested +in gold mining itself, and all their adventures, their mishaps, +failures, fights and final successes were fully chronicled in +the third volume, entitled "_The Young Engineers in Nevada_." The +mine that finally proved a dividend payer was named "The Ambition +Mine." A staunch Nevadan, Jim Ferrers, by name, became their +partner in the Ambition. Jim, who was an old hand at Nevada mining, +was now managing the mine while Tom and Harry, after going East +and establishing an engineers' office in a large city not far +from New York, had traveled to other states, studying mines and +assay methods. Within the last few months, so rapid had been +their progress in mine engineering, that they had been consulted +by a number of mine owners. Articles that they had written had +appeared in journals devoted to mining and engineering, and the +fame of our two friends had been rapidly spreading. + +Both scrupulously honest in all things, Reade and Hazelton had +also won a reputation as "square" mining men. With their skill +and honesty established, the opinions of the two partners on mining +problems were generally respected wherever they happened to be +known. + +So, in time, Luis Montez had heard of them, and had decided that +he needed their services at _El Sombrero_ (The Hat) Mine in the +Mexican state of Bonista. After some correspondence the two engineers +had been speedily engaged, and the opening of this volume deals +with the time of their arrival at the handsome country house of +Senor Montez. + +After his host had gone inside, and Harry Hazelton slept on, Tom, +who had risen--to bow to Senor Montez, remained on his feet, +pacing slowly and thoughtfully up and down the porch. + +"Now that I've seen my new employer," mused Tom, under his breath, +"I wonder just how much I really like him. He's a polished man, +and a charming fellow from the little that I've seen of him. +But his talk of ruling these hills, even in life and death--does +that speak well for him. Is he a knave, or only a harmless braggart? +Is he a man against whom one should be seriously on his guard? +Don Luis's manners, in general, I admire, but I don't quite like +the cruel expression about his month when he laughs. However, +that may be the way of the country, and I may be the victim of +prejudice. Anyway, as far as Harry and I are concerned, we needn't +worry much about the kind of man Don Luis is. The few thousands +of dollars that he will owe us as his engineers we are pretty +certain to get, for Don Luis is a very wealthy man, and he couldn't +afford to cheat us. For the rest, all he wants us to do is to +work hard as engineers and show him how to get more valuable ore +out of his mines. So, no matter what kind of man Don Luis may +be, we have nothing to fear from him--not even being cheated +out of our pay." + +Having settled this in his mind, Tom Reade sank into one of the +roomy porch chairs, half closing his eyes. He was soon in danger +of being as sound asleep as was Harry Hazelton. + +Certainly Reade would have been intensely interested had he been +able to render himself invisible and thus to step into one of +the rooms of the big, handsome house. + +In a room that was half office, half library, Senor Luis Montez +was now closeted with another man, whom neither of the engineers +had yet met. This man was short, slight of build and nervous +of action and gesture--a young man perhaps twenty-six years of +age. Carlos Tisco was secretary to Don Luis. Tisco was a graduate +of a university at the capital City of Mexico, a doctor of philosophy, +no mean chemist, a clever assayer of precious metals and an engineer. +In a word Dr. Tisco had been so well trained in many fields of +science that it was a wonder that Don Luis should feel the need +of employing the two young American engineers. + +"You have seen my new engineers, Carlos?" queried Don Luis, almost +in a whisper, as the two men, bending forward, faced each other +over a flat-top desk. + +"Through the window shutters--yes, Don Luis," nodded the secretary, +a strange look in his eyes. + +"Then what do you think of the Gringo pair, my good Carlos?" pursued +Don Luis. + +"Gringo" is a word of contempt applied by some Mexicans to Americans. + +"I--I hardly like to tell you, Don Luis," replied the younger +man, with an air of pretended embarrassment. + +"Ah! Then no doubt you feel they are not as clever as they have +been rated--my two Gringos," smiled the mine owner. "Rest easy, +Carlos. It may be better if they be not too clever." + +"It--it is that which I fear, Don Luis," replied the secretary, +in a still lower voice. "I have been studying their faces--especially +their eyes as they spoke. Don Luis, I much fear that they are +very clever young men." + +"Ah! Then again that is not bad," laughed the master gayly. +"If they be clever, then they will not need so much explanation." + +Now the secretary became bolder. + +"Don Luis, though you have spent many years in the United States, +I fear you do not at all understand some traits of the Gringo +character," warned Dr. Tisco. "For example, you want these young +men for a special service, and you are willing to pay them +generously--lavishly in fact. Has it escaped you, Don Luis, that +some of these obstinate, mule-headed Gringos are guilty of an +especial form of ingratitude which they term honor?" + +"I know that some Gringos make much bombastic use of that term, +while other Gringos scoff at the word 'honor,'" replied the mine +owner, thoughtfully. "But even suppose that these Gringos have +absurdly fanciful ideas of honor? They will never guess for what +I really want them. Their work will be done, to my liking, and +they will go away from here with never a suspicion of the kind +of service they have performed for me." + +"Pardon me, Don Luis," murmured Dr. Tisco, "but to me they do not +look like such fools. They will suspect; they will even know." + +"It matters little what they suspect, if they hold their tongues," +replied the mine owner. + +"You will have to appeal to their love of money, then," suggested +the secretary. "You will have to pay them extremely well. Even +then they may balk and refuse." + +"Refuse?" repeated Don Luis opening his eyes wide. "Carlos, you +do not seem to understand how hopeless it would be for them to +refuse. I am master here. None knows better than you that I +hold life and death in my hand in these mountains. Do not all +men hereabouts obey my orders? Will _el gobernador_ ask any awkward +questions if two Gringos should stroll through these mountains +and never be heard from again? Who can escape the net that I +am able to spread in these mountains? The Gringos refuse me--betray +me? Are they such fools as to refuse me when they find that I +hold their lives in the palm of my hand?" + +"They may even refuse your bait with death as the alternative," +persisted the secretary. "Don Luis, you know that there are such +foolish men among the Gringos." + +"Then let them refuse me," proposed Don Luis, jestingly, though +his white teeth shone in a savage smile. "If they are difficult +to manage--these two young Gringos--then they will quickly disappear, +and other Gringos shall come until I find those that will serve me +and be grateful for their rewards." + +"I wish you good fortune with your great schemes, Don Luis," sighed +young Dr. Tisco. + +"Carlos, you have not eaten for hours. You are so famished that +the whole world is colored blue before your eyes. Come, it is close +to the hour for the meal. You shall meet and talk with my Gringos. +You will then be able to judge whether I shall be able to tame them." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WOLF WHO SHOWED HIS TEETH + + +A rare host at table was Don Luis Montez. He possessed the manner, +even if not the soul, of a great nobleman. + +His daughter, Francesca, reputed to be a beauty, did not appear +at table. So far the young engineers had not met her. They would +be presented, however, within a day or two, after the Mexican +custom, for Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton were to be guests in +the white palace during their residence in this part of Mexico. + +Dr. Tisco, too, tried to be most entertaining, and succeeded. + +"You are the surgeon at the mine?" Harry ventured. + +"A _medico_?" suggested Dr. Tisco, with a bow of humility. "Ah, +no, senor, I have not that honor. I am a doctor of philosophy, +not of medicine." + +"Then you may be a scientific expert," Harry hazarded. "You are +the expert here at the mine?" + +"Not so," broke in Don Luis, gently. "It is true that Carlos has +some knowledge of chemistry, but he is not a mining expert. He is +my secretary, my man of affairs." + +"Oh, really the manager of the mine, then?" pursued Harry. "Pardon +me if I ask too many questions. I do not mean to be impertinent. +But, as we are going to work here I wish to know who's who is +Senor Montez' representative." + +"Carlos," broke in Don Luis, again, "is rather more than the mine +manager. He serves me in a variety of interests, and the mine +is only one of them." + +"If you wish to know whether you are to be under my instructions," +Dr. Tisco continued, "I can assure you that you are not. I seldom +give orders except as the direct--I might say the directed--mouthpiece +of Don Luis." + +"I have a separate manager at the mine," added Don Luis. "You shall +meet him to-morrow. His name is Pedro Gato. You will find him a +self-opinionated fellow, and one used to having his own way. He has +to be somewhat turbulent, or he would never hold some of my _peons_ +(laborers) in check. But under the surface you will find Pedro Gato +an excellent fellow if you do not rub him too hard the wrong way." + +"Gato will not attempt to give us any orders, of course?" Tom +asked very quietly. + +"Possibly not," dubiously replied Don Luis. "I really do not +know. That point has not before come up to me for consideration." + +"Then I hope you will make it clear to Senor Gato, Don Luis, that +we are engineers, wholly in charge of our own work; that we have +been engaged as experts and that we manage our own work in the way +that appears to us best to serve our employer's interests." + +"That can all be arranged very amicably, I am certain," replied +Don Luis, as though to dismiss the matter for the present. + +Dr. Tisco, covertly, was intently watching the eyes and faces of the +young engineers. The secretary was most anxious to take an +accurate measure of these two young Americans, who were now highly \ +important to his plans. + +After the evening meal, Don Luis summoned a number of his home +retainers, who played mandolins and guitars. Some of them sang +with considerable sweetness and power. The full moon, soon to +wane, shed lustrous light over the tropical scene of beauty. +It was a delightful evening. Tom and Harry, when they retired, +found themselves ready to sleep instantly. Their bedrooms opened +into a common parlor. Early in the morning they were astir. + +"What shall we wear, Tom?" inquired Hazelton, going toward his trunks. + +"Eh?" + +"I wonder what people wear in Mexico," Harry continued. "I don't +want to make any mistake in my clothing." + +"The best clothing for engineers about to go down into a mine will +be top-boots, khaki trousers and flannel shirts." + +"But will that be suitable to go to breakfast in?" Harry asked. +"Will it be showing sufficient courtesy to our host? And suppose +the daughter should be at table?" + +"That's so," Reade nodded. "I am sorry that we didn't fish for points +last evening." + +A knock came at the door. + +"Aqui!" (here) Tom answered. + +The door opened slowly. A man servant of perhaps twenty-five years, +attired in clean white clothes, but bare-footed, stood in the +doorway, bowing very low. + +"_Buenos dias_, _caballeros_!" (good morning, gentlemen) was his +greeting. + +Tom invited him to enter. + +"_Caballeros_," announced the _peon_, "I am your servant, your +slave, your dog! My name is Nicolas." + +"How do you do, Nicolas," responded Tom, holding out his hand, +which the Mexican appeared too dazed, or too respectful to take. +"We may find a servant useful. But we never kept slaves, and +we wouldn't dream of calling any man a dog." + +"I am your dog, _caballeros_," Nicolas asserted. "I am yours to do +with as you wish. Beat me, if I do not perform my work well." + +"But I wouldn't beat a dog. Almost any dog is too fine a fellow +to be served in that fashion," Tom explained. + +"_Caballeros_, I am here to receive your pleasure and commands +concerning breakfast." + +"Is it ready?" demanded Harry hopefully. + +"The kitchen is open, and the cooks there," Nicolas responded. +"When your excellency's orders have been given the cooks will prepare +your meal with great dispatch." + +"Has Don Luis come down yet?" Tom inquired. + +"No; for his great excellency has not yet eaten," answered the _peon_. + +"Oh! Then your master eats in his own room?" Tom asked. + +"Don Luis eats always his breakfast in bed," Nicolas told them. + +"Then I guess we were too fresh, Tom, in getting up," laughed Harry. + +As this was spoken in English, Nicolas, not understanding, paid +no heed. Tom and Harry, on the other hand, had a conversational +smattering of Spanish, for in Arizona they had had a large force +of Mexican laborers working under them. + +"Nicolas, my good boy," Tom went on, "we are quite new to the ways +of Mexico. We shall have to ask you to explain some matters to us." + +"I am a dog," said Nicolas, gravely, "but even a dog may speak +according to his knowledge." + +"Then of what does the breakfast here usually consist?" + +"Of anything in Don Luis's larder," replied the _peon_ grandly. + +"Yet surely there must be some rule about the meal." + +"The only rule, excellency, is the pleasure of the host." + +"What does Don Luis, then, usually order?" + +"Chocolate," replied the servant. + +"Nothing else?" + +"And a roll or two, excellency." + +"What does he eat after that?" Harry demanded, rather anxiously. + +"Nothing, _caballero_, until the next meal." + +"Chocolate and a roll or two," muttered Harry. "I am afraid that +wouldn't hold me through a day's work. Not even a forenoon's +toil. I never did like to diet on a plan of tightening my belt." + +"Anything for which the _caballero_ will ask shall be brought," +replied Nicolas, with another bow. + +"How about a steak, Tom?" Harry asked, turning to his chum. + +"Pardon, excellency, but we have no such thing here," Nicolas +interposed, meekly. + +"Eggs?" Harry guessed. + +"Excellency, we shall hope to have some eggs by to-morrow," + +"Harry, you idiot, why didn't you ask for mince pie and doughnuts, +too?" laughed Reade. + +"Nicolas, my boy, the trouble with me," Harry explained, "is that +chocolate and rolls will never hold my soul and body together +for more than an hour at a time. Chocolate and rolls by all means, +but help us out a bit. What can we call for that is more hearty." + +"There are _tortillas_ to be had sometimes," the servant answered. +"Also, sometimes, _frijoles_." + +"They both sound good," Harry assented vaguely. "Bring us some." + +"_Caballeros_, you shall be served with the speed at which the +eagle flies!" exclaimed the servant. With a separate bow to each +he withdrew, softly closing the door after him. + +"Now Harry, let's hustle into some clothes," urged Tom. "Since we +are to eat here mine clothes will be the thing. Hustle into them!" + +Bred in the ways of the camps, ten minutes later Tom and Harry +were washed, dressed and otherwise tidy in every respect. + +"I've a mind to go outdoors and get some glimpses of the scenery +for a few minutes," Harry hinted. + +"Don't think of it. You don't want to come back to a cold breakfast." + +So both seated themselves, regretting the absence of morning newspapers. + +Then the time began to drag. Finally the delay became wearisome. + +"I wonder how many people Nicolas is serving this morning?" murmured +Hazelton, at last. + +"Everyone in the house would be my guess," laughed Tom. Still time +dragged by. + +"What on earth will Don Luis think of us?" Harry grunted. + +"There is only one thing for it, if this delay lasts any longer," +Tom answered. "If this delay lasts much longer we shall have +to put off breakfast until to-morrow and get to work." + +"Put off breakfast until to-morrow?" Hazelton gasped. "That's +where I draw the line. Before I'll stir a step from here I must +have at least food enough to grubstake a canary bird." + +Some minutes later, Nicolas rapped at the door. He then entered, +bearing a tray enveloped in snowy linen. This tray he put down, +then spread a tablecloth that he had brought over one arm. + +"Will you be seated, _caballeros_?" he asked, respectfully, as +he took his stand by the tray. Then he whisked away the linen +cover. Gravely he set upon the table a pot of chocolate, two +dainty cups and saucers and a plate containing four rolls. + +"Where's the butter, Nicolas?" asked Harry. + +"Butter, _caballero_? I did not understand that you wished it. +I will get it. I will run all the way to the kitchen and back." + +"Never mind the butter this morning, Nicolas," spoke up Tom, at +the same time kicking Harry gently under the table. + +"Can I serve you further, now, _caballeros_" inquired Nicolas, +with great respect, "or shall I bring you the remainder of your +breakfast?" + +"Bring us the rest of the breakfast, by all means," begged Harry, +and the servant left them. + +"Why did you tell him not to mind the butter?" grunted Hazelton. + +"Because," Tom answered, "it struck me that, in Mexico, it may +not be customary to serve butter in the morning." + +Harry took a bite of one of the rolls, finding it to be soft, +flaky and delicious. Then he removed another linen covering from +the pot and started to pour the chocolate. That beverage did +not come as freely as he had expected. + +"What ails the stuff?" grunted Hazelton. "This isn't the first +of April." + +Then Harry removed the lid from the pot, glancing inside, next +he picked up a spoon and stirred the contents of the pot. + +"I wish Nicolas were here," said Hazelton. + +"Why?" Tom wanted to know. + +"I'm bothered about what's etiquette in Mexico. I don't know +whether it's right to eat this stuff with a knife, or whether +we're expected to spread the stuff on the rolls." + +"It is pretty thick stuff," Tom agreed, after taking a look. +"But let me have the pot and the spoon. I think I can manage it." + +After some work Tom succeeded in reducing the chocolate to a +consistency that admitted of pouring, though very slowly. + +"It took you almost three minutes to pour two cups," said Harry, +returning his watch to his pocket. "Come on, now! We've got +to make up for lost time. What will Don Luis think of us? And +yet it is his household arrangements that are keeping us away +from our work." + +Chocolate and rolls were soon disposed of. Then the two engineers +sat back, wondering whether Nicolas had deserted them. Finally, +both rose and walked to stretch their legs. + +"No restaurant in New York has anything on this place for slow-march +service!" growled Hazelton. + +As all things must come at last, so did Nicolas. He carried a +tray and was followed by a second servant, bringing another. + +The _tortillas_ proved to be, as Harry put it, "a cross between +a biscuit and flapjack." The _frijoles_ were just plain boiled +beans, which had evidently been cooked on some other day, and +were now mushy. But it was a very solid meal that now lay before +them, and the young engineers ate heartily. + +"Will the _caballeros_ have some more chocolate?" suggested Nicolas. + +"Not now," said Hazelton. "But you might order some for to-morrow's +breakfast, and then we shan't have to wait for so long next time." + +The additional servant had gone, noiselessly, but Nicolas hovered +about, silently. + +At last the meal was finished. Tom had chewed his food thoroughly, +what he had eaten of it, but Harry, in his hunger, had eaten hurriedly. + +"Now we'll have to find Don Luis and apologize," hinted Tom. +"Hereafter I can see that we shall have to rise much earlier. +Confound it, it's a quarter of nine, already." + +The two youngsters hastened out to the veranda. A man servant +was lazily dusting and placing porch chairs. + +"Has Don Luis gone to the mine?" asked Tom in Spanish. + +"Don Luis?" repeated the servant, in evident astonishment. "Presently +his excellency will be dressing." + +"Thank you," nodded Tom, and paced the veranda, leisurely. "Harry, +we didn't make such a bad break after all, then. Plainly Don Luis +didn't plan an early start." + +"Is Dr. Tisco around?" asked Harry, of the servant. + +"The learned doctor must be dressing by this time, _caballero_," +replied the servant respectfully. + +"Hm!" mused Harry. "Can it be that the people in Bonista do their +work at night?" + +"Oh, I'll wager the poor _peons_ at the mine have been at work +for some time," Tom smiled. "Anyway, I'm glad we haven't kept +everyone else waiting." + +At half-past ten o'clock Dr. Tisco appeared, immaculate in white. +He bowed low and courteously to the guests. + +"I trust, _caballeros_, that you have enjoyed perfect rest." + +"Yes," answered Harry. "And now we're fidgeting to get at work. +But, of course, we can't start for the mine until Don Luis gives +us the word, and we are at his pleasure." + +"It is nearly time for Don Luis to appear," said Tisco gravely. + +"Is he always as late as this?" + +"Here, Senor Hazelton, we do not call eleven o'clock a late hour +for appearing." + +Twenty minutes later Don Luis appeared, clad in white and indolently +puffing at a Mexican cigarette. + +"You will smoke, gentlemen?" inquired their host, courteously, after +he had inquired concerning their rest. + +"Thank you," Tom responded, pleasantly. "We have never used tobacco." + +Don Luis rang and a servant appeared. + +"Have one of my cars ordered," commanded Don Luis. + +Ten minutes later a car rolled around to the entrance. + +"You will come with us, Carlos?" inquired Don Luis. + +"Assuredly, Don Luis," replied the secretary, in the tone of a man +who was saying that he would not for worlds miss an expected treat. + +It was a seven-passenger car of late design. Into the tonneau +stepped the two Mexicans and the two young engineers. + +"To the mines," ordered Don Luis. + +"Do you wish speed, excellency?" inquired the chauffeur. + +"No; we will go slowly. We may wish to talk." + +Gravely, in military fashion, the chauffeur saluted, then allowed +the automobile to roll slowly away. + +"It is not an attractive road, after we leave the _hacienda_," +explained Don Luis Montez to Tom. "It is a dusty road, and a +somewhat hard one. The mining country is not a beautiful place +in which to live." + +"It is at least more beautiful than the country in which our mine +is located," Tom replied. + +"Are you gentlemen, then, mine owners as well as mine experts?" +inquired their host. + +Tom told Don Luis briefly about their mine, the Ambition, in the +Indian Smoke Range, Nevada. + +"And is your mine a profitable one?" inquired the Mexican. + +"It hasn't made us millionaires," Tom rejoined, modestly, "but +it pays us more money, every month, than we really need." + +Don Luis glanced covertly at his secretary, with a look that conveyed: + +"If these young Gringos have all the money they want, and more, +then we may find it difficult to appeal to their avarice." + +Dr. Tisco's return glance as much as said: + +"I am all the more certain that we shall find them difficult." + +Don Luis commented to the two young men on the country through +which they were passing. Finally the car drew up before the entrance +to _El Sombrero_ Mine. There was the shaft entrance and near it a +goodly-sized dump for ore. Not far from the entrance was a small +but very neat looking office building, and a second, still smaller, +which might have been a timekeeper's office. + +"Hello, Pedro!" called Don Luis. + +Out of the office building sprang a dark-featured Mexican, perhaps +forty years of age. He was truly a large man--more than six feet +in height, broad of shoulder and deep of chest, a splendid type +of manhood. + +"My good Gato," purred Don Luis, "pay your respects to _Los Caballeros_ +Reade and Hazelton." + +Gato approached, without offering his hand. His big, wolfish +eyes looked over the young American pair keenly. + +"So Don Luis has brought you here to show whether you are any good?" +said the mine manager, in a voice as big as his frame. "I shall +soon know." + +Before the big, formidable manager Harry Hazelton remained silent, +while Don Luis and his secretary slid softly into the office building. + +"Gato, just what do you mean by your remark?" asked Tom Reade, very +quietly. + +"I mean that I shall put you at work and find out what you can do," +leered the mine manager. + +"Mistake number one!" rejoined Tom coolly. "I do not understand that +you have any authority to give us orders." + +"You shall soon learn, then!" growled the man. "I am the mine +manager here." + +"And we are the engineers about to be placed in charge," Tom continued. +"If we stay, Gato, you will assist us in all ways that you can. +Then, when you have received our instructions you will carry them +out according to the best of your ability." + +The two looked each other sternly in the eyes, Pedro Gato appearing +as though he enjoyed young Americans better than any other food in +the world. Indeed, he might have been expected to eat one of them +right then and there. + +Behind a shade in the office building Dr. Tisco stirred uneasily. + +"What did I say to you, Don Luis?" inquired the secretary. "Did +I not suggest that these Gringos would not be easily controlled?" + +"Wait!" advised Don Luis Montez. "Wait! You have not yet seen what +my Gato will do. He is not a baby." + +"These Gringos will balk at every hour of the day and night," +predicted Dr. Tisco. + +"Wait until you have seen my good Gato tame them!" chuckled Don +Luis, softly. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +GATO STRIKES THE UP TRAIL + + +"When you speak to me, Gringo," bellowed Pedro Gato, "you will--" + +"Stop, Greaser!" shot back Tom, sternly, though he did not even stir +or raise his hands. + +"Greaser?" bellowed Pedro Gato. "That is foul insult!" + +"Not more so than to call me a Gringo," Tom Reade went on coolly. +"So we are even, though I feel rather debased to have used such +a word. Gato, if you make the mistake, again, of using an offensive +term when addressing me, I shall--well, I may show a somewhat +violent streak." + +"You?" sneered Gato. Then something in the humor of the situation +appealed to him. He threw back his head and laughed loudly. + +"Gringo," he began, "you will--" + +"Stop that line of talk, fellow," commanded Tom quietly. "When +you address me, be good enough to say either 'senor' or 'sir.' +I am not usually as disagreeable as this in dealing with my fellow +men, but you have begun wrong with us, Gato, and the first thing +you'll have to learn to do will be to treat us with proper courtesy." + +From the shaft entrance showed the faces of four grinning, wondering +Mexicans of the usual type. The talk had proceeded in Spanish, and +they had been able to follow it. + +As for the mine manager, his bronzed face was distorted with rage. +The veins near his forehead were swelling. With a sudden roar, +Pedro Gato sprang forward, aiming a blow with his open right hand +at Reade's face. + +Bump! That blow failed to land. It was Gato, instead, who landed. +He went down on his back, striking the ground with jarring force. + +"What did I say?" whispered Dr. Tisco. + +"Wait!" responded Don Luis, with a shrug of his shoulders. + +Well-nigh frothing at the mouth, Pedro Gato leaped to his feet. +All was red now before his eyes. He rushed forward bellowing +like a bull, intent on crushing the young American who had dared +to treat him thus. + +Tom's left fist drove into the fellow's unguarded face. His right +followed, and Gato, big as he was, staggered back. Tom's right +foot performed a trip that sent the big Mexican bully to earth again. + +"Now get up, Gato, like a man of intelligence, and behave yourself," +advised Reade coolly. "Just because we have had a bad introduction +is no reason why we should continue enemies. You treat me with +proper respect and I'll do as much for you." + +But Gato snarled like a wild beast. He was not armed. With every +man in these Bonista mountains afraid of him, Gato had never felt +the need of carrying weapons. But now he plunged to the doorway +of the shaft house, then came bounding back, flourishing a knife +that he had snatched from one of the _peons_. + +"Back! Back, Gato!" shouted Dr. Tisco, rushing from the office +building. + +To the secretary Gato paid no heed. He was close to Tom now, +circling cautiously around the young engineer. Harry, though not +at all minded to bolt, had stepped back far enough to give Reade +elbow room. + +"Stop, Gato!" shouted Don Luis. "It is I who command it--I, Don +Luis. Throw your knife on the ground." + +Gato snarled, but he was cowed. The brutal manager held his employer +in awe. He was about to cast his weapon down when Tom Reade +interposed. + +"Don Luis, I ask you to let the fellow go on. This question will +have to be settled right before we can proceed. This fellow is +only a coward, or he wouldn't need a knife in fighting with a man +half his size." + +"Better throw away your knife, my good Gato," purred Don Luis, +"or Senor Reade will shoot you." + +"I won't," Tom retorted. "I couldn't, anyway. I am not armed. +I never was enough afraid of any one to carry weapons. But let +Gato go on with his knife. If he fails, then I shall hit him until +my arm aches." + +"Stop, Senor Reade! I command it!" cried Don Luis, imperiously. +"And you, Gato, throw down your knife. I will not have fighting +here among men who must be friends." + +But Gato, after hearing himself described as a coward, saw only +red before his eyes. He must have this Gringo's life, and that +quickly. Afterwards he would explain and seek Don Luis's pardon. + +"If you prefer, Gato, we will shake hands and forget this," suggested +Tom Reade. + +"Ah, so you are afraid?" sneered the mine manager. + +"Try me and see, if you prefer that," Tom retorted. + +With a snarl Gato circled closer. Don Luis Montez snatched from +one of his pockets a silver-mounted revolver, but Hazelton caught +the flash and in the next instant he had wrenched the pistol away +from the mine owner. + +"This is Reade's fight, Don Luis," Harry explained. + +"Hand back my pistol instantly," hissed Don Luis. + +"Not until the fight is decided, Don Luis," Harry rejoined. Slipping +the weapon into one of his own pockets he retreated a few yards. + +Suddenly Gato sprang, the knife uplifted. Tom Reade leaped in +the same fraction of a second. Tom's shoulder landed under Gato's +right shoulder, and the knife did not descend. Like a flash Tom +bent as he wheeled. Gripping the mine manager by the captured +arm, Tom threw him forcefully over his own shoulder. Pedro Gato +landed, half-dazed, on the ground. Tom, snatching the knife, +hurled it as far as he could throw it. + +Snarling, the big fellow started to rise. As he did so Tom Reade's +fist landed, sending the Greaser bully to earth. The big fellow +made several efforts to rise, but each time Tom's fist sent him +flat again, until a final heavy blow silenced him. + +"Don Luis," explained Tom, quietly, turning and bowing, "I can't +begin to tell you how much I regret this unavoidable scene. When +I encountered this big bully I was at once tempted to resign my +position here with you, for I realize, of course, that I cannot +hope to go on with any such man in a position where I would have +to depend so much upon his cheerful and friendly service. I would +have resigned, but I realize, Don Luis, how much expense you have +gone to in the matter of getting us here, and I know, also, that +there might be a good deal of delay in getting some one else to +take our places." + +"Gato will not trouble you again," promised Don Luis, bowing charmingly. + +"Of course not, sir," Tom rejoined. "I couldn't work here and +let him go on annoying me all the time. Don Luis, I shall have +to crave your indulgence to the extent of discharging this fellow +and securing another manager who is less of a wild beast and more +of a man." + +"Oh, but I cannot let Pedro Gato go," protested Don Luis, quickly. +"He is too old an employ, too valuable a man. No other could +manage my _peons_ as he does." + +"Let me go!" begged Gato, harshly. "Let me go, that I may have +all my time to myself that I may find the best way to avenge myself +on this miserable Gringo. Don Luis, do not think of attempting +to keep me penned in _El Sombrero_. I must be idle that I may +have the more time to think." + +Tom remained silent. He had stated his case, and the decision must +be found by Don Luis. + +"For many reasons," whispered Dr. Tisco, "let Gato go. For either +good or bad reasons it will be best to let him go." + +"You are right, Carlos," nodded the mine owner quickly. Then, +raising his voice: + +"My good Gato, you shall have your wish," he went on, in his purring +tone. "Yet do not think there is anger behind my words. I let +you go because it is your wish. I do not so decide that I may +humiliate you, but because you have served me well. When you +need a friend, Gatito, you will know to whom to send word. Go your +way in friendship." + +Even Tom Reade, with his somewhat scant knowledge of Spanish, +was quick to note, mentally, the meaning of that term, "Gatito," +which meant "little Gato," and was used as a term of affection. +It was a form of telegraphy that was not wasted on the departing +mine manager, either, for it told him that Don Luis had some excellent +reason for thus quickly falling in with the wishes of the new +American chief engineer. + +With a grateful smile at Don Luis, then with a scowl of unutterable +hatred flung in Tom Reade's direction, Pedro Gato next turned on his +heel and strode up the path. + +From his pocket Harry Hazelton drew forth the silver-mounted revolver +and approached the owner of the mine. + +"Allow me to return this to you, Don Luis," urged Hazelton. "I +must also apologize for having snatched it from you so rudely. +I did not know what else to do, for I feared that you intended +to interfere in the quarrel." + +"And what if I had so intended?" asked the Mexican mine owner, +with one of his puzzling smiles. + +"Just this," Harry answered, candidly. "Mr. Reade never gets +into a fight if he can help it. When he does find himself in +one I have learned, from long experience, not to interfere unless +he calls for help. So I did not want any one to interfere between +him and Gato." + +"It was a most unfortunate affair," said the Mexican. "Senor +Tomaso, I must warn you that Pedro Gato is one who never forgives +an injury. He will devote himself to thoughts of a revenge that +shall be terrible enough to satisfy his wounded feelings. You +will do well to be on your guard." + +Tom smiled as he replied: + +"Don Luis, I trust that I have seen the last of the fellow." + +"Be assured that you have not seen the last of him, Senor Tomaso." + +"Then it may go hard with Gato," smiled Tom, carelessly. "But +I trust I have not offended you in this matter, Don Luis. If +I have, I am willing to withdraw, and I will reimburse you for +the expense you have incurred in bringing us here." + +"I shall not let you go," smiled the Mexican, "unless you feel that +you no longer wish to remain in the same country with Pedro Gato." + +"That thought has not entered my mind, sir," Reade responded, +almost stiffly. + +"Then we will say no more about the matter, and you will remain," +nodded the Mexican. "And now we will go down into the mine and +give you your first chance to examine our problems there." + +As they entered the shaft house it was discovered that the elevator +cage was at the foot of the shaft. While they waited for the +cage to come up, keen Dr. Tisco whispered to Tom: + +"Senor Reade, night and day you must be unceasingly on your guard +against Gato. In these mountains a hundred men will follow his +beck and call." + +"If they are all like him, then Gato should turn bandit," laughed +young Reade. + +"It is not unlikely that he will do so," sighed Tisco, with a +slight shrug of his shoulders. "In Mexico, when a defeated man +seeks blood revenge it is no uncommon thing for him to turn bandit +until he has accomplished his hope of a terrible revenge. Then, +afterwards, if the bandit has annoyed the government enough, and +has repeatedly escaped capture, the bandit makes his peace with +the authorities and receives his pardon." + +The cage arriving at this moment, the four men entered, and started +downward. Three hundred and sixty feet from the earth's surface +Don Luis led them from the car into a tunnel. + +"I will now show you," promised Don Luis, "something of the problem +that confronts the engineers of this mine." + +"Keep your eyes open, and your wits about you, Harry," whispered +Tom Reade. "I may be wholly wrong, yet, somehow, I can't quite +rid myself of a notion that Don Luis wants us for some piece of +rascally work, though of what kind I can't imagine." + +"I shall watch these two Gringos like a cat," reflected Dr. Tisco. +"I half suspect that they will foolishly sacrifice their lives +sooner than serve us." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +TOM DOES SOME SAMPLING + + +At sight of Don Luis's party a Mexican foreman came running forward. + +"How runs the ore this morning?" asked Don Luis. + +"Not quite as well as usual, excellency," replied the man, with +a shrug of his shoulders. + +"How! Do you mean to tell me that the ore is running out for +a streak!" + +"Oh, no, excellency. Yet it is the poorest ore that we have struck +for a fortnight. However, it will pay expenses and leave something +for profit, too, excellency." + +"Show us what you have been doing," Don Luis directed. + +Leading the way with a lantern that threw a brilliant light, the +foreman went on down the tunnel to the heading. As he neared +the end of the tunnel the man called loudly and a number of workmen +stepped aside. + +As they reached the spot, Tom's quick eye saw that the morning's +blasts had loosened some eight tons or so of ore. Drillers stood +ready to drive through the rock for the next blast. + +"Let us look at the ore, Senor Tomaso," suggested the mine owner. + +Tom began to delve through the piles of shattered, reduced rock. +The foreman held the lantern close, that the young engineer might +have all the light he wanted, and called to miners to bring their +lights closer. + +Then Harry, also, began to examine the rock. For some minutes +the two young engineers picked up specimens and examined them. + +"What do you make of it?" inquired Don Luis Montez at last. + +"Is this what you call a run of poor luck?" Tom asked the foreman, +dryly. + +"Yes, senor; rather poor," answered the foreman. + +"Then it must be rather exciting here when the ore is running +well," smiled Tom. "At a guess I should say that this 'poor' +stuff before us will run thirty dollars to the ton." + +"It usually runs fifty, senor," broke in Don Luis. "Sometimes, +for a run of a hundred tons, the ore will show up better than +seventy-five dollars per ton." + +"Whew!" whistled Reade. "Then no wonder you call this the land +of golden promise." + +"By comparison it would make the mines in the United States look +poor, would it not?" laughed the mine owner. + +"There are very few mines there that show frequent runs of fifty +dollars to the ton," Harry observed. + +"Are you going to clear out this ore, and send it to the dump" +Tom asked the foreman. + +"Yes." + +"Then I would be glad if you would do so at once," Tom remarked. + +For answer the Mexican foreman stared at Tom in a rather puzzled +way. + +"I will do so as soon as I am ordered," he responded, respectfully. + +"All right," returned Reade. "I'll give you the order. Clear +this stuff out and get it up in the ore cage. Clear this tunnel +floor with all the speed you comfortably can." + +"Perhaps the senor will explain?" suggested the foreman. + +"These _caballeros_ are the new engineers in charge of the mine," +said Dr. Tisco. + +"Ah! So? Then if Pedro Gato will only give the order--" began +the foreman. + +"If Pedro Gato gives you any orders," Tom suggested, briskly, "you +will ignore them. Pedro Gato is no longer connected with the mine." + +"Not connected?" gasped the foreman, who plainly doubted his ears. + +"No," broke in Don Luis. "You will take no more orders from Gato. +These _caballeros_ are the engineers, and they are in charge. You +heard the order of Senor Reade. You will clean out this tunnel, +sending the ore above to the dump." + +"It shall be done," cried the foreman, bowing low before the mine +owner. + +"And now, Senor Tomaso, if it suits you, we will go to another +tunnel," proposed Don Luis. + +"Very good, sir," Tom assented. "What had been in my mind was +to order the drillers at work here and see a blast made." + +"We can be back long before the next blast can be prepared," replied +Montez. "Carlos, lead the way to tunnel number four." + +The secretary turned, retracing his steps, Don Luis bringing up +the rear. + +"Oho! I have dropped my cigar case," remarked Don Luis a minute +later. "I will go back and get it." + +The others waited near the shaft. Tom wondered, slightly, why +Dr. Tisco had not volunteered to go back after his employer's +missing cigar case. + +Presently Don Luis appeared. + +"Now we will go to number four," he said. + +The cage carried them to a lower level. Here another foreman came +forward to meet them and to conduct them to the heading. Here were +some five tons of rock. Tom and Harry found it to be about the same +grade of ore as that seen above. + +"Is this ore as good as you usually find in this vein?" Tom inquired +of the second foreman. + +"Not quite, senor, though to-day's blasts have turned out to be +very fair ore," responded the foreman. + +"I should say it is good ore," Tom remarked dryly. "Now, will +you set the shovelers at work moving this stuff back a little +way? I want to see a new drilling made and watch the results +of the blast." + +"If Pedro Gato--" began the foreman, reluctantly. + +"Pedro Gato has nothing to do with this," Tom answered quickly. +"Mr. Hazelton and I are privileged to give such orders as we deem +best. Will you kindly tell the foreman so, Don Luis?" + +"It is quite true," replied the mine owner. "Gato is no longer +with us, and these gentlemen are in charge." + +"Then I will have the ore moved back at once," agreed the foreman. + +"But first we will go back out of the dirt and out of the danger +from the blast," spoke Don Luis, using a good deal the tone of +an order. + +"The rest of you may go back," suggested Reade. "But I wish to +see the drilling done." + +"It is unnecessary, Senor Tomaso," smiled Don Luis, blandly. +"Come back with us." + +"I must see the men work, Don Luis, if I am to understand the work +here," Tom rejoined, very quietly, though with a firmness that was +wholly apparent. + +"Oh, very good then," smiled Montez, with a shrug of his shoulders. + +Three of the inspecting party went back, but Tom remained close +behind the drillers. Twice he stopped them in their work, to +collect small samples of the pulverized stuff that the drills +turned back. These specimens he placed in sample envelopes and +stored in his pockets. From the ore that was being shoveled back +he chose other small specimens, labeling the envelopes in which +he stored them. + +By the time that the ore had been shoveled well back the drillers +had completed their work. Now the "dope men" came forward, putting +the sticks of dynamite in place. Tom watched them closely. + +"Do you call this last work well done?" Tom inquired of the foreman +of the tunnel. + +"Yes, yes, senor, as well as I have been able to see," responded +the Mexican. + +"Then come with me. Just look at the tamping. Hardly worthy +of the name of tamping, is it?" Tom asked, poking at the material +that had been forced in as tamping. + +"Senor, my men must have been indolent, this time," admitted the +foreman. + +"Very indolent, or else indifferent," Tom smiled, grimly. "Here, +you men, come here and let me show you how to set dynamite and +tamp it. Perhaps I do not understand the job very well, but we +shall see." + +Ten minutes later Tom Reade abandoned his work, rather well satisfied. + +"Now, when we fire the blasts, we shall move some rock, I believe," +he smiled. + +The wires were attached, and all hands went back, most of them +going considerably to the rear of the man at the magneto battery. + +A rocking explosion followed. Tom was among the first to run forward. +At the heading were heaps of rock. + +"Get in and pry it loose. Shovel it back," Tom ordered, in Spanish. + +Shortly after, Don Luis, Dr. Tisco and Harry appeared on the scene. +They found Tom turning over the ore as it came back. More than a +dozen samples he dropped into envelopes, labeled them and put them +away in his pockets. + +"What ails this lot of ore?" inquired Harry, after looking at +specimens. + +"It is not running as well," said Tom briefly. "Go through the +stuff and see what you think of it." + +"But we have much more to see, _caballeros_," interposed Don Luis. + +"If you will be kind enough to indulge me here, for a few minutes +more, I shall be grateful," Tom informed him. + +"Oh, very good," assented Don Luis, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"But it is not my purpose to tire you with too many observations +on our first trip through the mine." + +With a fine sample of Castillian courtesy and patience, Don Luis +waited, smoking, until Reade had quite finished his inspection. + +"I am now at your service, Don Luis," announced the young chief +engineer, rising and going toward his employer. + +The remaining four tunnels of _El Sombrero_ Mine were visited. In +each tunnel was the same pile of ore awaiting them, and it all +looked good. That in number three was the richest ore of all. + +"Now, I think we have seen enough for today," announced Don Luis, +when they had inspected number three tunnel. + +"Then if you will go along and let me join you later, I shall +appreciate it," Tom suggested politely. + +"You wish to linger?" queried Don Luis, looking amused. + +"I wish to see a blast made here," Tom replied. + +"I, too, would like to see one," Harry added. + +"Then we will wait for you," agreed Don Luis, with a sigh that +contained just a trace of impatience. + +A drilling and a blast were made. Again a lot of poor rock was +loosened. Tom and Harry collected specimens, labeling them. + +"Now, we will return to the house," said Don Luis. + +"I would really like to put in a long day here at the mine," proposed +Reade, reluctantly. + +"To-morrow, then," nodded Don Luis. "But, for to-day, I am tired +of this place. There is much about which I wish to consult you, +_caballeros_, at my office." + +Tom glanced swiftly, covertly at Harry, then responded: + +"In that case, my dear Don Luis, we are wholly at your service." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MINE THAT DID AND DIDN'T + + +At the head of the shaft, Nicolas, the servant, awaited them. + +"Nicolas, you rascal!" exclaimed Don Luis, angrily. "You have +not been attending your _caballeros_." + +"Your pardon, excellency, but the automobile moved too swiftly for +me," pleaded Nicolas. "All the way to the mine I ran, and here I +have waited until now." + +"Keep pace with your duties hereafter, scoundrel," commanded Don +Luis, angrily. + +Nicolas stepped meekly to the rear of the party. It was his business +to attend Tom and Harry everywhere. In Mexico one of the grade +of gentleman, if he wishes only a glass of water, does not go +for it; he sends the attending servant. + +This time Nicolas slipped up on the front seat of the car beside the +chauffeur. The car traveled at a high rate of speed over the rough +road. + +"It must cost you a mint of money for tires and repairs, not to +speak of new cars," laughed Tom, after he had been bounced up +two feet in the air as the automobile ran over a rough place in +the road. + +"Pouf! What does it matter, to a man who owns _El Sombrero_?" +smiled Don Luis Montez. + +"I am answered," Tom agreed. "The price of a few imported cars +cannot matter much to you." + +"How many better mines than _El Sombrero_ have you seen?" questioned +the mine owner, leaning forward. + +"None," said Tom, promptly. + +"If all days' indications are as good as those of to-day," Harry +added. + +"To-day has been but a poor day at the mine," murmured Dr. Tisco. + +"Then _El Sombrero_ is indeed a marvel," Tom declared. + +"It is a very rich mine," nodded Don Luis. "Yet there may be richer +ones, in these mountains, yet undiscovered." + +"Where is the next best mine around here?" Tom inquired. + +"Perhaps it is _El Padre_," murmured Don Luis, after a slight pause. + +"Where is _El Padre_ (the Priest) located?" Tom wanted to know. + +"It is about four miles from here, up over that road," Don Luis +rejoined, pointing out the direction. + +"May I ask if _El Padre_ is one of your properties, Don Luis?" +Tom continued. + +"No; why should I want it when I own _El Sombrero_?" + +"Not unless you wish to own as many mines as possible." + +"_El Sombrero_ should be enough for my greatest dreams of wealth," +declared Don Luis, closing his eyes dreamily. + +Then the car stopped before the house. + +Don Luis alighted, Tom and Harry at his heels. A servant appeared +at the entrance to the court and informed him that the midday meal +was ready to serve. + +"We will go to the table, then," exclaimed the Mexican. "After +having luncheon we shall be ready for an afternoon of hard work." + +No sooner had the young engineers slipped into their seats at +table than Nicolas appeared behind their chairs. He served them +gravely and without a word. + +For nearly an hour the luncheon lasted. Finally the dishes were +cleared away and several boxes of cigars were brought. Tom and +Harry both declined them. Dr. Tisco lighted a cigar at once; +Don Luis spent much time in selecting his cigar. This he lighted +with the same deliberation. At last the mine owner settled back +in his seat. + +"_Caballeros_," he inquired, suddenly, "what did you think of +_El Sombrero_?" + +"I would call it, Don Luis," Harry replied, with enthusiasm, "the +finest mine I have seen or heard of." + +"You did not see the best of the ore to-day," Montez assured them. + +"What ore we did see is as fine as any we would ever wish to see," +Tom said. + +"Then you were delighted with the mine?" inquired their host, +turning to Reade and speaking more eagerly. + +"If the ore always runs as well," Tom rejoined, "it ought to be +one of the richest gold and silver properties in the world." + +"Pouf! The ore usually runs much better--is worth much more +than that which you saw to-day," protested Don Luis. + +"Then you are to be congratulated on possessing a treasure among +mines," Tom commented. + +"I am delighted to hear you say that." + +"But when we adjourn to your office," Reade continued, "there +are a few questions that I shall want to ask you." + +"Why not ask them here, Senor Tomaso?" queried Don Luis, in his +purring, half affectionate voice. + +"Here at your table?" protested Reade. + +"But this is not dinner. This is a mere business luncheon," replied +Don Luis, with another smile. + +"Yet I would like to discuss some of the samples with you, Don Luis," +Tom explained. "Surely, you do not wish me to bring out dirty +samples to spread on your fine linen." + +"It would matter not," declared the Mexican. "Still, if you have +scruples about the proprieties, then we will go to the office +within a few minutes." + +The two who were smoking continued to do so. Don Luis started +to describe some of his experiments in raising Spanish mules. +The finest mules that come out of Spain, class, in price, with +blooded horses. Don Luis talked with the enthusiasm of one who +understood and loved mules. + +Then, finally, they passed to the office. + +"Now, I shall be glad to talk with you for hours," the Mexican +hidalgo assured the young engineers. + +Dr. Tisco, as though to show that he took no personal interest in +the talk, retired to an armchair at the further end of the room. +Nevertheless, the secretary observed carefully all that was said. +Covertly he studied the faces of the young engineers at all times. + +"Ask me what you will," begged Don Luis, as he sank into an easy +chair close to the table on which Tom began to arrange his envelopes +of specimens taken from the mine. + +"First of all, Don Luis," Tom began, "you spoke of some problems +that you wished us to solve in the operation of your mine." + +"Yes, Senor Tomaso." + +"I would like to ask you what the problems are that we are to +consider," Tom announced. + +"Did you not see some of the problems before you, while we were +going through the mine?" inquired Montez. + +"At the risk, Don Luis, of appearing stupid, I must confess that +I did not." + +"Ah, well, then we shall come to the problems presently. You +have other questions. Ask some of them." + +For a moment or two Reade studied what he had written on the various +envelopes before him. Then he picked out two. + +"Here, Don Luis," the young chief engineer went on, "are samples of +two lots of ore. The first is from the pile that we found pried +loose when we went into the first tunnel that we visited. It +is rich ore." + +"It is good enough ore," Montez replied, with a polite shrug of +the shoulders. + +"Now, from the second tunnel that we entered, and where we also +found a pile of loose ore, here is another sample. It is as rich +as the first sample." + +"Certainly, Senor Tomaso." + +"But in this second tunnel I had a drilling made and a blast fired. +Here," picking up a third envelope and emptying it, "is a sample +of the ore that we saw taken from that blast. If this sample +contains any gold or silver the quantity is so small, evidently, +as to render this kind of ore worthless." + +"Yes?" murmured Don Luis, softly. "What is it that you have to say?" + +"Why, sir, how does it happen that, right on top of such extra-fine +ore we run upon blank rock at the very next blasting." + +"That sometimes happens in _El Sombrero_," Don Luis replied, smoothly, + +"How often has it happened?" asked Tom, looking up from the table +and glancing keenly at Don Luis. + +Dr. Tisco, though he appeared to be almost asleep, stirred uneasily. + +"How often has it happened?" repeated Don Luis. "Oh, perhaps +a dozen times in a few months, taking all the tunnels together." + +"How long have these streaks of blank rock been?" insisted Tom +Reade, while Harry wondered at what his chum was driving. + +"How long?" echoed Montez, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oh, +how should I know? Personally I am not interested in such things." + +"But have you gone as much as a whole week drilling and blasting +through blank rock?" Tom pressed. + +"A week? No; not for two days. Of that I am certain. But why +do you ask all this, Senor Tomaso?" + +"In order that I may better understand the nature of the mine," +Reade responded. "I want to know what the chances are, as based +on the record of the mine to date. Of course, Don Luis, you know +what it means, often, when pay ore fails to come out of a streak, +and a solid wall of blank rock is encountered." + +By "blank rock" Tom meant rock that did not contain a promising +or paying amount of metal in the ore. + +"What it means?" Montez asked. "No; I can't say that I do." + +"The wall of blank rock, found at the end of a vein of gold, Don +Luis, often, if not usually, means that the vein has run out, +and that it is useless to dig further." + +"I did not know that," murmured the Mexican, in a tone of merely +polite astonishment. "Then you believe that _El Sombrero_ will +not turn out much more profitable ore?" + +"I didn't say that," Tom continued. "But I will admit that finding +the wall of blank rock ahead made me a bit nervous. Some great +mines have been started, Don Luis, as you must be aware. For +a few weeks they have panned out ore of the highest value. Much +capital has been put into such mines, and for a time men have +thought they owned a new Golconda. Then--suddenly--the blank +wall, and no more gold has ever come out of that mine. In other +words, it was but a pocket of rich gold that had been struck, and +nothing more. Hundreds of men have ruined themselves by investing +in such mines." + +"I see," murmured Don Luis, thoughtfully. + +"You did not know this before?" Tom asked, in some amazement. + +"No, Senor Tomaso. I have been a good business man, I suppose, +for I have prospered; and much of my money has been made in mining. +Yet I have never had the assurance to consider myself a practical +mining man. Dr. Tisco, here, is--" + +"An ignoramus on the subject of mining," declared the secretary, +who appeared just then to wake up. + +"Carlos is modest," laughed Don Luis. "True, he is not a skilled +mining man, yet he knows so much on the subject that, compared +with him, I am an ignoramus. But that is what you are here for, +you two. You are the experts. Investigate, and then instruct +us." + +"Have you any record of the number of times that you have encountered +the blank rock, and the number of feet in thickness of the wall in +each case?" Tom asked. + +"Oh, no." + +"That is unfortunate," said Reade, thoughtfully. "Hereafter we +will keep such a record carefully. Don Luis, I will admit that +I am perplexed and worried over this blank rock problem. I know +Hazelton is, too." + +"Yes, it is very strange," agreed Harry, looking up. Truth to +tell, he had hardly been following the talk at all. Harry Hazelton +was quite content to be caught napping whenever Tom Reade had +his eyes open. + +"Now, I would like to go back to the mine and stay there until +some time in the night," Tom proposed. "I would like to take +Hazelton with me. Soon we will arrange it, if necessary, so that +Harry and I shall divide the time at the mine. Whenever, in any +of the tunnels, blank rock is struck, whichever one of us is in +charge will stay by the blank rock blasting, keeping careful record, +until pay ore is struck again." + +"You two young engineers are too infernally methodical," grumbled +Dr. Tisco under his breath." + +"That is a very excellent plan," smiled Montez, amiably. "We will +put some such plan into operation as soon as we are fairly under +way. But not to-day." + +"I would like to start at once," Tom insisted. + +"Not to-day," once more replied Don Luis, though without losing +patience. "Yet, if you are anxious to know how the blank rock is +coming I can telephone the mine and get all the information within +five minutes. That will be an excellent idea. I will do it now, +in fact." + +Crossing the room, Don Luis rang and called for the mine. + +"Our young engineers are very sharp--especially Senor Reade," +murmured Dr. Tisco to himself, while the telephone conversation +was going on in Spanish. "Yet I wonder if our young engineer +does not half suspect that Don Luis has no man at the other end +of the wire?" + +Tom did not suspect the telephone trick. In fact, the young chief +engineer had as yet no deep suspicion that Don Luis was a rogue +at heart. + +"The report is excellent," called Don Luis, gayly, as he came +back. "In that tunnel where we saw the blasting done the blank +rock has been penetrated, and the rich ore is coming again." + +"How I'd like to see it!" Tom glowed. + +"Why?" asked Don Luis, quickly. + +"Because I am anxious to know all the secrets, all the indications, +of fine old _El Sombrero_." + +"It _is_ a fine mine, isn't it, Senor Tomaso?" demanded Don Luis, +enthusiastically. + +"From all indications it ought to be," Reade answered. "Yet it's +a new formation of rock to me--this sandwich formation as I might +call it, with the alternate layers of rich ore and blank stuff." + +"I have been drawing up a report on the mine," murmured Montez, +opening a drawer in his desk. "This report describes the operations +and the profits so far. Glance through it with me." + +The report had been written in English, by either Dr. Tisco or +his employer. + +Tom and Harry listened carefully to the reading. + +"But why do you put so much enthusiasm into the report, Don Luis, +when the mine is not for sale and is not to be run as a stock +company property?" + +"Of course, _El Sombrero_ is my sole property, and of course I +shall keep it so," smiled the Mexican. "But I like, even in a +report to myself, for my own use, to have the report set forth +all the truths concerning the mine." + +"That is reasonable," Tom agreed. + +"Now, Senor Tomaso, as you have seen, this report is couched in +my own English. I would be glad if you would write this out for +me, putting it into better English." + +"It would seem like presumption in me to think that I could put +it into better English," Reade protested. + +"Nevertheless, to please me, will you put this report into your +own English?" requested Don Luis. + +"With all the pleasure in the world," Tom assented. + +"Here are writing materials, then." + +"But I see that you have a typewriting machine over in the corner," +suggested the young chief engineer. "I can write the report much +better and more rapidly on the machine." + +"Ah!" breathed the Mexican, looking highly pleased. "If you will +but do that! We will go outside so as not to disturb you." + +The report, being a long one and containing several tables of +figures, Reade was occupied nearly three hours. During this time +Don Luis conducted Harry over the estate, pointing out many things +of interest. At last Tom, with a slight backache from bending +so long over the machine, leaned back and carefully read what +he had written. + +"Do you wish anything, _caballero_?" inquired Nicolas, appearing +as though from hiding. + +"You might be good enough to tell Don Luis that I have finished, +and that I await his pleasure." + +Nicolas disappeared. Five minutes later Montez, his secretary +and Hazelton came in. Tom read through his typewritten draft +of the report. + +"Excellent! gr-r-r-rand! glorious!" breathed Don Luis. "Ah, +you are a master of English, Senor Tomaso. Myself, I understand +Spanish better. And now one stroke of the pen for each of you," +added the _hidalgo_, crossing the room to his desk. "As my new +engineers you shall both sign this report, and I shall have much +pleasure from reading this, many times, when I am an old man." + +Don Luis dipped a pen in ink, then held it up. Harry was about +to take the pen when Tom Reade drawled: + +"It wouldn't be quite right for us to sign this report, Don Luis." + +"Why not?" queried the Mexican, wheeling like a flash. + +"Just for the simple reason," Reade answered, "that to sign the +report would be to state all the facts contained in the report +as being of our personal observation. We haven't seen enough +of the mine, as yet, for it to be right for us to sign the report. +An engineer's signature to a report is his statement--ON HONOR--that +he personally knows such report to be true. So I am very certain +you will understand that it would be a breach of honor for us to +sign this document." + +"Ah! He is clever--and now the real trouble must begin!" Dr. +Tisco told himself. "These engineers are not easily duped, but +in Don Luis's hands they will destroy themselves!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +WATCHING THE MIDNIGHT LIGHTS + + +Don Luis Montez laid down the pen. Outwardly he was as amiable as +ever; certainly he was all smiles. + +"A thousand pardons, _caballeros_!" he murmured. "Of course, you +are quite right. It had not occurred to me in that light before. +True, the report was intended only for my own pleasure in later +years, but that does not alter the nice point of honor." + +Tom Reade was deceived by Don Luis's manner. He did not suspect +that, at this very instant, the Mexican was consumed with demoniacal +rage. + +"I shall not be patient another time," muttered Don Luis, between +his teeth and under his breath. Yet aloud he said: + +"We have had too much of business to-day. We are tiring ourselves. +Until dinner time let us go outside and be gentlemen. Business +for to-morrow or next week. And my dear daughter. Brute! I +have been forgetting her." + +Senorita Francesca, a darkly beautiful girl of eighteen, shy and +retiring from the convent schooling that had ended but lately, +soon came downstairs at her father's summons. Dr. Tisco bowed +low before the charming girl. Tom and Harry were presented, and +tried to make themselves agreeable to the young Mexican girl. +Senorita Francesca's shyness, however, made this somewhat difficult, +so the young engineers felt inwardly grateful when Dr. Tisco strolled +down the porch with her. + +Dinner proved to be a somewhat formal affair. Yet, as soon as +the meal was finished Senorita Francesca was escorted from the +dining room by her father and returned to her room. + +"What did you think of the young lady, Tom?" Harry asked his +chum when he could do so privately. + +"A fine-looking girl," Reade answered briefly. "But I fear she +would be highly offended if she knew that, all through dinner, +my every thought was on the mine and the problems that we shall +find there." + +"I want to talk with you about that mine, and about some impressions +that I have formed here," murmured Hazelton. + +"Then another time, my dear fellow, for here comes Don Luis, and +I see Dr. Tisco returning from the garden." + +That forestalled conversation for the time being. When the young +engineers, still relentlessly attended by Nicolas, sought their +own rooms Hazelton was so drowsy that he undressed hurriedly and +dropped into bed. + +Later in the night Harry sat up suddenly in the dark. Some one +was moving in the parlor that separated the two bedrooms. An +instant after awakening Harry slipped off the bed, then stole +toward the next room. + +In the darkness he made out a moving figure. Like a panther Harry +sprang, landing on the all but invisible figure. + +"Now, I've got you!" Hazelton hissed, wrapping his arms around +the prowler. + +"And small credit to you," drawled Tom's dry voice. "Hist!" + +"What's up?" demanded Hazelton, dropping his voice to a whisper. + +"You and I are." + +"But what's the matter?" + +"I couldn't sleep," Tom whispered. + +"You--troubled with nerves!" gasped Hazelton. + +"Not just the way you understand it," returned Tom. "But I was +thinking, thinking, and I sat by the window yonder. Come over +there, Harry, but step without noise." + +Wondering what it all meant, Hazelton softly followed his chum +to the open window. + +"Now, look," said Tom, pointing, "and tell me what you see." + +"A moment ago I thought I saw a light twinkling over there among +the hills." + +"Look sixty seconds longer, and you'll see more lights, Harry; +those lights are on the trail that leads from the nearest gold +mines to _El Sombrero_. It is the trail Don Luis pointed out +to us to-day." + +"But what--" + +"Harry, I'm going to get on my clothes and slip over in that direction. +Do you want to go with me?" + +"Yes; but what--" + +"I can tell you better when we're on the way. Come on; dress! We can +easily leave the house without being detected." + +Though Harry had already been through hosts of adventures, he +felt creepy as he dressed with speed and stealth, bent on slipping +unobserved out of their employer's house. But he was used to +following his chum's lead. + +When both were ready, which was very soon, Tom softly opened the +door of their parlor, thrusting one foot out into the broad corridor. +As he did so he kicked against a man lying prostrate on the floor. +It was Nicolas, the Mexican attendant, sleeping across their +threshold that he might be on hand when wanted. + +The man stirred, muttered something almost inaudible, then gradually +began to breathe more deeply. Tom, after waiting, took a step +over the body of Nicolas. Harry closed the door behind them, +then followed. Soon after they stood out on the lawn. + +"I'm glad Nicolas went to sleep again," muttered Tom, in a low +voice. "The fellow would have insisted on following us, and I +wouldn't want him with us to-night, to tell Don Luis everything." + +"But what on earth--" + +"Harry, old fellow, Don Luis is the essence of courtesy. He has +been very polite to us, too. Yet something has aroused a suspicion +in me that Don Luis Montez wishes to use us in some way that we +wouldn't care to be used. So I'm saying little, but my eyes are +going to be open all the time from now on." + +"Oh, Don Luis must be on the square," Hazelton retorted. "What could +he want of us that is crooked?" + +"I don't know, yet," Tom replied, as he led the way rapidly down +the road. "But I'm going to watch, and, if there's anything wrong, +I'm going to get a line on it." + +"_El Sombrero_ is Don Luis's own mine. Surely he hasn't hired +us to fool him about his own property." + +"I don't know what it is that's wrong," Tom admitted. "Nor am +I sure that anything is wrong. But I'm going to do my own watching +and gather some of my own information. See, there are the lights +on that trail beyond, and there are several lights. It looks +like a caravan moving down the trail." + +"A caravan?" Harry repeated. "Of what?" + +"I don't know, Harry. That's what I'm here to-night to find out." + +Brisk, soft walking brought them nearer and nearer to the twinkling +lights along the trail that ran into their own road at a point +lower down. + +"I wish I knew what on earth Tom is thinking about," Harry muttered +to himself. "However, I may as well save my breath just now. If I +hang to him I'm likely to know what it is." + +"We'll reach a hiding place from which we can watch that caravan, +or whatever it is, turn from the hill trail into this road," Tom +whispered, after they had gone somewhat further. + +At this point the main road that ran from. Don Luis's estate +to his mine was decidedly irregular. Many boulders jutted out, +making a frequent change in the course of the road necessary. +It was Tom's intention to gain the nearest ledge of rock of this +sort to the hill trail, and there hide to watch the caravan. + +They had nearly reached this point when out of the darkness a figure +stole softly to meet them. + +"Nicolas!" muttered Tom, in a low voice, all but rubbing his eyes. +"How on earth did you get here?" + +"Am I not commanded to keep with you everywhere, and serve you +in all things?" demanded the servant. "Do not go around that +next point in the road, _caballeros_. If you do, you will run +straight into Pedro Gato, who has other men with him." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DON LUIS'S ENGINEERING PROBLEM + + +"Gato?" whispered Harry. "What is he doing around here?" + +"There is no reason why we should care what he is doing," Tom +returned. "He isn't in the employ of the mine. Come along, Harry." + +But Nicolas seized the young chief engineer by the arm. + +"Beat me, if you will, Senor Americano," pleaded Nicolas. "But +don't encounter Gato. It would be as much as your life is worth." + +"Why? Is Gato on the warpath for us?" Tom questioned. + +"I fear so," Nicolas answered. "Don't let him see you." + +"But I must see him, if the fellow is out for us," muttered Tom. +"Show me where he is." + +"He and three or four men are camped just around there," said +the Mexican servant, pointing. + +"Come along, Harry," Tom whispered. "Go cat-foot." + +Ere the young engineers came in sight around the turn a slight +glow of light against the stones caught their glance. Tom held +a hand behind him as a signal to Hazelton to slow up. Then Reade +peered around a jutting ledge of rock. + +On the ground, around a low camp-fire, were seated four Mexicans. +Two of the number had rifles, that lay on the ground near them. +Behind them, an ugly scowl on his face, sat Gato, his back resting +against a rock. + +"But you will not find your enemies out here to-night, Senor Gato," +softly remarked one of the quartette around the fire. + +"No," admitted Gato, in a growling voice. + +"Then why are we waiting here?" + +"Because it pleases me," snapped the big fellow. "What ails you? +Am I not paying you?" + +"But two of us--and I am one of them--do not like to be seen," +rejoined the speaker at the fire. "The troops hunt us. There +is a price on our heads." + +"Bandits!" muttered Tom Reade, under his breath, as he drew back. +"I have heard that Mexico is overrun with bandits. These gentlemen +are some of the fraternity." + +"Take us up to the house, Gato," urged one of the men at the fire. +"We shall know how to enter and find your friends. Everyone sleeps +there. It will be the safer way." + +"It does not suit me," retorted Gato, sullenly. + +"But why not?" + +"Am I not paying you?" + +"Yes." + +"Then take my orders and do not ask questions." + +At this there were sounds of dissatisfaction from all four of +these bad men. + +"For one thing," Gato explained, "Don Luis would not like it. He +would accuse me of treachery--or worse. I do not want Don Luis's +ill will, you see." + +"But Don Luis will be angry, in any case, if you injure his engineers, +won't he?" asked one of the men. + +"A little, but after a while, Don Luis will not care what I do to +the Americanos," growled Pedro Gato. + +"Humph! That's interesting--if true," whispered Tom Reade. + +"Yet what are we doing here?" insisted one of the men. "Here, +so close to where the troops might pick us up?" + +"You are obeying orders," snarled Gato. + +"But that information is not quite enough to suit us," objected +one of the Mexicans. + +"You might go your own way, then," sneered Gato. "I can find +other men who are not so curious. However, I will say that, when +daylight comes, we will hide not far from here. None of you know +the Americanos by sight. I will point them out to you as they +pass by in the daylight." + +"And then--what?" pressed one of the rough men. "Are we to kill +the Americanos from ambush?" + +"Eh?" gasped Tom Reade, with a start. + +"If you have to," nodded Pedro Gato. "Though, in that case, I shall +call you clumsy. I shall pay you just four times as much if you +bring them to me as prisoners. Remember that. Before I despatch +these infernal Gringos I shall want the fun of tormenting them." + +"Oh, you will eh?" thought Tom, with a slight shudder. + +"I heard, Gato," ventured one of the Mexicans, incautiously, "that +one of the Americanos beat you fearfully--that he threw you down +and stamped on you." + +"It is a lie!" uttered Gato, leaping to his feet, his face distorted +with rage. "It is a lie, I tell you. The man does not live who +can beat me in a fight." + +"I was struck with amazement at the tale," admitted the Mexican +who had brought about this outburst. + +"And well you might be," continued Gato, savagely. "But the Americanos +procured my discharge. And that was humiliation enough." + +"Yet what difference does it make, Gato. As soon as Don Luis +is through with the Americanos he will restore you to your old +position." + +"It is because the Americanos treated me with such contempt," +retorted Pedro. "No man sneers at me and lives." + +"You unhung bandit!" muttered Tom under his breath. "Why don't +you tell your bandit friends that you are angry because of the +trouncing I gave you before a lot of men? But I suppose you hate +to lose caste, even before such ragged specimens as your friends." + +Suddenly one of the men around the fire snatched at his rifle. +Next scattering the embers of the fire, the fellow threw himself +down flat, peering down the road. + +"The troops are coming," he whispered. "I hear their horses." + +"The horses that you hear are mules," laughed Gato, harshly. +"It is the nightly transport of ore down to _El Sombrero_. Just +now Don Luis is having fine ore brought over the hills from another +mine and dumped into _El Sombrero_." + +"Why should he bring ore from another mine to _El Sombrero_?" +asked one of the men, curiously. + +"How should I know?" demanded Gato, shrugging his shoulders and +spitting on the ground. "Why should I concern myself with the +business that belongs to an hidalgo like Don Luis?" + +"It is queer that--" + +"Silence!" hissed Gato. "Do not meddle with the secrets of Don +Luis Montez, or you will be sorry for it." + +Gato's explanation about the mule-train had quieted the fears +of the bandits as to the approach of troops. In some mountainous +parts of Mexico the government's troops are nearly always on the +trail of bandits and the petty warfare is a brisk one. + +"Go to sleep, my friends. There will be nothing to do until day +comes." + +"Then, good Gato, take us somewhere off this road," pleaded one +of the men. "It is too public here to be to our liking." + +"You may go to a quieter place," nodded Gato. "You know where--the +place I showed you this afternoon. As for me, after the mule-train +has left the mine, I must go there. I will join you before daybreak." + +"We'll go now, then," muttered one of the men, rising. + +They were coming up the road in the direction of the young engineers. +There was no time to retreat. Tom glanced swiftly around. Then +he made a sign to Harry. Both young engineers flattened themselves +out behind a pile of stones at the roadside. Their biding-place +was far from being a safe one. But four drowsy bandits plodded +by without espying the eavesdroppers. As for Nicolas, he had +vanished like the mist before the sun. + +"Ha-ho-hum!" yawned Pedro Gato, audibly. + +Tom raised his head, studying their immediate surroundings. He +soon fancied he saw a safe way of slipping off to the southward +and finding the road again below where Gato stood. + +Signing to Hazelton, Reade rose softly and started off. Two or +three minutes later the young engineers were a hundred yards away +from Gato, though in a rock-littered field where a single incautious +step might betray them. + +"Come on, now," whispered Tom. "Toward the mine." + +"And run into Gato?" grimaced Harry. "Great!" + +"If we meet him we ought to get away with him between us," Tom +retorted. "One of us did him up this morning." + +"Go ahead, Tom!" + +Reade led the way in the darkness. They skirted the road, though +keeping a sharp lookout. + +"There are the lights of the mule-train ahead," whispered Tom. +"Now, we're close enough to see things, for there is _El Sombrero_ +just ahead." + +"What's the game, anyway?" whispered Harry. + +"Surely you guess," protested Tom. + +"Why, it seems that Don Luis is having ore from another mine brought +down in the dead of the night." + +"Yes, and a lot of it," Tom went on. "Did you notice how much +rich ore there was in each tunnel to-day? And did you notice, +too, that when blasts were made with us looking on, no ore worthy +of the name was dug loose? Don Luis has been spending a lot of +money for ore with which to salt his own mine!" + +"Salting" a mine consists of putting the gold into a mine to be +removed. Such salting gives a worthless mine the appearance of being +a very rich one. + +"But why should Don Luis want to salt his own mine?" muttered +Harry. + +"So that he can sell it, of course!" + +"But he doesn't want to sell." + +"He says he doesn't," Tom retorted, with scorn. "This afternoon, +you remember, he got me to copy a report in English about his +mine and then he wanted us to sign the report as engineers. Doesn't +that look as though he wanted to sell? Harry, Don Luis has buyers +in sight for his mine, and he'll sell it for a big profit provided +he can impose on the buyers!" + +"What does he want us for, then? He spoke of engineering problems." + +"Don Luis's engineering problem," uttered Tom Reade, with deep +scorn, "is simply to find two clean and honest engineers who'll +sign a lying report and enable him to swindle some man or group +of men out of a fortune." + +"Then Don Luis is a swindler, and we'll throw up the job," returned +Harry Hazelton, vehemently. "We'll quit." + +"We won't help him swindle any one," Tom rejoined. "We won't +quit just yet, but we'll stick just long enough to see whether +we can't expose the scoundrel as he deserves! Harry, we'll have +to be crafty, too. We must not let him see, too soon, that we +are aware of his trickery." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +DANGLING THE GOLDEN BAIT + + +Creeping closer to the mine, Tom and Harry saw the ore dumped +from a train of forty mules. They also heard the fellow in charge +of the train say that he would be back with two more loads that +night. + +"We don't need to wait to see the rest of the ore brought," Tom +whispered to his chum. "We know enough now." + +"Look over there," urged Hazelton. "There goes the rest of the +trick. Men are shoveling the borrowed ore into the ore hoists." + +"Of course," nodded Tom, disgustedly. "The ore is going below, +to be piled in the tunnels. It will be 'salted' there all right +for us to inspect in the morning. Oh, this trickery makes me +sick!" + +"What are you going to do now?" Hazelton asked. + +"We may as well go back to the house and get some sleep." + +"I'm strong for getting out of here in the morning," Harry muttered. + +"Fine!" Tom agreed. "So am I. But what I want to do is to find +out who is marked out for the victim of this gigantic swindle. +I want to put the victim wise. I'd be wild if I failed to find +Don Luis's intended dupe and tell him just what he's in for." + +"Do you imagine that Montez will ever allow us to get face to face +with the man who's to be fleeced?" + +"He won't do it intentionally, Harry. But we may have a way of +locating the victim in time to save him from being robbed." + +"Anyway, I should think the victim would have every chance in +the world to sue and get his money back," Harry mused. + +"How is one to get back the money that he has put into a gold +mine?" Tom demanded. "Everyone knows that the most honest mine +is a gamble. It may stop turning out paying ore at any hour. +Besides, what show would a stranger have in the courts in this +part of Mexico? You have heard Don Luis boast that he practically +owns the governor of Bonista. No, sir! The only way to stop +a swindle will be to stop it before it takes place." + +Tom rose from his hiding place, back in the dark away from the +lights at the mine shaft. He nudged his chum, then started to +creep away. Presently they rose and moved forward on foot. Ere +long they had left the mine well behind. + +"I hate to go back into that polished robber's house at all," +Harry muttered. "Tom, what do you say? We can cover at least +the first dozen miles between now and daylight. Let's make a +streak for the railway and get back to the States." + +"But what about saving the victim of the intended swindle?" objected +Reade. + +"We could come out with a newspaper exposure that would stop any +American from buying the mine, or putting any money into it," +proposed Hazelton. + +"We might, only no newspaper would print such stuff. It would +be libelous, and subject the newspaper editor to the risk of having +to go to jail." + +"All I know," sighed Harry, "is that I want, as speedily as possible, +to put as much distance as possible between us and Don Luis's home." + +"We'll go out through the front door, though, when we go," Tom +proposed. "We won't sneak." + +They did not encounter Gato on the way back to the big, white +house. Though they did not know it, the boys were being trailed +by the alert, barefooted Nicolas. Nor did that servant feel easy +until he had seen them softly enter the house. Then Nicolas, +as before, stretched himself on the floor before the door of the +rooms occupied by the young engineers. + +Tom's alarm clock woke him that morning. In another moment Reade +was vigorously shaking Hazelton. + +"Now don't give a sign to-day," Tom whispered to his friend. +"If Don Luis is going to be crafty, we shall have to fight him +with craft--at the outset, anyway." + +"I hate to eat the old scoundrel's food," muttered Harry. + +"So do I, but it can't be helped for the present. We're not guilty +of a breach of hospitality in planning to show the rascal up. +It is Don Luis who is guilty in that direction. He is planning +to use his guests as puppets in a dishonest game. Keep up your +nerve, Harry, and don't let your face, your manner, or anything +give you away." + +Nicolas knocked as soon as he heard the boys stirring. He moved +with speed this morning, spreading the table and then rushing away +for chocolate, _frijoles_ and _tortillas_. + +As soon as the boys had finished their breakfast they hastened +out to the porch, but they found their host ahead of them. More, +Don Luis wore field clothing and high-topped, laced walking boots. + +"Going afield, sir?" Tom inquired, genially. + +"I have been afield, already," replied Montez, bowing and smiling. +"Down to the mine I have been and back. The air is beautiful +here in the early morning, and I enjoyed the walk. You, too, +will enjoy our walks when you become used to them." + +Dr. Tisco came out, bowing most affably to the young Americans. + +"You look as though you had been walking, too," suggested Tom, +noting Tisco's high-topped shoes. + +"I went with Don Luis," replied the secretary. "Oh, by the way, +Senor Hazelton, I believe some of your property has come into +my possession. This is yours, is it not?" + +Tisco held out a fine linen handkerchief, with an embroidered +initial "H" in one corner. Harry was fond of fine linen, and +effected these handkerchiefs. + +"Yes; it's mine, thank you," nodded Harry, accepting the proffered +bit of linen and pocketing it. + +"I found it in a field, just this side of _El Sombrero_," remarked +Tisco, artlessly, turning away. + +Though the secretary did not watch Hazelton's face, Don Luis did, +and saw the slight start of surprise and the flush that came to +the young engineer's face. + +"You, too, have been walking then, Senor Hazelton?" inquired Don +Luis, pleasantly, though with an insistence that was not to be +denied. + +Harry didn't know how to lie. He might have dodged the question, +but he was quick enough to see that evasion would make the matter +worse. + +"Tom and I took a stroll last night," he admitted, indifferently. +"How far did we go, Tom?" + +"Who can say?" replied Reade, lightly. "It was so dark, and the +way so unfamiliar that we were glad when we got home, I know." + +"They have been prowling," muttered Don Luis, sharply, under his +breath. "I must have them watched." + +"Are we going to the mine this morning, Don Luis?" Tom asked, +carelessly. + +"Do you care to go, Senor Tomaso?" + +"Why, that's just as you say, sir," Reade rejoined. "Of course, +we would like to get actively engaged at our work. In fact, it +seems to me that Harry and I should rise earlier and be at the +mine at least from eight in the morning until six at night." + +"You would soon tire yourselves out. The mine is a dirty hole." + +"By the way, sir," Reade went on, carelessly, "how far do you +have to send ore to have it smelted." + +"About sixty miles." + +"By mule-train, I suppose." + +"Yes, Senor Tomaso." + +"It must be costly shipping." + +"So it is," sighed Don Luis, "and yet the ore is rich enough to +bear easily the cost of shipping." + +"In what direction is the smelter?" + +Don Luis pointed. + +"Straight ahead, as I am showing you," he added. + +"We saw the lights of a train last night," Tom went on. "I judged +that the mule-train came from the mines above. Yet the mule-train +did not follow the direction that you have just shown me. The +road runs crooked, I take it." + +"Oh, yes," nodded their host, as carelessly as Tom had spoken. + +"Do the other mines pay as well as _El Sombrero_?" + +"Oh, no, Senor Tomaso," Montez replied quickly. "The other mines +yield not anywhere near as rich ore as comes from _El Sombrero_." + +"Are you going to take us to see the other mines?" Tom hinted. + +"Gladly would I do so, Senor Tomaso, only I am not on good terms +with the owners." + +"I'm sorry," Tom sighed. "While we are here I wish that we could +see much of Mexican mines. Nevertheless, when we are through +here I have no doubt that you can give us letters to other mine +owners." + +"Beyond a doubt," smiled Don Luis, "and it will give me great +pleasure. But I, myself own many mines, and I am seeking to locate +more. If you are suited with my employment, and if we agree, +I shall be able, undoubtedly, to keep you both engaged for many +years to come. Indeed, if you display sufficient resourcefulness +in handling mines I do not believe it will be long ere I shall +be able to pay you each fifty thousand dollars a year. I have +plenty of money, and I pay generously when I am pleased and well +served." + +"The scoundrel is fishing for something," thought Tom Reade, swiftly. +"I must not let him beat me in craft." + +So he exclaimed, aloud: + +"Fifty thousand dollars a year, Don Luis? You are jesting!" + +"I beg to assure you that I am not," replied Montez, smiling and +bowing. + +"But fifty thousand a year is princely pay!" cried Reade. + +"Such pay goes, of course, only to the most satisfactory of employes," +declared Don Luis. + +"At such pay," Tom said, "Harry and I ought to be satisfied to +remain in Mexico all our lives." + +"We shall see," nodded Montez. "But the sunlight is growing too +strong for my eyes. Suppose, _caballeros_, that we move into +the office?" + +The others now rose and followed Don Luis. + +"What on earth is Tom driving at?" Harry wondered. "He's stringing +Don Luis, of course, but to what end?" + +Montez stood at the door of his office, indicating that the young +engineers pass in ahead of him. The instant they had done so +Montez turned to his secretary, whispering: + +"Send my daughter here." + +Dr. Tisco vanished, though he soon reappeared and entered the office. + +Don Luis, after indicating seats to the young Americans, crossed +to a ponderous safe, toyed with the combination lock, threw open +the door and then brought out a ledger that he deposited on one +of the flat-top desks. Five minutes later his daughter Francesca +entered the room. + +"Now, what part is the girl to play here?" wondered Tom, instantly. +"If I know anything of human nature she's a sweet and honest +girl. She is no rascal, like her father. Yet he has sent for +her to play some part!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DON LUIS SHOWS HIS CLAWS + + +Senorita Francesca greeted her guests with extreme courtesy. + +"She's a fine young woman," thought Harry, with a guilty feeling. +"Blazes, but it's going to come hard to show her father up as +a scoundrel." + +"_Chiquita_," (pet) called her father, "it has not been the custom +of this country to train our women in the ways of business. But +you are my only child. Every _peso_ (dollar) that I earn and +save is for you one of these days. I have much money, but I crave +more, and it is all for you, _chiquita_. It is my wish to see +you, one of these days, a very queen of wealth, as you are already +a queen of goodness and tenderness. Since you must handle the +great fortune that I am building for you I have concluded to override +the customs of our people for generations. In other words, I +am going to begin to train you, _chiquita_, in business." + +"Business?" murmured the girl. "Ah! That word frightens me--I +am so ignorant." + +"Your first lesson shall not tire or dismay you," promised Don +Luis, gently. "Now, place your chair close beside mine, and look +over this ledger with me. I shall not attempt to make you comprehend +too much at first." + +With pencil and paper beside the ledger, Don Luis read off many +items. Occasionally he did some figuring on the sheet of paper, +as though to make the matters more clear to his daughter. She +made a very pretty picture, trying to follow her father's explanations, +but the perplexed wrinkling of her brow showed how hard it was +for her to do so. + +The figures that Don Luis took from his ledger all tended to show +the immensity of the wealth already produced from _El Sombrero_. +Tom and Harry listened courteously, for they had been invited +to join the group. + +"You are tired, _chiquita_," said her father, at last. "I have +taken you too far on our first excursion into the realm of finance. +This morning we will have no more figures. But here is something +that cannot fail to interest you in parts at least." + +Shoving aside the ledger, Don Luis drew from a drawer a bulky +document. + +"This is the report which Senor Reade prepared for me yesterday," +Montez explained, looking at the young engineers for an instant. +"The report is written in English, as I desired it written so. +But I will read the most interesting parts in Spanish to you, +_chiquita_. You will observe that this report is a masterpiece +of business composition." + +"I am sure that it must be," murmured Francesca, and Tom bowed +his thanks. + +"This report, too, is a part of your fortune," continued Don Luis. +"That is, it will help to make your fortune, for it concerns +_El Sombrero_, one of the finest parts of your fortune. We have +been planning, these _caballeros_ and I, that they shall remain +in my employ indefinitely, and they are to be paid better and +better if they serve you through me and serve us well. I shall +reward them as an hidalgo ever rewards." + +"I do not need to be told that my father is generous when he is +pleased," murmured Francesca. + +"Listen, then, to what Senior Reade has written. It cannot help +but give you much pleasure." + +"The shameless rascal!" Tom exclaimed, inwardly, as the trick +became clear to him. "Don Luis is trading upon our sympathies +for the girl in order to induce us to sign his lying report." + +Don Luis began to read the report, translating into Spanish as +he went along. When he came to tables of tedious figures Montez +skipped over them hurriedly. He dwelt eagerly, however, on the +paragraphs of the report that asserted such vast wealth to exist +in _El Sombrero_. Francesca listened with rising color. Once +in a while she shot a pretty, sidelong glance at Tom to show her +pleasure over the report, the whole authorship of which she plainly +believed to belong to him. + +"Why, it reads like a romance!" the girl cried, clapping her hands +when the reading had finished. + +"A romance? Yes!" ground Tom, under his breath. "It is romance--pure +fiction and absurdly false in every line!" + +"It must be a wonderful talent to possess, senor," said Francesca, +turning to Tom Reade. "A wonderful talent to be able to describe +a matter of business in such eloquent language." + +"It is a rare gift," Tom admitted modestly, though he had a design +in what he was saying. "A rare gift, indeed, and one which I +must not claim. This is your father's report, not mine. He had +written it in English, and all I did was to copy it on the typewriter, +and to make the English stronger at points. So I am not the +author--merely the clerk." + +Don Luis frowned for a fleeting instant. Then his brow cleared, and +one of his charming smiles lighted his face. + +"The report is a superb piece of work, and you must not believe +as much as Senor Tomaso's modesty would lead him to believe, chiquita. +But this is an engineer's report, and, as such, it is not complete +until it is signed. Hand it to Senor Reade, _chiquita_, and ask +him to sign it. Then Senor Hazelton will do the same." + +Francesca accepted the document from her father, turned, and, +with a fascinating smile, handed it to the young chief engineer. + +It was a cleverly contrived bit of business, in which the girl +played a wholly innocent part. Francesca dipped a pen in ink +and offered it to Tom, who accepted it. Surely, he could not +embarrass the girl, nor could he seem to refuse to add to her +fortune by any means within his power. Don Luis had brought about +the climax with great cleverness, for he felt certain of Tom Reade's +gallantry. + +And gallant Tom Reade ever was. Yet he was keen and self-possessed +as well. While he held the pen in his hand be turned to the Mexican +with one of his pleasantest smiles. + +"Don Luis," said the young engineer, "I feel certain that you +did not wholly understand what I said yesterday. What I meant +to make clear was that an engineer's signature to a report is +his written word of honor that every word in the report is true, +to his own knowledge. As I merely transcribed this report from +your own, and have not yet had sufficient opportunity to prove +to myself the value of the mine, I could not in honor sign this +report as yet. As a man of honor you will certainly understand +my position." + +"But you are too particular on a point of honor," insisted Don +Luis Montez, with a shrug of his shoulders. "You do not need +to draw the line so sharply with a man of honor. I assure you +that every word in the report is true. Therefore, will you not +be so good as to sign the report?" + +"I regret that I have not yet succeeded in making an engineer's +point of honor clear," Tom replied, placing the pen back on the +stand. "It will be some weeks, Don Luis, before Hazelton and +I can possibly hope to find ourselves sufficiently well informed +about the mine to sign the report." + +Francesca was by no means stupid. While she did not understand +business matters, she was sufficiently keen to note, from her +father's very insistent manner, and from Tom's equally firm refusal +to sign, that some point of honor was in dispute between the two. +She flushed deeply, glanced wonderingly from one to the other, +and then her gaze fell to the floor. + +"_Chiquita_," said Don Luis, tenderly, "I have been thoughtless, +and have given you too long a lesson in business. Besides, Senor +Reade is not yet ready to serve us in this matter. You may go +to your room, my daughter." + +Without a word Francesca rose and left the room. + +As soon as the door had closed Don Luis broke forth bitterly: + +"You have done well to insult me before my daughter. She understands +only enough to realize that you have doubted my honor, and she +certainly wonders why I permitted you to live longer. Senor Reade, +whether or not your American ideas of courtesy enable you to understand +it, you have grievously insulted me in my own house, and have +intensified that insult by delivering it before my daughter. +There is now but one way in which you can retrieve your conduct." + +Don Luis Montez rose, dipped the pen freshly in ink, and thrust +it into Reade's hand. + +"_Sign that report_!" ordered the Mexican. + +Tom rose to his feet. So did Harry. + +"Don Luis," spoke Reade calmly, though he was inwardly raging. +"I always like to do business like a gentleman. I feel very +certain that I must have made it very clear to you yesterday that +I could not possibly sign any such report at the present time. +I still prefer to keep our talk within the limits of courtesy +if that be also your wish." + +"Sign that report!" + +"_I won't do it!_" + +Tom accompanied his response by tossing the pen across the room. + +"Don Luis, I don't believe that you are a fool," continued the +young chief engineer, calming down again. "If you consider that +I am utterly a fool, either, then you are doing your own intelligence +an injustice. I refuse to sign this report until I have gained +the knowledge for myself that every word in it is true. Further, +I don't believe that I would sign it after I had made the fullest +investigation. I am aware that, last night, mule-trains brought +ore down over the hills from another mine, and that ore was sent +down by the ore hoists into _El Sombrero_." + +"That's a lie!" cried the Mexican, hoarsely. + +"I am describing what I saw with my own eyes," Tom insisted. + +"You will sign this report, and at once!" quivered Don Luis Montez, +a deadly look glittering in his eyes. + +"I am quite satisfied that I shall never sign it," Tom retorted. + +"That goes for me, too," put in Harry, stolidly. + +"I feel that we have finished our work here, since we can do nothing +more for you, Don Luis," Tom went on. "I therefore ask you to +consider our engagement at an end. If you are disinclined to +furnish us with transportation to the railway, then we can travel +there on foot." + +"Do you hear the Gringo, my good Carlos?" laughed Don Luis, derisively. + +"I hear the fellow," indifferently replied Dr. Tisco, from the +other end of the room. + +"Will you furnish us with transportation from here?" Tom inquired. + +"I will not," hissed Montez, allowing his rage to show itself +now at its height. "You Gringo fools! Do you think you can defy +me--that here, on my own estates, you can slap me in the face +and ride away with laughter?" + +"I haven't a desire in the world to slap your face," Tom rejoined, +dryly. "All I wish and mean to do is to get back to my work in +life." + +"Then listen to me, Gringos," said Don Luis Montez, in his coldest +tones. "Your work here is to sign that report. If you do not, +then you shall never leave these mountains! Your lives are in +my hands. If you do not serve me as I have ordered, then I shall +feel obliged--in self-defense--to destroy you!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SPIRIT OF A TRUE ENGINEER + + +"Do you know, Don Luis," drawled Tom, "that you have one fine quality?" + +"What do you mean?" demanded the Mexican. + +"You are very explicit. You are also extremely candid! You don't +leave the other fellow guessing." + +Don Luis Montez frowned. He felt certain that fun was being poked +at him. + +"I am trying to make you young men understand that you must do +exactly what I wish of you," he returned, after a moment. + +"And we have tried to make it plain, sir, that we haven't, any idea +of doing what you want," Tom Reade answered him. + +"You will change your minds," retorted the mine owner. + +"Time will show you that, sir. In the meantime, since we cannot +live here, what do you expect us to do?" + +"I have said nothing about your not living here," uttered Don +Luis, looking astonished. "You are very welcome to all that my +poor house affords." + +"Thank you; but we can't live here, just the same." + +"And why not, _caballeros_?" + +"Because we shall henceforth be on the most wretched sort of terms +with the owner of this house." + +"There is no need of that, _caballeros_. You will, I think, find +me extremely courteous. My house is open to you, and there is +no other place that you can go." + +"Nowhere to go but out," mimicked Harry Hazelton, dryly. + +"You will find yourselves unable to get out of these hills," Don +Luis informed them, politely, though with an evil smile. "You +may decide to leave us, and you may start at any time, but you +will assuredly find yourselves stopped and brought back. You +simply cannot leave me, _caballeros_, until I give my consent. +Remember, no king could rule in these hills more absolutely than +I do. No one may enter or leave this part of the state of Bonista +without my consent." + +"As to that, of course we shall know more later, Don Luis," Tom +returned. "However, we cannot and shall not remain longer as guests +in your house." + +"I trust you will consider well and carefully on that point," +retorted the Mexican. + +"No; we simply can't and won't remain here unless--well, unless--" + +"What are you trying to say, senor?" + +"Then possibly you have overlooked building any dungeons under the +house? Dungeons, I understand, were a part of the housekeeping +scheme in old Mexico." + +"There are no dungeons here," said Don Luis icily. + +"You relieve me, sir. Then the last obstacle is removed to our +departure. We shall go at once. Come on, Harry." + +Tom turned to leave the room, Hazelton at his heels. But Montez, +with an angry exclamation, leaped to the doorway, barring their +exit. + +"_Caballeros_, you shall not leave like this!" + +"No?" Tom inquired. "Harry, our late host wishes us to leave +by the windows." + +"All right," nodded Hazelton, smiling. "I used to be something +of an athlete." + +"You shall not leave me in any such childish spirit," Don Luis +insisted, stubbornly. + +"If you are going to try to reopen the proposition that you made us," +said Reade, "you may as well stop." + +"You will come to your senses presently." + +"We are in full possession of them at present." + +"We shall yet come to a sensible arrangement of the matter," Montez +continued, coaxingly. Indeed, the Mexican had suddenly come to +see that he was absolutely dependent upon the young Americans +if he hoped to sell his mine in the near future. + +"You are wrong, Don Luis," Reade continued. "We can come to no +understanding. Matters have now gone so far that we are no longer +bound by the rules of courtesy. Nor do the laws of hospitality +weigh with us, for you have chosen to bully and threaten us under +your own roof. I will therefore be frank enough to tell you that +we regard you as a mere rogue. Am I right, Harry?" + +"Wholly right," nodded Hazelton. "Don Luis, I cannot see that +you are one whit more honest, or in any sense more of a gentleman, +than any of the outlawed bandits who roam these mountains. Therefore, +as Americans and gentlemen, we find it wholly impossible for us +to remain either your employs or your guests. There can be no +hope whatever that we shall consent to serve you, even in the +most innocent way." + +Don Luis heard them with rising anger, which, however, he kept down +with a fine show of self-control. + +"_Caballeros_, you are young. You have not seen much of the world. +You are mere boys. You have not even, as yet, developed good +manners. Therefore I overlook in you what, in men, might arouse +my anger. Take my advice. Go to your rooms. Think matters over. +When you have cooled we will talk again. No--not a word, now." + +Don Luis stepped aside. Tom bowed, very stiffly, in passing the +Mexican. Harry merely gazed into the Mexican's eyes with a steadiness +and a contempt that made the mine owner wince. + +Straight down the hallway, to their rooms, Tom marched, Harry +following. Barefooted Nicolas sprang forward, bowing, then swinging +open the door. He bowed again as the young engineers stepped +inside. Then Nicolas pulled the door shut. + +"Are you going to stay, Tom, and have any further talk with this +thief?" sputtered Harry, who had held in about as long as was +safe for him. + +"What do you think?" Tom asked, grimly, as he knelt upon his trunk +and tugged at the strap. + +"I reckon I think about the same as you do," rejoined Hazelton, +closing his own trunk and strapping it. + +"One--two _hoist_!" ordered Reade, settling his own trunk upon +his shoulder. + +Harry followed suit. In Indian file they moved across the room. + +"Nicolas," called Tom, "be good enough--the door!" + +The barefooted servant swung the barrier open. + +"Thank you," said Tom, marching out. Then he dumped the trunk, +noiselessly, to the floor. Going into an inner pocket he produced +a five dollar bill. + +"Nicolas," said the young chief engineer, "you have certainly +done all in your power to make us comfortable. I am sorry that +we are not longer to have the comfort of your services. Will +you do me the favor of accepting this as a remembrance? It is +American money, but you can easily get it changed. And now, let +us shake hands." + +Nicolas appeared dazed, both by the money and by Tom's desire to +shake hands with him. The hand that Tom clasped trembled. + +"Same here," murmured Harry, also producing a five-dollar bill. +"Nicolas, you're a Mexican, but I wish they produced more of your +kind on the American side of the Rio Grande." + +"The _caballeros_ have been too generous with me," protested the +poor fellow, in a husky voice. "I have not deserved this. And, +though I have been a stupid servant, you have not once beaten +me with your canes." + +"If you can find the canes you may keep them, then, as a souvenir +of what you didn't get," laughed Reade. "And now, Nicolas, we +must hasten, or we shall lose our trains." + +The Mexican would have said more, but he was too dazed. In his +left hand he held ten dollars in American money, about the same +thing as twenty in Mexican coin. It was more money than he had +ever held of his own before--it was almost a fortune. Surely, +these _Americanos_ must suddenly have taken leave of their senses! +Then, too, Senor Reade had just spoken of missing the train. +Did they not realize that the nearest railway train was seventy +miles away? Assuredly, they must be mad! + +In the meantime Tom and Harry, having once more shouldered their +trunks, kept on down the broad hallway and out on to the porch. +There was no one there to oppose them, though Don Luis was secretly +regarding them through the crack of a nearly closed door. There +was an evil, leering smile on the face of the Mexican mine owner. + +Down the steps, along the drive--it was not a short one, and +then out into the road, Tom continued. His back was beginning +to feel the unaccustomed load on his shoulder. + +"Drop it, pretty soon, Tom," muttered Hazelton, behind him. + +"I believe I will Reade nodded. Reaching the farther side of +the road he dropped one end of the trunk to the ground. Harry +did likewise. + +"Whew!" sputtered Tom. "I'd rather be an engineer, any day, than +a delivery wagon!" + +"Well, we're here," announced Harry. Then inquired, "What are +we going to do now?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A PIECE OF LEAD IN THE AIR + + +"Get your wind back," advised Tom. "Also ease your shoulder a bit." + +"And then?" + +"We'll carry the trunks up the slope and dump them in some depression +in the rock." + +"What's the use of the trunks, anyway?" Harry wanted to know. +"No one else will shelter us in this country. We can't get a +wagon to take our trunks away in. Surely, you don't intend to +shoulder these trunks to the railway station--seventy miles away?" + +"No," Reade admitted. "We'll have to abandon our trunks. All +I wanted to be sure about was to get them out of Don Luis's house. +And now I am just as anxious to get them out of sight of his +porch. As long as the trunks stand here they'll tell Don Luis +of our discomfort. I don't want that thieving rascal to have +the satisfaction even of laughing at our trunks." + +"All right, if that's the way you feel about it," Hazelton grunted. +"I'm ready to shoulder mine." + +"Come along, then," Tom nodded. "Up the slope we go." + +Their climb was a hard one. But at last they halted, dropping +their heavy baggage on a flat surface of rock that was not visible +from the big white house. Then up a little higher the now unencumbered +engineers trod. When they halted they could see far and wide +over this strange country. + +"Now, what?" asked Hazelton. + +"Luncheon, if I had my choice," muttered Tom. "But that's out +of the question, I fear." + +"Unless we can catch a rabbit, or something, with our hands." + +"Harry, I wonder if we can find the trail all the way back to +the railroad. These mountain paths are crooked affairs at best." + +"We know the general direction, and our pocket compasses will serve +us," Hazelton nodded. + +"Don Luis seems to think that he can stop us from getting through +to the railroad." + +"I'm not so sure that he can't, either, Tom. Hang these little +Mexicans. With our hands either one of us could thrash an armful +of these people, but a Mexican with a gun is almost the size of +an American with a gun. Tom, if we only had a brace of revolvers +I believe we could go through to civilization without mishap." + +"We haven't any pistols, so there's no use in talking about them," +Reade retorted. + +"But we would have had revolvers, at least in our baggage, if +you hadn't always been so dead set against carrying them," Harry +complained. + +"I'm just as much set against firearms as ever," Tom answered, +dryly. "Revolvers are made for killing people. Now, why any sane +man should desire to kill any one goes beyond me." + +"Humph! We'll be lucky if we can get out of these mountains without +killing any one," grunted Hazelton. + +"Cheer up!" laughed Tom. "The whole world hasn't turned black just +because we've skipped our luncheon." + +"I wouldn't mind the luncheon," Harry began, "if--" + +He stopped short, as he caught a glimpse of the spot where they +had left their trunks. + +"Tom, let's hustle back to where we left our trunks," he whispered. +"I just saw some one moving about on that spot" + +"Oh, if any thief is after our baggage, let him have it," smiled +Tom. "The stuff all goes to a thief in the end, anyway, for we +know that we can't carry our trunks with us." + +But that didn't suit. Hazelton, who still felt as though he owned +his own trunk. So he started back, soft-footed. Presently they +came in sight of a human being seated on Reade's trunk. + +"Nicolas!" breathed Tom. + +"_Si, senor_," (yes, sir) returned the servant. + +"But what are you doing here?" + +"I am your servant," replied the Mexican, calmly. + +"Wrong; you're Don Luis's servant." + +"But he ordered me to wait on you both unceasingly, senor." + +"We have left Don Luis's house, for good," Tom continued, walking +over to where the barefooted one sat. + +"That may be true, senor; it is true, since you say it, but my +orders have not been changed. Until Don Luis tells me differently +I shall go on serving you." + +"Did Don Luis send you after us, Nicolas?" Reade demanded, wonderingly. + +"No, senor." + +"Did any one at the house send you?" + +"No, senor. I did not need to be sent. I am faithful." + +Nicolas followed this with a smile that showed his white teeth. +He spoke in utter simplicity. + +"And now what can I do for you, _caballeros_?" the Mexican inquired. + +"Nicolas," asked Tom, with sudden inspiration, "is there any store +hereabouts? Any place where food can be purchased?" + +"No, senor; there is a store not far from the shaft entrance of +_El Sombrero_ Mine. That is where the _peons_ of the mine draw +their food, and have it charged against their pay accounts. But +no one may buy there for cash." + +"Is there no place where you can buy food for us?" + +"_Caballeros_, of course, I will not pretend not to understand +that you are on bad terms with Don Luis. Hence, both his storekeeper +and his _peons_ would hesitate to sell food for you or to you. +But I have a relative who works in the mine, and he is a brave +man. I think I can persuade him to sell me food and ask no questions. +In fact, _caballeros_, that is what I will do." + +"It won't get your relative into any trouble, will it, Nicolas?" +Tom asked. + +"I can manage it, senor, so that no trouble will follow." + +"Then take this money and get some food, my good Nicolas, if you +can manage it without getting any one into trouble." + +"It will have to be very plain food, Senor Reade, such as _peons_ +eat," urged Nicolas. + +"Plain food never killed any man yet," Tom laughed. "Well, then, +take this money and serve us at your convenience." + +"I have no need of money," replied the Mexican, shaking his head. +"I am well supplied, _caballeros_." + +Displaying the two banknotes that he had received an hour before, +Nicolas took three steps backward, then vanished. + +"There goes a faithful fellow!" glowed Tom. + +"If he isn't doing this under Don Luis's orders," muttered Hazelton. + +"Harry, I'm ashamed of you," retorted Tom, finding a soft, grass-covered +spot and stretching himself out. He pulled his sombrero forward +over his face and lay as though asleep. Any one, however, who +had tried to creep upon Reade would speedily have discovered that +he was far from drowsy. + +"Humph!" said Harry, after glancing at his chum. "You don't appear +to realize that there's any such thing as danger around us." + +"If there is, I can't keep it away," Tom rejoined. "Harry, this +idle life is getting into my blood, I fear. Now, I know just +how happy a tramp feels." + +"Go ahead and enjoy yourself, then," laughed Hazelton. "For fifteen +minutes at a time you'd make an ideal tramp. Then you'd want to go +to work" + +"I wouldn't mind having a little work to do," Reade admitted. +"Harry, it took nerve to throw up our connection with Don Luis. +At least, that meant some work to do." + +"It did not," Harry contradicted. "Don Luis didn't want us in +his mine at all, and showed us that as plainly as he could. All +the work he wanted out of us was the writing of two signatures. +The need of the signatures was all that ever made him bring us +down from the United States." + +"He'd he such a charming fellow, too, if he only knew a little +bit about being honest," sighed Tom, regretfully. + +"There is one thing about his rascality that I shall never forgive," +growled Hazelton. "That was, dragging his innocent daughter into +the game, just in the hope that her presence would influence us +to sign." + +"I trust, _caballeros_, that you did not find me too slow and +lazy," broke in the soft voice of Nicolas, as that servant stole +back in on them. He was well laden with parcels, at sight of +which Reade sat up with a jerk. + +"Anything in that lot that's all ready to be eaten without fussy +preparation, Nicolas?" the young chief engineer asked eagerly. + +"Oh, _si senor_!" + +"Then lead us to it, boy!" + +The Mexican servant unwrapped a package, revealing and holding +up a tin. + +"Food of your own kind, from your own country, _caballeros_," +the Mexican announced proudly. + +"Canned baked beans," chuckled Harry, after glancing at the label. +"Hurry and get the stuff open." + +Nicolas opened two tins of the beans, then produced a package of +soda biscuits. + +"This will be enough for one meal, _caballeros_?" he asked. + +"Oh, plenty," nodded Tom. + +"And then I have some of our Mexican beans, dried," Nicolas continued. +"They will do when we are not so near a food supply. I have +also a little dish in which to boil them over a fire. Oh, we +shall get along excellently, _caballeros_." + +Shortly the very simple meal was ready and eaten in record time. + +"And here is something else that we shall drink in the morning," +Nicolas announced, presently as he held up a package. "It is +chocolate." + +As Tom and Harry both detested this beverage, they were forced +to feign their enthusiasm. + +"Now, I feel as though we ought to do some walking," Tom declared, +rising and stretching. + +"Walking?" queried Nicolas. "Where?" + +"Over the hills to the nearest telegraph station. There is one +within twenty miles, is there not?" + +"There is, _caballero_," Nicolas assented, gravely, "but it will +be impossible for us to reach it." + +"Impossible? Why?" Reade demanded. + +"On my way back I kept my eyes open," the Mexican explained. +"As a result I discovered who is in these hills about us." + +"Who, then?" Harry asked. + +"Pedro Gato," Nicolas affirmed solemnly. + +"Who?" said Tom. "Oh, Gato? Only he?" + +"Only he and some of his worthless, criminal companions," the +servant went on, solemnly. "Senor Reade, at no greater distance +than this from Don Luis you may be safe from Gato. Yet, if you +stroll but a few miles from here Pedro Gato will not so greatly +fear the hidalgo. Then Gato will work his own will with you." + +"He will, oh?" Tom demanded grimly. + +"Of a surety, senor!" + +"If I should see Pedro Gato first, he would be likely to come in for +another walloping," Tom laughed, dryly. + +"But you would not see him, senor. You would hear him only, and +Gato's message would be a bullet." + +"Can Gato shoot any better than he fights?" smiled Reade. + +Bang! An unseen rifle spoke. Judged by the sound the marksman +was not more than three hundred yards away. + +"Sz-z-z-zz!" the leaden missile sang through the air. It flattened +against a rock in front of which the young chief engineer was +standing. + +"You are answered, _mi caballero_!" cried Nicolas, throwing himself +flat on the earth. "Drop to the earth, senor, before the second +shot is fired!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NICOLAS DOES AN ERRAND + + +Tom did not follow the advice to flatten himself on the ground. +Instead, he stood straighter--even rose on his toes and stared +in the direction whence he judged the shot to have come. + +"Gato, you treacherous scoundrel!" Read roared, in Spanish. "Do +you call yourself a brave man, to fight an unarmed foe like this?" + +All was silent amid the rocks in the distance. + +"Have you too little courage to answer me?" Tom again essayed. +"Or are you man enough to show yourself--to come forward and +listen to me. Don't be afraid. I can't hurt you. I have no +weapon worse than my fists." + +As the young chief engineer spoke in Spanish, Nicolas understood. + +"Don't! Don't, _mi caballero_," implored the Mexican servant +"Don't let him know that you are unarmed. Make a move as though +to draw a pistol, and Gato may run away instead of sighting his +rifle once more at you." + +"Now I know you, Gato, for the wolfish coward that you are," Tom +Reade shouted mockingly. "You are desperately afraid when you +won't meet me, unarmed as I am." + +"If Senor Reade is so utterly brave when he has no weapons," thought +the barefooted servant, "then if he had a gun in his hand he would +be the bravest man in all the world!" + +"I guess that yellow dog isn't going to bark at us again, just +now," laughed Tom, carelessly, when some moments had passed without +another shot. "Doubtless, the fellow was frightened away by the +sound of his own rifle." + +"That shot was a warning," chattered Nicolas. "It is his way +of sending you his defiance. When Gato fires again he will try +in earnest to kill you, and he will keep on firing until he succeeds. +Oh, _mi caballero_, if you will give me some more of your Americano +money, I will hasten about until I find some one who will sell +me a gun for you. You must have one in your hands all the time." + +"Not for mine," smiled Reade. "To tell you the truth, Nicolas, +guns sometimes make me nervous. If I had one I might be clumsy +enough to shoot myself with it." + +"Nicolas is talking sense," interrupted Hazelton, speaking in +English. "Both you and I should be armed." + +"By all means have Nicolas get a gun for you, Harry, if you will," +Reade answered, coolly. "But none for me." + +"I'd like to meet Gato face to face and on equal terms," Harry +went on, dropping back into the Spanish tongue. + +"So would I," agreed his chum. "I have much to say to Gato. +If there were mail boxes in this wild country I'd drop him a letter." + +"Do you really wish to send Gato a letter?" asked Nicolas, eagerly. + +"Why, I'd send him one if I could," nodded Tom. + +"Have you writing materials?" pressed the servant. + +"Yes--but what's the use?" + +"Write your letter, _mi caballero_, and I will hand it to Gato," +urged the Mexican. + +"You?" gasped Tom. + +"Certainly." + +"But how?" + +"I will hand the letter to him in person." + +"You--go to Gato?" + +"Yes. Why not?" + +"Gato would kill you!" + +"Kill a poor _peon_?" smiled Nicolas. "Oh, no; I am not worth +while. I am not a fighting man." + +"Do you mean to tell me," demanded Tom, astonished, "that you +could go openly and safely to Gato?" + +"Assuredly," declared Nicolas, composedly. "Gato would not harm +me. I am one of his own people, a Mexican, and have not the courage +to fight. So he would only disgrace himself in the eyes of his +countrymen if he tried to do me harm." + +"Is that the truth?" Reade persisted. + +"Certainly, Senor Reade. If there were a priest here I would +swear to it as the truth." + +"And you have the courage to try to hand a note to Gato?" + +"Under the circumstances it does not require courage, since I +am safe," replied Nicolas, steadily and easily. + +"Hanged if I don't think I will write a note to Pedro Gato!" chuckled +Tom. + +"Do so, _mi caballero_; at your convenience." + +Tom tore a page out of a notebook, and with his fountain pen wrote +the following note in Spanish: + +"Pedro Gato: If you had half the courage of a rabbit you would +not go skulking through the hills, shooting at me without giving +me any chance to tell you or show you what I think of you. A +shot has just struck near my head, yet no glimpse was to be had +of the man who fired the shot. If you did that, then you are +a coward of a low, mean type. If you do not feel like accepting +my opinion of you, then will you meet me and explain your conduct +as one real man talks with another? If you will not give me this +explanation, and persist in trying to shoot at me, then I warn +you that I will and must pummel you with my fists if I ever have +the pleasure of meeting you face to face." + +"Thomas Reade." + +Harry glanced through the note and smiled. "That ought to scare +the bold, bad man," said he. + +"Read this, Nicolas, and see if you think the note will shame +the scoundrel," laughed Tom. + +"Pardon, _mi caballero_," objected Nicolas, "but I am no scholar. +I do not know how to read or write." + +"Oh!" said Tom simply. "Then let me read it to you." + +Tom repeated what he had written, then asking: + +"Do you think, Nicolas, that it will be safe for you to take this +to Pedro Gato?" + +"Assuredly, senor." + +"And you are sure you can find the scoundrel?" + +"I think so, though it may take considerable time." + +Nicolas took the note, holding it tight in his left hand. He +was visible for a few steps, after which he dodged down behind +a rock and was seen no more. + +Moving stealthily over the hillsides, Nicolas spent a full hour +in obtaining the first glimpse of Gato. That worthy was seated +on the ground, smoking and chatting in low tones with his +desperate-looking companions. Suddenly Pedro caught sight of the +servant and started up. He beckoned, and Nicolas approached. + +"You have come to serve us," said Gato, delightedly. "You are +a good youth, and I shall reward you handsomely some day. You +are ready to tell us how we can trap the two Gringos. How many +weapons have they, and of what kind?" + +"Truly, I do not know, Senor Gato," Nicolas answered. + +"That taller Gringo taunted me with the claim that he was not +armed at all," grinned Gato, ferociously. "But I am too old a +man to be caught by any such lie as that. He was trying to lead +us on, that we might walk into their Gringo trap. Was he not?" + +"Truly I do not know," Nicolas repeated. + +"Then what are you doing here, if you bring us no news?" snarled +Gato, whereat Nicolas began to tremble. + +"I--I bring a letter from his excellency, _el caballero_, Reade," +faltered the servant. + +"A letter?" cried Gato, hoarsely. "Why did you not say so before." + +"I have been waiting, Senor Gato, until you gave me time to speak," +protested the messenger. + +"Hand me the letter," ordered Gato, stretching forth his hand. + +Nicolas handed over the page torn from Tom's notebook. Gato slowly +puzzled his way through the note, his anger rising with every +word. + +"The insolent Gringo!" he cried. "He insults my courage! This +from one who is a mere Gringo--the most cowardly race of people +on the earth. Oh, I shall exact revenge for this insolence. +And you, Nicolas, had the impudence to come here with such an +insult." + +"I assure you, Senor Gato, I was but the unfortunate messenger." +Nicolas replied, meekly. + +"Since you brought this insolence to me you shall take back my +message. Tell the dogs of Gringos that I laugh at them. Tell +the Gringo, Reade, that, in these hills, I shall do as I please. +That I shall let him pass safely, if I am so minded, or that +I shall shoot at him whenever I choose. Assure him that I regard +his life as being my property. Begone, you rascal!" + +Nor did Nicolas linger. From the outset he had been badly scared, +though he had been truthful in assuring Tom Reade that a bandit +would hardly hurt a poor _peon_. + +When Nicolas at last reached the young engineers he delivered +the message that Pedro Gato had regarded the whole matter as +insolence, and had been very angry. + +"Gato added," continued Nicolas, "that he would shoot at you when +and where he pleased. And he will do it. He is a ferocious fellow." + +"Humph!" muttered Tom. "If your feet don't mind, my good Nicolas, +I have a good mind to send Gato another and much shorter note. +Is it far to go!" + +"N-not very far," said Nicolas, though he began to quake. + +"Of course, I shall pay you well for this and all the other trouble +you are taking on my account," Tom continued, gently. + +"I am finely paid by being allowed to serve you at all, Senor +Reade," Nicolas protested. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PINING FOR THE GOOD OLD U.S. + + +"You will have to be very careful that Gato does not get another +chance to shoot at you, _mi caballero_," Nicolas went on. "He +does not believe that you are unarmed, or he would speedily settle +with you. But he will shoot at you frequently, from ambush, if +you give him the chance." + +"Then I hope he'll do it frequently," grimaced Reade. "The need +of frequent shooting indicates bad marksmanship." + +"Senor," begged Nicolas, "I would not joke about Gato. He means +to kill you, or worse." + +"Worse?" queried Tom, raising his eyebrows. "How could that be?" + +The Mexican servant made a gesture of horror. + +"It is worse when our Mexican bandits torture a man," he replied, +his voice shaking. "They are fiends--those of our Mexicans who +have bad hearts." + +"Then you believe that Gato plans something diabolical, just because +I walloped him in a fair fight--or in a fight where the odds +were against me?" + +"It matters not as to the merits of the fight," Nicolas went on. +"Gato will never be satisfied until he has hurt you worse than +you hurt him." + +"And perhaps Don Luis may be behind the rascal, urging him on +and offering to protect him from the law? What do you think about +that, Nicolas?" + +"I cannot say," Nicolas responded, with a slight shrug. "I am +Don Luis's servant." + +"Pardon my forgetting that," begged Harry. "I should not have +spoken as I did." + +"For more than one reason," Tom muttered, "we shall do well to +get out of this unfriendly stretch of country. Harry, we're pining +for the good old U.S., aren't we?" + +"Just a glimpse of the American side of the border--that's all +we want," laughed Hazelton. + +"And, if we're to be killed, we'll at least be killed while trying +to reach the border," Reade proposed. + +"Do you intend starting now, senor?" asked Nicolas, in a low voice. + +"Not before dark," Tom murmured. + +"Then why do you two not sleep for a while?" begged the servant. +"You will need some strength if you are to travel through these +mountains all night. Sleep! You can trust me to keep awake and +to warn you if danger gets close." + +"Thank you, old fellow; I know we can trust you," Tom replied. +He stretched himself out on the ground, pulling his hat down +over his eyes. Within two minutes he was sound asleep. Not more +than a minute after that Harry, too, was dozing. + +It was still daylight when Tom awoke. He sat up. Harry was sleeping +soundly, and Nicolas was not in sight. + +"Abandoned?" thought Reade. "No; that's hardly likely. Nicolas +rings true. Hiding close to here, undoubtedly, that he may keep +better watch. A call will bring him here." + +Tom rose, to look about. + +"Be cautious, senor," came the whispered advice from an unseen +speaker. "If you expose yourself you may invite a bullet." + +Tom promptly accepted the advice. Going toward the sound of the +voice, he found Nicolas crouched in a trough of rock not far from +where they had lain down. + +"Now, Nicolas, it's your turn," whispered Reade. + +"My turn for what, senor?" + +"Sleep!" + +"I am but a servant, senor. I do not need rest." + +"Nicolas, you go in and lie down near Hazelton, and go to sleep." + +The Mexican grumbled a little, but all his life he had been taught +to obey orders. Within sixty seconds the servant was sound asleep. + +An hour later it began to darken. + +Harry Hazelton awoke with a start, to find Tom with his finger +on his lips. + +"Nicolas is asleep," whispered Reade. "Don't make any noise that +will awaken him. I have no doubt that he would go through with +us and be our guide. But that would put him in bad with Don Luis, +and we have no right to expose the poor fellow to blame. Move +about without noise, and we'll eat some of the stuff that Nicolas +brought us." + +This was done. It was dark by the time that the simple meal had +been finished. Tom drew out another five-dollar bill, which he +pinned to the shirt of the poor Mexican. + +"Now we'll take all the food with us," Tom whispered. "Nicolas +won't need any of it, as he's less than twenty minutes' walk from +a square feed. Come along--on tip-toe." + +Tom led the way through the darkness, not halting until they were +well away from the Mexican. + +"Now, wait a moment, until we get our bearings from the stars," +Tom proposed. "Then we'll make a straight, fast, soft hike to +the telegraph station." + +"Only twenty miles away, over the boulders," murmured Hazelton. + +"This is where our past physical training comes in finely," Tom +rejoined. He looked up at the sky, pointing to and naming several +of the fixed stars. + +"Now, as we know our course, we can hardly, go astray," Reade +suggested. "Ready! Forward march!" + +Tom took the lead in this, as he did in nearly everything else. +For more than an hour the young engineers trudged ahead. When +at last they halted for breath they had covered at least three +miles of their way. + +"Nicolas will feel insulted when he wakes, I'm afraid," suggested +Hazelton. + +"I'm afraid he will. Nicolas may have a copper skin, and be under-sized +and illiterate, but he's one of the old-fashioned, true-to-the-death +kind. But, if he helped guide us out of this wilderness, Don Luis +would probably flay the poor fellow alive afterwards." + +"I wonder if we're going to make the telegraph station by daylight!" +Harry went on. + +"I'm afraid not. But we ought to be there some time during the +forenoon." + +"That will give Don Luis time, perhaps, to wake up to our disappearance +and send men after us," hinted Harry. + +Tom's face grew long at this suggestion. He was well aware that +Don Luis Montez was a man who was both dreaded and obeyed in these +mountains. + +"Oh, well, we'll do all we can for ourselves," Tom proposed. +"We'll keep cheerful about it, too--until the worst happens." + +"I'm rested, Tom. Shall we start along?" + +"Yes; for we're both anxious to get through!" + +Once more Reade took the lead. They trudged another mile, often +without finding the semblance of a trail. Finally, they discovered +what seemed to be a crude road leading in their general direction. + +Ahead boulders loomed up. They were getting into a rough part +of the mountains. + +As Tom plodded around a bend in the road, past a big rock, he +heard a low laugh. + +"Oblige me, senores, by showing me how high you can reach in the +air!" came a mocking voice. + +Tom and Harry had both stepped around into the plain range of +vision of Pedro Gato. + +That scoundrel stood with rifle butt to his shoulder, his glance +running along the barrel. The weapon covered them. + +"Don't forget! Your hands, _caballeros_!" insisted Gato, jubilantly. + +For a brief instant Tom Reade hesitated. He was doing some lightning +calculating as to whether he would be able to spring forward under +the rifle barrel and knock up the weapon. + +But a second glance showed him that he could not hope to do it. +Pedro Gato was completely master of the situation. + +"For the third time--and the last, _caballeros_ your hands! +Up high!" commanded Gato exultantly. + +"Now, stand just so, until I get back of you," ordered Gato. +"Do not attempt any tricks, and do not turn to look back at me. +If you do I shall pull the trigger--once and again. This rifle +shoots fast." + +While talking Gato had placed himself to the rear of his captives, +who, with hands up, remained facing ahead. + +"Do you want us to keep our hands up forever?" demanded Tom Reade, +gruffly. + +"To take them down will be the signal for death," replied Gato +coolly. "Take your hands down, or turn this way, if you deem +it best. Possibly you will prefer to die, for to-night's entertainment +may strike you as being worse than death. The matter is within +your own choice, wholly, _caballeros_. Perhaps on the whole it +would be far better for you to lower your hands and die." + +"Cut out the thrills and the mock-comedy, Gato, and tell us what +else you want us to do," Tom urged, stiffly. + +"Oho! My Gringo wild-cat is much tamer, isn't he?" sneered Gato. +"But he shall be tamer still before the night is over. Now--are +you listening?" + +Harry made no sign, but Tom shrugged his shoulders. + +"Keep your noses pointed the same way. March!" commanded Gato. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +NEXT TO THE TELEGRAPH KEY + + +Tom and Harry started along the trail, side by side. + +Something whizzed through the air. Then something struck the +earth heavily, and there was a slight, quickly repressed groan. + +"Quick, _caballeros_!" + +For the life of him Tom could not help halting and wheeling about. +The next second he uttered a low cry of glee. + +For Pedro Gato lay flat on the ground, Nicolas bending over him. + +"Quick, _caballeros_!" implored Nicolas again. + +"You fine chap," chuckled Reade, bounding back and bending over +Gato, as Nicolas was doing. + +"There was no other way to save you," whispered the servant. +"I had to do it." + +As Nicolas raised his right hand, Reade could not help seeing +that it was stained with blood. + +"See here," gasped Tom, recoiling. "You didn't--you didn't knife +the scoundrel?" + +He had all of an American's disgust of knife-fighting. + +"Oh, no--not I," returned the little Mexican. "I do not use +the knife. I am a servant, not a coward. But I had to throw +a stone. I am thankful, senor, that my aim was good." + +Tom now discovered that blood was coming from a wound in Gato's +head. Moreover, the rascal was beginning to moan. He would soon +recover consciousness. + +"Do you know how to use this, senor?" Nicolas asked, as he passed +over a small coil of stout hempen cord. + +"I think we can fix the fellow," Tom nodded. "Roll him over, +Harry, and hold him. Don't let the scoundrel reach for any other +weapons." + +Gato's rifle lay on the ground. Tom pushed it aside with one +foot as Harry turned the fellow. + +"Get his hands behind him," muttered Tom. "I'll do the tying." + +In a very short space of time Gato's hands had been securely bound +behind him. More cord was tied around his ankles, in such a way +that Gato would be able to take short steps but not run. + +Suddenly Gato groaned and opened his eyes. + +"You'll be more comfortable on your back, old fellow," murmured +Tom. "Wait. I'll turn you." + +Gato stared blankly, at first. Evidently he did not realize the +situation all at once. At last a curse leaped to his lips. + +"Go easy on that bad-talk stuff," Tom urged him. "Gentlemen don't +use such language, and men who travel with us must be gentlemen." + +"You miserable Gringo!" wailed Gato, gnashing his teeth. "You +will always be full of treacherous tricks. Even when I had you +in front of me, and my eyes on you, you managed to knock me down." + +"Oh, no!" laughed Tom. "The credit for this stunt belongs to +good little Nicolas!" + +The servant uttered a protesting cry, but too late. Tom had spoken +indiscreetly. + +"Nicolas! You? You little mountain rat of a _peon_!" growled +Gato. "Excellent! I am glad I know, for I shall destroy you." + +Nicolas cowered and shivered before the baleful glare in the larger +Mexican's eyes. But Tom took a savage grip of one of Gato's shoulders, +digging in with his pressure until he made the scoundrel wince. + +"You'd better go slow with that talk, Gato," Tom warned him. +"If you don't we'll turn you over to Nicolas to do with as he +pleases." + +"All right," sneered Gato, not a whit dismayed. "He would dare +to do nothing to me. He would be too afraid of the vengeance that +he well knows stalks in these hills." + +"It is all too true," shuddered Nicolas. + +"Come, brace up, Nicolas, and be a man," Tom urged, slapping the +servant cordially on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid of any man. +Let Gato threaten you if he wants to. Nothing has happened to +you yet, and he who is afraid is the only man that suffers. Come, +Gato, you will have to get up on your feet. We can't let you +delay us." + +"I shall not stir a step," declared the fellow, grimly. + +"Oh, yes, you will." + +"Not if you kill me for refusing. If you wish to take me anywhere, +Gringos, you will have to carry me every step of the way." + +"We won't carry you, either," Tom continued, coolly. "Gato, a +few moments ago, you had the whip-hand. Now, we're carrying the +whip. We don't want any nonsense. If you carry matters too far +you'll discover that Hazelton and I have had more or less experience +as wild animal trainers. But, first of all, your head. It must +be attended to." + +Tom wiped away the blood, which was now clotting, with his own +handkerchief. + +"Help me to stand him on his feet, Harry," Reade then commanded. + +Between them they dragged the heavy fellow to his feet, but Gato +promptly cast himself down again. + +"We'll haul you up again," Tom went on, patiently. "Don't try +that mulish trick any more, Gato, or I promise you that you'll +regret it." + +No sooner had he been placed on his feet than. Gato once more +threw himself down. As soon as he went down, however, Tom jerked +him to his feet. + +A roar like that of an angry bull escaped the lips of the suffering +Mexican. + +"He is trying to summon his men!" cried Nicolas, snatching up +the rifle. + +No sooner was Gato upright than he threw himself down once more. + +Again he was roughly jerked to a standing position. + +The fourth time that Gato was placed on his feet he stood, though +he was shaking with fury. + +"That's a little better," Tom nodded. "Now, Nicolas, I imagine +you know more than I do about where your countrymen carry their +extra arms. Search this fellow for weapons, and don't overlook +anything." + +No pistol was revealed by the search, but a long, keen-edged knife +was brought to light. + +"No gentleman has any occasion to carry a thing like that," mocked +Reade. Thrusting the blade into a cleft of rock close by, Tom +snapped the blade, rendering the weapon useless. + +"Now, we're ready to go on," announced Tom. "Harry, will you +keep behind our guest of the evening and spur him on if he shows +signs of lagging?" + +"Take this gun, Senor Reade," Nicolas hinted, trying to pass the +weapon to the young chief engineer. + +"I don't want it," returned Tom, shaking his head and making a +gesture of repulsion. "I don't like guns. They always make me +nervous. I'm afraid of accidents, you see." + +"You take the gun, then, Senor Hazelton," begged Nicolas, turning +to the other engineer. + +"Don't you believe it," retorted Harry, gruffly. "I'd lose caste +forever with Tom if I carried firearms. Tom says that nobody +but a coward will carry firearms. You keep the gun yourself." + +"_Muy bien, senor_," (very good, sir) agreed Nicolas, meekly. +"It is better that I should carry the weapon then, for I am truly +worthless. I am but a _peon_." + +"Oh, confound you!" choked Harry. "I didn't mean that. You're +one of the best fellows on earth, Nicolas, for you're a man that +can be trusted. Better unstrap that belt of cartridges from Gato, +too." + +The big Mexican ground his teeth and cursed in helpless rage while +the little servant stripped him of the belt and adjusted it about +his own waist. + +"Now, let's get along," Reade urged. "We've been losing a lot +of valuable time. Besides, we don't know when we'll run into +some of this mountain pirate's choice friends." + +Tom strode on ahead. Nicolas ran to his side, walking with him. +Then came Gato, urged on by Harry Hazelton. + +"See here, you Nicolas," remarked Tom, protestingly, "why on earth +didn't you stay put? We left you behind to-night so that you +wouldn't run into trouble with Don Luis." + +"Don Luis himself told me to wait on your excellencies night and +day, as long as you remained in Bonista," Nicolas affirmed, solemnly. +"Don Luis hasn't yet changed those orders, and so I must remain +with you. But I had flattered myself that just now I was of enough +service to you so that you wouldn't be displeased." + +"Displeased? Not a bit of it," muttered Tom. "But we didn't +want you to get yourself into trouble on our account. Now, you've +gone and written your name in Gato's bad books for certain." + +"I have, senor," the _peon_ admitted. "Gato will take delight +in cutting my throat for me one of these days." + +"Great Scott!" Reade gasped, shivering. "That's cheerful." + +"So that, perhaps, senor," suggested the _peon_, slyly, "you will +be willing to take me with you to your own country. Perhaps there, +also, you will be able to give me work as your servant." + +"Rest assured of one thing, Nicolas. If we can get you safely +over on to the American side of the border we'll look after you +properly." + +"I am very grateful, senor," protested Nicolas, humbly. + +"But we're a long way from the American border as yet," Tom went on. + +"You will get there safely, senor," predicted the _peon_. "You +are a great man, and you know how to do things." + +"Well, for simple faith you're the limit, Nicolas, my boy. For +one thing, though, it strikes me that our getting over the border, +which is some hundreds of miles away, might be hindered if we +have the tough luck to run into any of Gato's armed pals along +this route." + +"You do well to remind me, senor!" cried Nicolas, in a low tone, +but one, nevertheless, which was full of self-reproach. "So much +have I enjoyed my talk with you that I have been forgetting to +look after your safety. Pardon me, senor. I will vanish, but +I shall watch over you with the wide-open eyes of the panther." + +In another instant Nicolas had vanished from the trail. Tom, +however, did not worry. He knew that Nicolas was not far away, +and that the little _peon_ was doubtless as valuable a scout as +their expedition could have. + +"I wish I had asked him to unload that gun, though," Reade muttered +to himself. "He's likely as not to hurt some one else beside +the enemy with a stray bullet or two." + +Three miles further on Tom, Harry and their prisoner halted, for +on the rough road they were now becoming winded. + +"I am near, senores," whispered a familiar voice, though Nicolas +did not show himself over the rocks that concealed him. + +"Yes," sneered Gato, harshly, "you are indeed near--near death, +you silly little fool. Always before you have been safe because +you were not a fighting man. But now you have taken to deeds +of arms, and you shall take your chances whenever you stir in +these mountains. For that matter you will surely be cut down +before the dawn comes." + +"That reminds me," muttered Tom. "We want to be farther from +Don Luis before dawn arrives. Gato, oblige us by rising and joining +in the hike." + +Though Gato snarled, he allowed himself to be hoisted to his feet. +Then, with alert Harry behind him the villain allowed himself +to be ordered along the trail. + +When dawn came Nicolas informed the young engineers that they +were now within about four miles of the nearest telegraph station. +The food that they had brought along was opened; even Gato had +his share. Then Nicolas vanished once more, and the march was +resumed. + +The sun was well up, and beating down hot and fiery when Nicolas, +standing on a jutting ledge of rock, pointed down into the valley +at a little clump of wooden buildings, roofed with corrugated iron. + +"That third house is the telegraph station," said the _peon_. +"You will know it by the wires running in." + +"Shan't we all go down?" asked Harry. + +"I'm afraid it wouldn't be wise," Tom answered. "We can't turn +our prisoner loose. On the other hand, if we took him with us, +roped as he is, it might stir up a lot of questioning and make +some trouble. But Nicolas will know better. What do you say, +my boy?" + +"I say that Senor Reade is right." + +Tom therefore started down into the valley alone. A few half-clad +natives lounged in the street. They stared curiously at this +stalwart-looking, bronzed young Gringo who walked toward them +with alert step. + +Two or three of the children, after the custom of their kind, +called out for money. Tom, smiling pleasantly, drew forth a few +loose American coins that he had with him and scattered them in +the road. Then he hastened on to the telegraph station, a +squalid-looking little one-room shanty. But the place looked good to +Tom, for its wires reached out over the civilized world, and more +especially ran to the dear old United States that he was so anxious +to reach with a few words. + +Tom passed inside, to find a bare-footed, white-clad Mexican soldier +at a telegraph desk. The soldier wore the chevrons of a sergeant. + +"Sergeant, may I send a telegram from here?" Tom inquired in Spanish. + +"Certainly, senor," replied the sergeant, pushing forward a blank. +As this telegraph station was a military station, it was under +the exclusive control of the soldiery. + +Tom picked up the blank and the proffered pencil. He dated the +paper, then wrote the name and address of the manager of his and +Harry's engineering office in the United States. Below this Reade +wrote: + +"Hazelton and I are now endeavoring to reach railway and return +immediately. If not heard from soon, look us up promptly through +Washington." + +"Our man will know, from this, if he doesn't hear from us soon," +Tom reflected, "that there has been foul play, and that he must +turn the matter over to the United States Government at Washington +for some swift work by Uncle Sam on our behalf. Once this message +gets through to the other end, Harry and I won't have to worry +much about being able to get out of Mexico in safety." + +The sergeant read the English words through carefully. + +"Will the senor pardon me for saying," ventured the telegrapher, +"that this message reads much as though yourself and a friend +are trying to escape?" + +The man spoke in English, though with a Spanish accent. + +"What do you mean, Sergeant?" Tom queried, quickly. + +"Why should you need to escape, if you are honest men, engaged +in honest business?" demanded the sergeant, eyeing Reade keenly. + +"Why, it isn't a felony to try to get out of Mexico, is it?" Tom +counter-queried. + +"That depends," said the sergeant. "It depends, for instance, +on why you are leaving." + +"We're leaving because we want to," Tom informed him. + +"You are Senor Reade, are you not?" pressed the sergeant, after +eyeing the telegram once more. "And your friend, who does not +appear here in person, is Senor Hazelton? Unless I am wrong, +then you are the two engineers whom Don Luis Montez engaged. +How do I know that you have any right to leave Mexico? How do +I know that you are not breaking a contract?" + +"Breaking a contract?" Tom retorted, somewhat indignantly. "Sergeant, +we are not contract laborers. We are civil engineers--professional +men." + +"Nevertheless," replied the sergeant, handing back the telegram +into the hands of bewildered. Tom Reade, "I cannot undertake +to send this message until it is endorsed with the written approval +of Don Luis Montez, your employer." + +"Does Don Luis own this side of Mexico, or this wing of the Mexican +Army?" Tom inquired, with biting sarcasm. + +"I cannot send the telegram, senor, except as I have stated." + +Whereupon the sergeant began firmly, though gently, to push Tom +out of the room. Comparing the size and muscular development +of the two, it looked almost humorous to see this effort. But +Tom, who now realized how hopeless his errand was, allowed himself +to be pushed out. Then the door was slammed to and locked behind +him. + +"Nothing doing!" muttered Reade, in chagrin and dismay. "In fact, +much less than nothing! Harry and I will simply have to tramp +fifty miles further and find the railway. Great Scott! I doubt +if the conductor will even let us aboard his train without a pass +signed by Don Luis. Hang the entire state of Bonista!" + +Deep in thought, and well-nigh overwhelmed by the complete realization +of his defeat, Tom stalked moodily back up among the rocks. + +As he turned a sharp, jutting ledge, Tom suddenly recoiled, as +a brisk military voice called: + +"Para! Quien vive!" (Halt! Who goes there?) + +Reade found a Mexican military bayonet pressing against his chest, +behind the bayonet a rifle, and to the immediate rear of the rifle +a ragged, barefooted young soldier, though none the less a genuine +Mexican soldier! + +Further back other soldiers squatted on the ground. In their +centre sat the scowling Gato, handcuffed and therefore plainly +a prisoner. + +Harry and Nicolas were also there--not handcuffed, yet quite +as plainly prisoners. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE JOB OF BEING AN HIDALGO + + +"This must be a part of the army that Don Luis also owns!" flashed +through Reade's mind. + +From behind the group stepped forth a boyish-looking young fellow +at whose side dangled a sword. He was a very young lieutenant. + +"Are these your men?" inquired Tom. + +"Yes," nodded the lieutenant. + +"Why have they stopped me?" Tom demanded, calmly. + +"On suspicion, senor." + +"Suspicion of what?" demanded Reade, his eyes opening wider. +"Is it suspicious for a foreigner to be walking about in Mexico?" + +"I am not here to answer questions, senor," replied the young +officer. "You will be good enough not to resist." + +"I haven't any intention of resisting," Tom retorted. "I know +better than to think that I can thrash the whole Mexican Army +that is behind you." + +"You are as sensible as I had hoped you would be, senor," continued +the lieutenant, with a slight bow. + +"But I wish you would tell us why you are holding us," Tom insisted. + +"I am not obliged to tell you, senor, and I am not certain that +it would be wise of me to do so," the officer answered. "However, +I will say that I found your party with a Mexican citizen as a +prisoner." + +"And you seem to have made a prisoner of the same fellow yourself," +Reade retorted. + +"As an officer of the Mexican Army, senor, that is my privilege," +came the lieutenant's response. "As to your right, however, to +arrest and hold a Mexican citizen, there may be some question. +I shall have to satisfy myself on this point before I can release +you." + +"Why, I'll be wholly frank with you," Tom Reade offered. "This +fellow, Gato, is a rascal whom I had occasion to thrash. In revenge +for the humiliation he has given me to understand that he would +kill me. Last night he held us up at the point of his rifle. +Our servant, Nicolas, threw a stone that bowled Gato over. Then, +for our own safety, we tied him up and brought him with us." + +"Why was it necessary to your safety, senor, since you had the +fellow's rifle and his ammunition? You see, I have gained this +much from your friend." + +"Why was it necessary?" Tom repeated, wonderingly. "Why, Lieutenant, +do you feel that we should have turned a deadly enemy loose?" + +"But you had no right to arrest him, senor." + +"Nor did we arrest him in the sense that you mean, Lieutenant. +All we did was to render Gato helpless and bring him along with +us until we should have passed out of the bit of country in which +he might have been dangerous to our safety." + +"How could he be dangerous when you had his weapon?" the lieutenant +demanded, argumentatively. + +"Why, he had other men out with him. How long would it have taken +Gato to find his men and bring them down upon us--three or four +guns against one?" + +"But did you see his other men at any time in the night?" + +"No," Tom admitted. + +"Senor, you have made a grave mistake in arresting and holding the +man, Gato. You had no right to do so." + +"Why, in our own country," Tom protested, "any one may arrest +a man who is committing a crime. In our own case we very likely +would have lost our lives to bandits if we had not tied Gato and +brought him with us." + +"Had you tied him and left him behind it might have been different," +explained the lieutenant. "But what you did, Senor Reade, was +to make an actual arrest, and this you, as an American, had no +right to do. Therefore, I shall hold you until this matter has +been further inquired into." + +It was a bad plight, and there seemed to be no simple way out +of it. The young chief engineer began to see that, innocently, +and wholly for the purpose of self-protection, he very likely +had infringed upon the kinds of rights that foreigners in Mexico +do not possess. + +"All right, Lieutenant," sighed Tom. "I suppose we shall have +to go along with you. Where are you taking us?" + +"That will have to be decided," said the officer. "Nowhere for +the presents my men are tired and need rest. We will not humiliate +you, Senor Reade, by placing you in irons, but I will ask your +word of honor that you won't attempt to escape from us." + +"I give you that word of honor," said Tom, simply. + +"And I have only to remind you, senor, that, if you make the mistake +of breaking your word, bullets travel fast and several of my men +are sharpshooters." + +"I am an American and a gentleman," Reade returned, with offended +dignity. "My word of honor is not given to be broken." + +"Then you will seat yourself, senor, or stroll about and amuse +yourself within the narrow limits of this small camp." + +Tom stepped over, rested his hand on Harry's shoulder, then dropped +to a seat beside his chum. + +"Can you beat it?" Tom demanded, in ready American slang. + +"It would be hard to, wouldn't it?" Harry asked, smiling sheepishly. + +Pedro Gato turned to regard them with a surly grin. Though handcuffed, +Gato seemed to feel that he was now enjoying his own innings. + +For an hour or more the soldiers continued to rest. All of them, +including the lieutenant, who sat stiffly aloof from his men, +rolling and smoking cigarettes. + +"I see a bully argument against cigarette smoking," whispered +Tom in his chum's ear. + +"What is it?" Harry wanted to know. + +"All of these fellows are smoking cigarettes. I am proud of myself +to feel that I don't belong in their class." + +"A year ago Alf Drew would have felt at home in this cigarette-puffing, +sallow-faced lot, wouldn't be?" grinned Harry. + +"I am glad to say that Alf now knows how measly a cigarette smoker +looks," answered Tom. + +Alf Drew, as readers of the preceding volume will remember, was +a boy addicted to cigarettes, but whom Tom had broken of the stupid +habit. Alf was now employed in the engineering offices of Reade +& Hazelton. + +"There's something coming," announced Reade, presently. "It sounds +like a miniature railroad train." + +"I wish it were a real one, and that we had our baggage aboard," +muttered Harry, with a grimace. + +One of the sentries had gone to intercept the approaching object. +Instead the soldier now permitted the approaching object to roll +into camp. It proved to be Don Luis's big touring car. In the +tonneau sat the mine owner and Dr. Carlos Tisco. + +"What is this, Senor Reade?" cried Don Luis Montez, in pretended +astonishment. "In trouble? Lieutenant, these gentlemen are friends +of mine. May I ask you what this means?" + +Tom was not deceived by this by-play. He snorted mildly while +the young army lieutenant explained why he had detained the engineers. + +"But these gentlemen are friends and employes," Don Luis explained. +"What they tell you about Gato is quite true. Will you oblige +me by releasing these gentlemen, Lieutenant." + +The young officer seemed to hesitate. + +"It's all a part of the comedy," whispered Tom, and Harry nodded. + +"I--I will let these Americanos go, for the present, Don Luis," +suggested the lieutenant, "provided you will take them back to +your estate, and agree to be responsible for them if they are +wanted. + +"Thank you very much, Lieutenant. I will readily undertake that," +agreed Montez, smiling. "Then come, Senores Reade and Hazelton, +and I will interrupt my journey to take you back to safety under +a hospitable roof." + +"I don't know that I wouldn't rather go with the soldiers," Harry +muttered to his chum. + +"No!" murmured Reade. "I've heard too much about these Mexican +prisons to care anything about going to one. I reckon we'd better +go with Don Luis. After we've rid ourselves of military guard, +and have reached the Montez estate, we are at least released from +our word of honor not to attempt an escape. I guess, Harry, we +had better take up with Don Luis's rascally offer." + +"Well, _caballeros_, does it need much discussion to enable you +to accept my kindness?" called Montez, banteringly. + +"Not at all, Don Luis," Tom made answer. "We're going with you--with +the lieutenant's consent." + +The young lieutenant bowed his agreement. Tom and Harry lifted +their hats lightly to the officer, then stepped into the tonneau +of the car. + +"Home," said Don Luis. + +The chauffeur made a quick turn, and the car speedily left the +camp behind. + +"I have often heard, gentlemen, that foreigners have difficulty +in understanding our laws," observed Don Luis. He spoke affably, +but mockery lurked in his tones. "Without realizing it you two +have committed a serious offense against our laws. You have ventured +to arrest a Mexican citizen." + +Nicolas, who sat in front with the chauffeur, sat as stiff and silent +as though he had been a figure of stone. + +"What will be the outcome of this adventure, under the law?" Tom +inquired, dryly. + +"It would need one of our judges to say that," replied Don Luis, +shrugging his shoulders. "However, I may be able to arrange the +matter with the authorities." + +"And, if you can't arrange it--?" + +"Why, then, I dare say, my friends, you will have to be arrested +again. Then you would be taken to one of our prisons until your +trial came off. You might even be held _incommunicado_, which +means that, as prisoners, you would not be allowed to communicate +with the outside world--not even with your American government." + +"And how long would we be held _incommunicado_?" Tom asked. + +Don Luis gave another shrug of his shoulders. + +"You would be held _incommunicado_, Senor Reade, until the judges +were ready to try you." + +"And that might be years off," Tom muttered. + +Don Luis beamed delightedly, while a thin smile curled on Dr. Tisco's +lips. + +"You are beginning, senor, to get some grasp of Mexican law," +laughed Montez. + +"In other words, Don Luis," said Tom, dryly, "it's a game wherein +you can't possibly lose, and we can remain out of prison only as +long as you are gracious enough to will it?" + +"That might be rather a strong way of stating the case," murmured +the Mexican. "However, after your unlawful act of last night, +you undoubtedly are liable to a long confinement in one of our +prisons. But believe me, Senor Reade, you may command me as far +as my humble influence with our government goes!" + +The situation was certainly one to make Tom think hard. He was +certain that Don Luis had engineered the whole situation, even +to urging Gato on to a part in this grin drama. + +"Well, you've got us!" sighed Tom. + +"You will find me your best friend, always," protested Montez. + +"You have us," Tom continued, "but you haven't our signatures +to the report on your mine. That is going to be more difficult." + +"Time heals all breaches between gentlemen who should be friends," +declared Don Luis, quite graciously. + +After that it was a silent party that rode in the touring car. +Though the road back to the estate was worthy of no such name +as road, the big car none the less "ate up the miles." It was +not long before the young engineers caught sight of the big white +house. + +"Come, gentlemen," begged Don Luis, alighting, and turning to +the young engineers with a courtly grace that concealed a world +of mockery. "You will find your rooms ready, and my household +ready to minister to your comfort." + +Tom Reade, as he stepped upon the porch, drew himself up as stiffly +as any American soldier could have done. + +"We've had to come this far with you, Don Luis," admitted the +young engineer, dropping all his former pretense of dry good humor, +"but you can't make us live under your roof unless you go so far +as to have us seized, tied and carried in." + +"I have no intention of being anything but a gracious friend and +host," murmured Montez. + +"Then, while we probably must stay here," Tom resumed, "we'll +leave your place and go to live somewhere in the open near you. +We can accept neither your house nor your food." + +"Very good," answered Montez, meekly, bowing again. "I will only +suggest, _caballeros_, that you do not attempt to go too far from +my house. If you do, the soldiers will surely find you. Then +they will not bring you back to me, and you will learn what +_incommunicado_ means in our Mexican law. _Adios_, _caballeros_!" + +"Am I still the servant of the American gentlemen, Don Luis?" +asked Nicolas, humbly. + +"You may go with them. They will need you, little Nicolas," answered +Don Luis, and watched the three out of sight with smiling eyes. + +Montez could afford to be cheerful. He knew that he had triumphed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +TWO VICTIMS OF ROSY THOUGHTS + + +"There is one thing about it," remarked Reade, as he rose and +stood at the doorway of the tent. "We're not being overworked." + +"Nor are we getting awfully rich, as the weeks go by, either," +smiled Harry. + +"No; but we're puppets in a game that interests me about as much +as any that I ever saw played," Tom smiled back. + +"This game--interests you?" queried Harry, looking astonished. +"That is a new idea to me, Tom. I never knew you to be interested, +before, in any game that wasn't directly connected with some great +ambition." + +"We have a great ambition at present." + +"I'd like to know what it is," grumbled Harry. "It's three weeks +since that scoundrel, Don Luis, brought us back in triumph. We +refused to enter his house as guests, and started to camp in the +open in these two old tents that Nicolas secured for us. In all +these three weeks we haven't done a tap of work. We haven't studied, +or read because we have no books. We sleep, eat, and then sleep +some more. When we get tired of everything else we go out and +trudge over the hills, being careful not to get too far, lest +we run into the guns of Gato and his comrades, for undoubtedly +Gato was turned loose as soon as he was lost to our sight. We +don't do anything like work, and we're not even arranging any +work for the future. Yet you say that you're boosting your ambitions." + +"I am," Tom nodded solemnly. "Harry, isn't it just as great an +ambition to be an honest engineer as it is to be a highly capable +one?" + +"Of course." + +"Don't capitalists usually invest large sums on a favorable report +from engineers?" + +"Often." + +"And, if the engineers were dishonest the capitalists would lose +their money, wouldn't they?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then here's our ambition, and we're working it out--finely, +too," Tom went on, with much warmth. "Don Luis has a scheme to +rob some people of a large sum of money by selling them a worthless +mine in a country where there are several good ones. If he could +get us to help him, to our own dishonor, Don Luis Montez would +succeed in swindling this company of men. Harry, we're just lying +around here, day after day, doing no hard work, but we're blocking +Don Luis's game and saving money for honest men. Don Luis doesn't +care to have us assassinated, for he still hopes to break down +our resistance. He can't bring the capitalists here to meet us +until we do give in, and so the game lags for Don Luis. He can't +bring in other engineers, for they'd meet us and we would post +them. The American engineer must be a serious problem for Don +Luis. He thought he could buy almost any of us. Our conduct +has made him afraid that American engineers can't be bought. +Evidently he must have his report signed by American engineers +of repute, which means that he is trying to sell his worthless +mine to Americans. Harry, we're teaching Don Luis to respect +the honesty of American engineers; we're saving some of our countrymen +from being swindled, probably out of thousands of dollars; we're +proving that the American engineer is honest, and we're discouraging +rascals everywhere from employing us in crooked work. Now, honestly, +isn't all that ambition enough to hold us for a few weeks?" + +"I suppose so," Harry agreed. "But what is the end of all this +to be. Won't Don Luis merely have us assassinated in the end, +if we go on proving stubborn?" + +"He may," Tom answered, pressing his lips grimly. "But, if he +does, he'll pay heavily for his villainy." + +"How?" + +"Every man has to pay for his sins." + +"That's what we were taught in Sunday school," Harry nodded, "and +I've always believed it. Yet here, in these remote mountains +of the state of Bonista, if anywhere, Don Luis would appear to +be safe. If a few of his men crept up here, late some night, +with pistols or knives, and finished us before we had time to +wake up, do you imagine that any one hereabouts would dare to +make any report of the matter? Would our fate ever reach the +outside world?" + +"It would be sure to, in time, I believe," Tom answered, thoughtfully. + +"How?" + +"That I can't tell. But I believe in the invariable triumph of +right, no matter how great the odds against it may seem." + +"Let right triumph, after we're buried," continued Harry, "and +what good would it do us?" + +"None, in any ordinary material sense. Yet good would come to +the world through our fate, even if only in proclaiming, once +more, the sure defeat of all wicked plans in the end." + +Harry said no more, just then. Tom Reade, who ordinarily was +intensely practical, was also the kind of young man who could +perish for an ideal, if need be. Tom went outside, stretching +himself on the grass under a tree. He sighed for a book, but +there was none, so he lay staring off over the valley below. + +Twenty minutes later Harry, after trying vainly to take a nap +on a cot in the tent, followed his chum outside. + +"Odd, isn't it, Tom?" questioned Hazelton. "We're living what +looks like a wholly free life. Nothing to prevent us from tramping +anywhere we please on these hills, and yet we know to a certainty +that we wouldn't be able to get twenty miles from here before +soldiers would have us nabbed, and marching away to a prison from +which, very likely, no one in the outside world would ever hear +of us again." + +"It is queer," agreed Tom, nodding. "Oh, just for one glimpse +of Yankee soil!" + +"Twice," went on Harry, "we've even persuaded Nicolas to bribe +some native to take a letter from us, to be mailed at some distant +point. After two or three days Don Luis, in each instance, has +come here, and, with a smile, has shown us our own intercepted +letter. Yet Nicolas has been honest in the matter, beyond a doubt. +It is equally past question that the native whom Nicolas has +trusted and paid has made an honest attempt to get away and post +our letter; but always the cunning of a Montez overtakes the trusted +messenger." + +"And one can only guess what has happened to the messengers," +Tom said, soberly. "Undoubtedly both of the two poor fellows +are now passing the days _incommunicado_. It makes a fellow a +bit heartsick, doesn't it, chum, to think of the probable fates +of two men who have tried to serve us. And what, in the end, +is to be the fate of poor little Nicolas? Don Luis Montez is +not the sort of man to forgive him his fidelity to us." + +"And where's Nicolas, all this time?" suddenly demanded Harry, +glancing at his watch. "Why, the fellow hasn't been here for +three hours! Where can he be?" + +"_Quien sabe_?" responded Reade, using the common Spanish question, +given with a shrug, which means, "Who knows! Who can guess?" + +"Can Nicolas have fallen into any harm?" asked Hazelton, a new +note of alarm in his voice. "The poor, faithful little fellow! +It gives me a shiver to think of his suffering an injury just +because he serves us so truly." + +"I shall be interested in seeing him get back," Tom nodded thoughtfully. + +"And I'm beginning to have a creepy feeling that he won't come +back!" cried Harry. "He may at this moment be past human aid, +Tom, and that may be but the prelude to our own craftily-planned +destruction." + +Tom Reade sat up, leaning on one elbow, as he regarded his chum with +an odd smile. + +"Harry," Tom uttered, dryly, "we certainly have no excuse for being +blue when we have such rosy thoughts to cheer us up!" + +"Hang Mexico!" grunted Hazelton. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE STRANGER IN THE TENT + + +By and by Tom Reade began to grow decidedly restless. He would +sit up, look and listen, and then lie down again. Then he would +fidget about nervously, all of which was most unusual with him, +for Reade's was one of those strong natures that will endure work +day and night as long as is necessary, and then go in for complete +rest when there is nothing else to do. + +Harry did not observe this, for he had gone back into the tent. +Two sheets of a Mexican newspaper had come wrapped around one +of Nicolas's last food purchases. Hazelton was reading the paper +slowly by way of improving his knowledge of Spanish. + +At last Tom called, in a low voice: + +"Don't worry about me, chum, if you miss me. I'm going to take a +little stroll." + +"All right, Tom." + +Reade did not hurry away. He had to remember that in all probability +he was being watched. So he strolled about as though he had no +particular purpose in mind. Yet, after some minutes, he gained +a point from which he could gaze down the hill-slope toward the +little village of huts in which the mine laborers lived. + +There were a few small children playing about the one street that +ran through the village. A few of the women were out of doors, +also, but none of the men were in sight, for these were toiling +away at the mine. Though _El Sombrero_ had so far shown no ore +that amounted to anything, Don Luis, while waiting to sell his +mine for a fortune, kept his _peons_ working hard in the hope +that they might strike some real ore. + +After Tom had been gazing for three or four minutes his eves suddenly +lighted, for he saw Nicolas come out of one of the huts. + +"I wonder what has kept the little fellow so long," Tom murmured. +But he turned away with an appearance of listlessness, for, if +he were observed, he did not care to have a watcher note his interest +in the servant's coming. + +So Nicolas passed on toward the tents without having observed Reade. + +"I won't get back too soon," Tom decided. "If we are watched +at all it wouldn't do to have me appear too much interested in +the _peon's_ doings." + +Now that his mind was somewhat easier, Tom strolled on once more. +His roundabout path took him along among the rocks that littered +the ground over the principal tunnels of _El Sombrero_. Hundreds +of feet beneath him now toiled some of the _peons_ who lived in +the village of huts yonder. + +Presently Reade increased his speed considerably, deciding that +now it would be safe to return directly to camp. Suddenly he +stopped short, head up, his gaze directed at the tops of three +or four rocks. Some human being had just dodged out of sight +at that point. + +Tom felt a swift though brief chill. Something had made him suspect +that the prowler might be Gato, or one of the latter's companions. + +Instead of running away Tom made for the place of hiding in short +leaps. + +"Hold on there a minute, my friend," Tom called in Spanish. "I +think it may be worth my while to look you over." + +Just as Reade was ready to bound over the rocks a figure rose +as though to meet him. A light leap landed Reade on top of the +stranger, who was borne to earth. + +"Mercy senor!" begged the other. "Do not be rough with me. I +am not strong enough to stand it." + +The man spoke Spanish and was well past middle age, of a very +spare figure, and his face was very thin, although there was a +deep flush on his cheeks. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Tom in Spanish. He touched the +stranger's cheeks, which were hot with fever. + +Then Tom slid off his poor captive and squatted beside him. Reaching +for the man's left wrist and resting two fingers on his pulse, +Tom added, gently: + +"Tell me all about it, senor." + +"There is not much to tell," panted the stranger, weakly, for +Tom's landing on him had jarred him severely. "I am sick, as +you can see." + +"Oh, that isn't much," said Tom, blithely. "With decent care +you will soon he well. It is plain that you are a gentleman--no +_peon_. Yonder, some distance, is a house where I think you are +very likely to be well taken care of. Don Luis Montez--" + +Despite the hectic flush in the cheeks, the stranger's face paled +visibly. Tom, always observant, noted this. + +"Oh, I see," Reade went on, calmly. "You do not like Don Luis +Montez, or you do not care about going to his house." + +The stranger gazed up wistfully at the young engineer's kindly face. + +"Senor," he asked, "you would not betray me?" + +"You mean to Don Luis?" + +A weak nod was the answer. + +"Rest easy on that score, my friend," Tom begged, dryly. "Don Luis +and I are not on the best of terms. I do not like him very +well myself." + +"Will you help to hide me here, and then go away and be silent?" + +"Go away and leave you here?" suggested Reade. + +"Yes, senor. It will be a great favor." + +"It would be murder," Tom retorted. "Man, you're ill and you +need care--nursing. I don't know much about doctoring, but if +you have any reason why you don't want Don Luis to know you're +here, then I'll do the best I can for you here. I have a chum +who'll help me. You have been traveling for some time?" Tom continued, +his glance taking in the stranger's well-worn shoes and trousers. + +"That is true, yes," nodded the stranger. + +"You've been over a rough road, also," Tom continued, "and now +you're ill. Your pulse is a hundred and twenty, and you're breathing +thirty-two times to the minute. You must have a good bed, be +covered comfortably and have plenty of water to drink while we're +getting some medicines for you." + +"You are indeed kind, but I fear," protested the stranger, "that +you will attract attention my way, and then I shall be captured." + +Tom studied the face of the sick man keenly. + +"I wish you would tell me something about yourself," the young +engineer hinted. "It might help me to decide what it is best +to do for you." + +"Senor," begged the stranger, with a start of dread "it would +be a great kindness to me if you would go away and leave me here. +Do not come back--and forget that you have seen me." + +"It can't be done," replied Tom, with gentle positiveness. "It +wouldn't be in American nature to go away and leave a fellow creature +to die of helplessness when a little care and nursing ought to +put that man on his feet again. But I won't argue with you, for +I see the excitement is bringing a deeper flush into your face. +Senor, as you are a gentleman trust another gentleman to serve +you loyally and not betray you. I am going to leave you for a +little while. Will you give me your word to remain here until +I return?" + +"Yes," nodded the other, weakly. + +"I'll wrap this around you," Reade continued, taking off his own +blouse and wrapping it around the thin body of the older man. +"This will help you a little if you are taken with chills. I +shall be back as soon as I can possibly come without attracting +attention. Do not be startled if you hear other footsteps than +my own. I shall bring with me a friend. I would trust in his +hands anything or all that I have in the world. Will you trust +me to serve you, senor?" + +"I shall trust you," promised the other, simply. "In truth, my +young friend, I have many reasons why I could wish to recover of +this illness and be well again." + +Tom slipped away, then rose to his full height, and resumed his +late appearance of lounging along without an object. As he neared +the camp he espied Nicolas, whom he had forgotten. + +"Our little fellow came back, you see," called Harry, as Tom neared +the tents. "What have you been doing?" + +"Loafing," yawned Reade, as he strolled up. When he reached the +cook tent, however, he stepped inside and the Mexican servant +followed him. + +"Senor," Nicolas reported, in a whisper, "I think I succeeded in +my errand." + +"But you do not yet know?" queried Tom. + +"How can I know so soon, senor?" questioned Nicolas. + +"True," nodded Tom. + +Then he stepped outside the tent, remarking: "Our food supply is so +low, Nicolas, that I fear you will have to take the basket and go +after more." + +"It shall be done, senor," promised the servant, and going into +the tent appeared a moment later with a basket. + +Tom handed him some money. + +"I am listening to your orders, senor." + +"Oh, you know as well what food to get as I do," Tom rejoined. +"But," he added, under his voice, "you _must_ get me some--" + +Here Tom added the Spanish names of three or four drugs that he +wanted. + +"I think I shall be able to get the drugs, senor. Some of the +_peons_ must keep them in their houses." + +"You must get them, as I said. Now, make good time. I will await +your return." + +Then Tom drew Harry aside, describing the finding of the fever-stricken +stranger. + +"Who on earth can he be?" wondered Harry, curiously. "And what +can he be doing in this out of the way part of the world?" + +"That's his own secret," retorted Tom, dryly; and the man is bent +on keeping it. There are only two things that we need to know--one +that he is ill, and the other that he is very plainly a gentleman, +who would be incapable of repaying our kindness with any treachery. +What do you say, Harry? Shall we bring him here and look after +him?" + +"That's for you to say, Tom." + +"It's half for you to say, Harry. Half the risk is also yours, +if anything goes wrong." + +"Tom, I feel the same way that you do about it," Harry declared, +his eyes shining brightly. "A fellow creature in distress is +one whom we can't pass by. We can't leave him to die. Such a +thing would haunt me as long as I live. When do you want to go +after him?" + +"Just as soon as it's dark," Reade replied. "That will be within +the hour, for here in the tropics night comes soon after the sun +sets." + +When the time came Tom and Harry left their tent, strolling slowly. +It was very dark and the young engineers listened intently as +they went along. They found their stranger and lifted him from +the ground. He was so slight and frail that he proved no burden +whatever. Apparently without having been seen by any one Reade +and Hazelton bore their man back to camp. + +"Into the cook tent," whispered Reade. "Don Luis, if he should +visit us, is less likely to look there than anywhere else." + +Into the cook tent they bore the stranger, arranging a bed on +the floor, and covering the sick man with such blankets as his +condition appeared to call for. + +"I am back, _caballeros_," announced Nicolas, treading softly +into the tent. "To the praise of Heaven, be it said, I secured +the medicines you told me to get." + +Then Nicolas stopped short, gazing wonderingly at the fever-flushed +face of the stranger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CRAFT--OR SURRENDER? + + +"He's a puzzle," remarked Harry, four days later. + +"Meaning our sick man?" + +"Of course. But he isn't going to be a sick man much longer, +thanks to you, Tom. You were born to be a physician." + +"Don't you believe it," smiled Reade. "The only previous experience +I've had was when I simply had to pull you through out on Indian +Smoke Range last winter. Harry, I was afraid you were a goner, +and I couldn't let you go. But then, just when you were at your +worst I had the best of outside help in pulling you through." + +"You mean you got help after you had pulled me out of all danger," +Hazelton retorted. "And now you've pulled our stranger through. +Or the next thing to it. His fever is gone, and he's mending." + +"Nothing much ailed him, I reckon, but intense anxiety and too +little food. Our man is resting, now, and getting strong." + +"But he's a mystery to me," Harry continued. + +"How so?" + +"I can't make anything out of him." + +"That's right." + +"Do you figure out anything concerning him?" Hazelton inquired. + +"I don't want to. It isn't any of my business. Our unknown guest +is very plainly a gentleman, and that's enough to know about him. +If he hasn't told us anything more then it's because he thinks +his affairs are of more importance to himself than to us." + +"Oh, of course, I didn't mean that I wanted to pry into his affairs," +Harry protested. + +"No; and we won't do it, either, Harry. If our guest should happen +to be missing some morning, without even a note of thanks left +behind, we'll understand what it cost him to slip away without +saying farewell." + +The day before Don Luis had made one of his occasional visits, +but he had not gone into the cook tent. Even had he done so the +mine owner would probably have seen nothing to make him curious. +At the further end of the cook tent lay the stranger, and his +bed had been curtained off by a dark-colored print curtain that +looked as though it might have been placed there to partition +off part of the tent. Don Luis had called merely to chat with +the young engineers, and to use his keen eyes in determining whether +his enforced guests were any nearer to the point of yielding to +his demands upon them. + +Concerning the sick man, Nicolas had remained wholly silent. +He did not offer to go near the sick man, but brought whatever +Tom or Harry had called for. To have the sick man on their hands +had been a rather welcome break for the young engineers, since +it had given them something with which to occupy themselves. + +Just before dark on the fifth day, Tom strolled into the cook +tent, going to the rear and parting the curtain. + +"How do you feel, now?" Reade asked in a whisper. + +"Much stronger, senor," came the grateful answer. "Last night, +when your servant slept, I rose and walked about the tent a little +to find the use of my legs again. To-day, when alone, I did the +same thing. By morning I shall be fit to walk once more. Senor, +do not think me ungrateful if you come into this tent, some morning, +soon, and find my end of it deserted. I shall go, but I shall +never forget you." + +"You will please yourself, sir," Tom answered, simply. "Yet I +beg you not to attempt to leave until you are able to take care +of yourself. We shall not think you ungrateful if it be a long +time before we hear from you again. Another thing, sir. When +you go do not fail to take with you, in your pockets, food enough +to last you for some days." + +"I--I cannot pay for it," hesitated the stranger. "Nor, for +the present, can I offer to pay you back the money you have expended +on my medicines." + +"Now, who said anything about that?" Tom asked, nearly as gruffly +as it was possible for him to speak to a sick man. "Pay for nothing +here, sir, and do not worry about it, either. You do not know +how much pleasure your coming has given us. We needed something +to do needed it with an aching want that would not be stilled. +Looking after you, sir, has been a very welcome treat to us." + +"You have been kinder to me, senores, than any one has been to me in +many years," murmured the stranger, tears starting to his eyes. + +"There, there! Forget it," urged Tom. + +"Good evening, Don Luis!" sounded Harry's voice outside. "Ah, +Dr. Tisco." + +"That's our warning to stop talking," whispered Tom in the stranger's +ear, then rose and slipped outside the curtain. + +"Where is Senor Reade?" inquired Don Luis. + +"Any one calling me?" inquired Tom, looking out of the cook tent. +"Ah, good evening, gentlemen." + +Tom stepped outside, offering his hand. As this was the first +time of late that he had made any such overture to the mine owner, +Montez was quick to grasp the hope that it conveyed. + +"You are not comfortable here, Senor Reade," said Don Luis, looking +about. "I regret it the more when I remember how much room I +have under my poor roof. Why don't you move up there, at once. +There are several apartments any one of which you may have." + +"On the contrary we are very comfortable here," Tom rejoined, +seating himself on the ground. "We have lived the open-air life +so much that we are really happier in a tent than we could be +in any house." + +"I cannot understand why you can feel so about it," murmured the +Mexican stepping to the entrance of the larger tent and glancing +inside. "I will admit, Senor Reade, that you keep a very tidy +house under canvas, and your wants may be extremely simple. But +a house offers comforts that cannot possibly be found in a tent +like this. And the other is still smaller and more cheerless," +he added, crossing into the other tent. + +Don Luis was now within arm's length of the thin curtain, and was +apparently about to push it aside. + +"Won't you come outside," suggested Tom, "and tell me the object +of your call this evening? It is too warm in here." + +"Gladly," smiled the Mexican, letting go of the curtain, which +he had just touched, and wheeling about. + +"Hang the rascal!" muttered Tom, inwardly. "Has he gotten wind +of the fact that we have a stranger here? Does Don Luis know +all about the man? Is he playing on my nerves at this moment?" + +But Montez, with an appearance of being wholly interested in Tom +Reade, went outside with him. Harry placed campstools for the +callers, while the young engineers threw themselves upon the ground. +Don Luis Montez, as usual, was to do the talking, while Dr. Tisco's +purpose in being present was to use his keen, snapping eyes in +covertly studying the faces of the two Americans. + +"I have called to say," declared Don Luis, coming promptly to +the point, "that within three days a party of American visitors +will be here. They come with a view to buying the mine, and I +shall sell it to them at a very handsome profit. Before we can +deal with these Americans it will be absolutely necessary for +me to have that report, signed by you both. Moreover, you must +both give me your word of honor that you will meet the Americans, +and stand back of that report. That you will do all in your power +to make possible the sale of the mine." + +"We've discussed all of that before," said Harry, dryly. + +"And we shall yet require a little more time before we can give a +too definite answer," Tom broke in hastily, to head off his chum. + +"But the time is short, _caballeros_," Don Luis urged, a new light, +however, gleaming in his eyes, for this was the first time that +the young engineers had shown any likelihood of granting his wishes. + +"A great deal can be decided upon in three days, Don Luis," Tom +went on, slowly. "You will have to give us a little more time, +and we will weigh everything carefully." + +"But you believe that you will be ready to meet my views?" Don +Luis demanded, eagerly. + +"I cannot see how our endorsement of your mine can be of any very +great value to you," Tom resumed. "It is hardly likely that any +of these capitalists who are coming have ever heard of us. In +any case, they are quite likely to feel that we are much too young +to be able to form professional opinions of any value." + +"You give me your help in the matter," coaxed Montez, "and I will +attend to the rest. More, _caballeros_; stand by me so well that +I dispose of the mine, and I will promise you twenty thousand +dollars, gold, apiece." + +"That is a lot of money," Reade nodded, thoughtfully. "But there +are other considerations, too." + +"Yes; your liberty and your safety," Montez broke in, quickly, +with a meaning smile. "_Caballeros_, do not for one moment think +that I can be hoodwinked, and that you will be safe as soon as +you meet your fellow Americans. One single flaw in your conduct, +after they arrive, and I assure you that you will be promptly +arrested. That would be the end of you. It is always easy for +government officers to report that prisoners attempted to escape, +and were shot dead because of the attempt. That is exactly what +will happen if you do aught to hinder the sale of this mining +property." + +"Nothing like a clear understanding," smiled Tom, rising, and +once more holding out his hand. "Don Luis, it will be enough +if we give you our answer by the morning of day after to-morrow? +And I will add that I think we shall see our way clear to help +along the sale of this mining property at a high figure. Let +me see; at what value do you hold it?" + +"At two million and a half dollars, Senor Reade." + +"I think we can assure your visitors that they are doing well +enough," Tom nodded. + +"One word more, _caballeros_," said Montez, as he let go of the +young chief engineer's hand. "If you fail us, do not either of +you imagine, for a moment, that you have any further lease of life." + +"I don't believe we shall fail you," Tom assured the Mexican. +"I believe that the visiting Americans will buy. If they don't +it won't be our fault." + +"And now that we are at such an excellent understanding once more, +Senor Reade," proposed the mine owner, "can't we prevail upon +you to come up to the house and spend a pleasant evening." + +"Thank you," Tom returned, graciously. "But not to-night. I +am restless. I must do considerable thinking, and I don't want +to talk much. Action is what I crave. If you see us running +all over your property, don't imagine that we are trying to run +away from here." + +"My property is at your disposal," smiled Don Luis. "I shall +feel assured that you will not go many miles from here." + +The remark covered the fact that Montez had all avenues of escape +so well guarded that the young engineers simply could not escape +by flight. + +Good nights were exchanged, and the visitors, smiling politely, +departed. + +"Now, why on earth did you talk to Don Luis in that fashion?" +Harry demanded, as soon as they were alone. "You know, well +enough, that not even the certainty of immediate death would make +you accede to his rascally wishes." + +"I'm afraid I don't know anything of the sort," Tom drawled. +"On the contrary, we may help Montez sell out to the American +visitors." + +Harry gasped. + +"Tom Reade, are you going crazy?" + +"Not that I've noticed." + +"Then what are you talking about?" + +"Harry, I'm tired, and I think you are." + +"I'm sick and tired with disgust that Don Luis should think he +could use us to bait his money-traps with," Hazelton retorted. + +"Let's turn in and get a good night's rest." + +"Oh, bother!" retorted the junior engineer. "I couldn't sleep. +Tom, I shan't sleep a wink to-night, for dreading that you'll turn +rascal-helper. Tell me that you've been joking with me, Tom!" + +"But I can't truthfully tell you that," Reade insisted. "I am +not joking, and haven't been joking to-night." + +"Then I wish you'd open up and tell me a few things." + +"Wait," begged Tom. "Wait until I'm sure that the few things +will bear telling." + +With that much Harry Hazelton found that he would have to be content. +He allowed himself to be persuaded to turn in. + +Tom Reade was asleep in a few minutes. It was after two in the +morning ere Harry, after racking his brains in vain, fell asleep. + +The next morning it was found that the stranger in the back of the +cook tent had made good his prophecy by vanishing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE HIDALGO PLANS GRATITUDE + + +Soon after an early breakfast Tom and Harry were afield. + +From behind a window in the upper part of his big house, Don Luis, +equipped with a powerful field glass, watched them keenly whenever +they were in sight. + +"What on earth are the Gringos doing?" he wondered, repeatedly. +"Are they just walking about, aimlessly? At times it looks like +it. At other times it doesn't." + +Then Montez sent for Tisco and discussed with him the seeming +mystery of the actions of the young engineers. + +"Don't ask me, Don Luis," begged the secretary. "I am not clever +at guessing riddles. More, I have not pretended to understand +this Gringo pair." + +"Are they, in the end, going to trick me, Carlos?" + +"Who can say?" demanded Dr. Tisco, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"Of course, they both know that it will be but a short cut to +suicide if they attempt to fool you." + +"Their deaths will cause me no anxiety, Carlos, either before +or after the sale," murmured Montez. "In fact, my good Carlos--" + +"Say it," leered Dr. Tisco, as his employer paused. + +"I may as well say it, for you have guessed it, Carlos. Yes, +I will say it. Even if this Gringo pair appear honestly to aid +me in making the sale--and even if I do make the sale and receive +the money--this Gringo pair must die. We know how to arrange +that, eh, my staunch Carlos?" + +Dr. Tisco shrugged his shoulders. + +"Of course, we can put them out of the way, at any time, with +secrecy and dispatch, Don Luis. But what will be the use--provided +they help you to get the American money into your hands? To be +sure, the new buyers will soon find that they have a worthless +mine on their hands, but that may happen with the finest mine. +The new buyers will never be able to prove that you brought all +of your pretty-looking ore from another mine. You can depend +upon the secrecy of the people from whom you have been buying +the baiting ore for _El Sombrero_." + +"Ah, but there is another side to that, Carlos. If Senores Reade +and Hazelton serve us, and then go safely back to the United States, +they can swear that they found and knew _El Sombrero_ to be worthless. +Then their evidence, flanked by the sudden running-out of _El +Sombrero_, will make a case that the new American buyers could +take into court." + +"Let them take it into court," proposed the secretary, contemptuously. +"The governor of Bonista rules the judges of the courts of the +state of Bonista with an iron hand. Rest assured that, if the +Americans were to take their claims into the courts of this state, +the judges would decide for you, and that would be the end of +the matter. And do you believe, Don Luis, that, after Senores +Reade and Hazelton once get alive out of Bonista, any consideration +would tempt them to come back here to testify? They have sampled +your power," + +"Yet why do you object, Carlos, to having the Gringo pair put +out of the way?" + +"I do not care anything about their lives," Tisco declared, coolly. +"It is only on general business principles that it seems to me +unwise to have human lives taken when it is not necessary. He +who resorts too often to the taking of life is sure to meet his +own doom." + +"Not in Bonista," jeered Montez, "and not where Don Luis is concerned +in business matters." + +"As you will, then," sighed the secretary. "You will please your +own self, anyway, Don Luis." + +"Truly, Carlos. And so I have decided that these Gringo engineers +shall perish, anyway, as soon as they have served my purpose." + +This talk had taken place in a cupola. Down the stair, with stealthy +steps, crept a young, horrified, trembling girl. + +Francesca, knowing that her father had gone to the cupola, had +followed him to talk with him. She had halted on hearing voices. +Now, with despair in her eyes, the terrified girl stole away +like one haunted and hunted by evil spirits. + +"My father--an intending murderer! He, of a proud hidalgo family, +a vile assassin, in thought at least?" moaned the girl, wringing +her hands as soon as she had stolen to the privacy of her own rooms. + +"My father's hands--to be covered with human blood!" sobbed Francesca, +sinking down before a crucifix to pray. + +For hours the girl remained in terror-stricken solitude. Then +she rose, somewhat comforted at last, and with the aid of cold +water removed the traces of her tears from her dark, beautiful face. + +Her plan was to seek her father, throw herself at his feet, and +beg him not to disgrace the blood of the hidalgos nor to destroy +his own soul with a hideous crime. + +"I must seek him in private. There must be no others near when +I make my appeal!" thought the girl. + +Just then a servant entered. + +"Your father is in the garden, Senorita Francesca," reported the +woman, "and wonders why you do not join him. It is his wish that +you join him now." + +"Say to my father that his wish is my law," quavered the terrified +girl. + +Five minutes later Francesca went timidly up to her father in +the gardens before the house. + +Don Luis turned to her. He was thinking, at the moment, of his +dark plans regarding the young engineers. In his eyes, despite +his effort to smile on his daughter, was a deadly glitter that +dried up hope in the heart of the daughter. + +"You have been secluding yourself more than usual to-day, _chiquita_," +chided Montez. + +That word _chiquita_, meaning "pet," caused the girl to recoil +inwardly. Could it be that this hard, cruel man had the right +to address her in endearing terms? + +"I am not well to-day, my father," she answered, in a low voice. + +"Then take my arm, _chiquita_, and walk with me," urged Montez. + +"My father," she cried, shrinking back, "if you will indulge me, +I will walk alone. Perhaps, in that way, I shall gain more strength +from the exercise." + +"As you will," smiled Don Luis, coldly. "For myself, I have much +to think of. I have American guests coming soon. I expect that +they will buy _El Sombrero_ for money enough to make you one of +the richest heiresses in all Mexico, _chiquita_." + +"For me? And I do not know how to care for money!" answered the +girl, unsteadily. Then she turned away, swiftly, unable to stand +longer looking into Don Luis's eyes. + +Through the day Tom and Harry had tramped about almost feverishly, +stopping at intervals as though for rest. Now, in the late afternoon, +they were on their way back to camp by a route that took them +not far from Don Luis's grounds. + +As they came within sight of the place, Tom espied Montez and +Dr. Tisco walking slowly at one end of the garden, seemingly engaged +in earnest conversation. At the farther end of the garden from +them, Francesca walked by herself, seeming outwardly composed. + +"It seems strange, doesn't it," asked Harry, "that such a fine +girl can possibly be Don Luis's daughter?" + +"She inherits her mother's purity and goodness, doubtless," Tom +replied. + +"Ouch!" grunted Hazelton, stumbling over a stone with which his +foot had collided. At Harry's exclamation Tom glanced up, then +his eyes met a strange sight. + +Lying in a cleft in the rocks, with his head behind a bush, and +well concealed, lay the stranger whom the young engineers had +nursed through an illness. + +That stranger was intently gazing at the garden of Don Luis. +So absorbed was he that he had either not heard or did not heed +the passing of the two Americans. + +For a brief instant Tom Reade halted, regarding the face of the +absorbed stranger. + +"I didn't have an idea about you, Mr. Stranger," muttered Tom +to himself, as he plodded forward once more. "But now--now, +I'll wager that I've guessed who and what you are. Mr. Stranger, +I believe that this one glance at your face has told me your +story and your purpose in being in these mountains of Bonista!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +TWO REAL SIGNATURES + + +Though they were in Mexico the young engineers found it chilly +that evening, after sundown. + +"Nicolas, can you spare wood enough to start a little campfire?" +Tom asked, as he put on his blouse after supper. + +"Yes," replied the little Mexican. "For what is the use of being +strong if I could not tramp after more wood to-morrow?" + +"We'll pay you well for all your trouble for us, _mi muchacho_" +(my boy) Tom promised. + +"I am rewarded enough in being allowed to serve you, _caballeros_," +Nicolas answered. + +"And the queer part of it is that he means what he says," muttered +Tom, gazing after the departing little _peon_. + +Very shortly a cheerful fire was crackling away. Tom and Harry +brought their campstools and sat down before it. + +"I'll be thankful when we get back to the States," mused Tom. + +"I hope it'll be soon, too," answered Harry, with a wistful glance +toward the north, where, several hundred miles away, lay their +country. + +Nor did either one expect to be many days more away from home. +The young engineers had arrived at a somewhat surprising conclusion. +They had agreed to sign a suitable report and to stand back of +Don Luis in all the claims he might make concerning _El Sombrero_ +Mine. + +Much different would their feelings have been had they known all +that frightened little Francesca had overheard that they were +to be secretly slain, as soon as their usefulness in the swindle +was past. + +Rather late into the night the young engineers sat up, talking +in such low tones that even Nicolas, squatted on the ground beside +a smaller fire, could not hear what they were saying. He would +not have understood, anyway, as the young engineers were talking +in English. + +It was very late when the young engineers turned in that night. +It was eight in the morning when Nicolas aroused them. + +"Is the stranger back in your tent, Nicolas?" Tom inquired, as +soon as his eyes were open. + +"No, senor." + +"Well, I'm not astonished. I didn't really expect him to return." + +Tom and Harry were quickly astir, and ready for breakfast. Nicolas +served them carefully, as always. + +"We're not through much too early, anyway," Tom murmured. "Here +come Don Luis and his artful shadow." + +The touring car stopped, at a little distance from camp. After +the two passengers had alighted the chauffeur drove on two hundred +yards further ere he drew up to wait for them. + +"Good morning," hailed Don Luis, cordially. "I see you are waiting +for us." + +"We have been ready for you since we first rose," Tom answered. + +"Is your answer ready?" Don Luis demanded, eyeing them searchingly. + +"Don Luis," Tom replied, instantly, "the report that you wanted +us to sign for you would hardly answer the purpose with shrewd +American investors. That report goes back too far; it covers +too many points that you might be supposed to know were true, +but which engineers who had been here but a few weeks could hardly +be expected to know at first hand. Do you see the point that +I am raising?" + +Don Luis deliberated for a few moments. + +"I think I do see the point, Senor Reade. You mean that the report +will not do." + +"So," Tom continued, "Hazelton and I don't feel that we ought +to sign that report. However, we will get up and sign for you +a report that will answer in every way, and this new report will +be satisfactory. If you will let your driver take Nicolas up +to the house, Nicolas can bring the typewriting machine from your +office, and some stationery with it. We can set the machine up +on the camp table, and within the next two hours we can agree +upon a satisfactory report, which I will write out on the machine." + +"And you will sign the new report--when?" + +"Just as soon as we have it written out in form that will suit you." + +"You will want the big ledger for facts?" asked Montez. + +"No," smiled Tom; "because the ledger doesn't contain facts anyway. +We can invent just as good statements without any reference to +the ledger." + +Don Luis laughed softly. Then he turned to his secretary. + +"My good Carlos, see that Nicolas knows what he is going after. +Then let him go in the car." + +Nicolas sped away in the automobile. Presently he was back, with +the typewriting machine and an abundance of stationery. + +Tom quickly fitted a sheet of heavy bond paper to the carriage +of the typewriter. + +"Now, let us agree," asked Tom, "on what the report is to contain." + +Slowly at first, then more rapidly, the matter was planned. Tom +winced a bit, as he made up some tables of alleged output of the +mine supposed to have come under his own observation and Harry's. +But he wrote it all down with lead pencil and afterwards copied +it on the machine. + +At the end of three hours the report was finished. Tom read it +all over slowly to Don Luis. As Tom laid down each page Dr. Tisco +picked it up to scan it. + +At last the infamously lying document had been read through and +approved. + +"Let us have the end of it over with quickly," begged Tom, producing +and shaking his fountain pen. He affixed his signature. Hazelton +did the same. + +"So far, good," declared Don Luis, passing the complete, signed +document to Dr. Tisco. "Now, senores, let us have the whole matter +understood. The report is excellent; it could not be better for +the purpose. The American visitors will be delighted with it. +But you are not to play me any tricks of any kind!" + +"Don Luis," promised Tom, earnestly, "we shall stand by that report +first, last and through to the finish. We shall not--by word, +gesture, wink, or by any trick or device--give your coming American +visitors the least warning that the report is not fully as honest +as it appears to be." + +We shall back you firmly and as strongly as we know how, and help +you in any way in our power to put the deal through. Can we promise +you more?" + +"No," said the mine owner. "And, on my part, I promise you that, +if I sell the mine, as I now surely shall do, you shall have twenty +thousand dollars, gold, apiece, and your lives also. Here is +my hand on the pledge of an hidalgo." + +Don Luis shook hands with both American engineers. Even as he +did so a wolfish gleam crept into his eyes. Montez, in his mind's +eye, already saw the two Gringos stretched on the ground in death +in a remoter part of the mountains. That was to be his real reward +to the young dupes of his villainy. + +"When do you expect your purchasers?" Tom Reade inquired. + +"Two days after to-morrow, Senor Reade. But, in the meantime, +now that we are friends and really partners--will you not come +over and share the comforts of my poor home while we wait?" + +"You will pardon us for not accepting, Don Lids," Tom urged. +"We have met your wishes, and shall continue to meet them, but +we feel that we would rather remain where we are--at least, until +your visitors arrive." + +"So be it, then," muttered Don Luis. Yet he appeared slightly +offended by their decision. Since the young engineers had now +proved themselves to be as great rascals as he himself, Don Luis +Montez could not understand why they should refuse to associate +with him. + +"You wish me to leave you alone, now?" asked the mine owner, smiling +rather coldly. + +"Only when you wish to leave us, Don Luis," Tom protested, so +artlessly that the Mexican felt less offended. + +"Sit down and chat with us until you tire of our company," urged +Harry Hazelton. + +So Montez and Tisco dropped into the campstools again. They tried +to chat on various topics, but conversation proved a failure. + +"We will go, now," said Don Luis, rising twenty minutes later. +"But, senores, we shall hope to see you daily until our investors +arrive and then all the time." + +"You will find us always at your command, Don Luis," Tom remarked, +cordially. + +"Ah, my good Carlos," murmured Don Luis, as the Mexican pair sped +homeward in the car, "for once you made a bad guess. You insisted +that the Gringos would hold out and would not serve me. You have +seen my patience and my firmness win over their foolish, stubborn +objections." + +"But they still hope to trick you, my patron," suggested Dr. Tisco. +"Doubtless, now, their intention is to serve you until they can +escape; then they plan to get back to the United States and furnish +the testimony on which the American investors can sue you in the +courts for the return of the purchase money on a charge of fraud." + +"There, again, the Gringos can meet only defeat," chuckled Don +Luis, his lips to his secretary's ears. "As soon as the sale +is made I shall see to it that our pair of young American engineers +are promptly done to death!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FINAL TOUCH OF TRAGEDY + + +On the day announced, at about eleven in the morning, two automobiles +reached Don Luis's home. Besides the mine owner the cars contained +nine other travelers, all Americans. + +These were the investors who were expected to buy _El Sombrero_ +at a price of two and a half million dollars. + +Over at the camp Tom and Harry saw the party arrive. They could +see the travelers being served with refreshments on the veranda. + +"There's the crowd, Harry. And here's a car, coming this way, +undoubtedly for us. Now, we've got to go over there for our first +practice as bunco men." + +Harry Hazelton made an unpleasant grimace. "I feel like a scoundrel +of the worst sort, but it can't be helped," he muttered. + +The car was soon at hand. Tom and Harry were dressed and ready. +Though their clothing suggested the field engineer, they were +none the less dressed with a good deal of care. They entered +the tonneau of the automobile and started on their way to help +put the mine swindle through. + +"Here are my engineers, gentlemen," smiled Don Luis, "and at least +three of your number, I believe, are well acquainted with Messrs. +Reade and Hazelton." + +Tom ascended the steps, feeling rather weak in the knees. Then +the young engineers received one of the severest jolts of their +lives. + +Three of the gentlemen in that group, both young men knew well. +They were President Haynes, General Manager Ellsworth and Director +Hippen of the A.G.& N.M. Railroad. These gentlemen Tom and Harry +had served in railroad work in Arizona, as told in "_The Young +Engineers in Arizona_." + +Now, in a flash, it was plain to both young Americans why Don +Luis had wanted them, especially, to report favorably concerning +_El Sombrero_ Mine. President Haynes and his associates in the +A.G.& N.M. R.R. had every reason in the world to trust the young +engineers, who had served them so faithfully on another occasion. +These gentlemen would believe in anything that Reade and Hazelton +backed with their judgment. + +"You?" cried Tom, with a start, as President Haynes held out his +hand. Then, by a mighty effort, Reade recovered himself and laughed +easily. + +"This is a pleasant surprise, Mr. Haynes! And you, Mr. Ellsworth, +and you, Mr. Hippen." + +"And we're equally surprised to find you here, Reade, and you, +Hazelton," rejoined President Haynes. "But we feel more at home, +already. You know, Reade, we're quite accustomed to looking upon +anything as an assured success when you're connected with it." + +"And, in its way, this mine is the biggest success we've backed +yet," Tom declared readily. + +Don Luis Montez, though he was keenly watchful, was delighted so far. + +"What do you really think of this mine, Reade?" broke in Mr. Ellsworth. +"Is it all that a careful investor would want?" + +"If you're getting what I think you are," Tom answered, "you're +getting a lot more, even, than you might be led to expect. _El +Sombrero_, if it includes the limits that I suppose the tract +does, will be worth a great deal more than you are paying for it." + +"The limits?" asked Mr. Ellsworth, keenly. "Don't you really +know, Reade, what the limits of the property are?" + +"Why, that is a matter to which I haven't given much attention, +so far," answered Tom, with disarming candor. "But, if we can +have a map of this part of the country, I'll quickly mark off the +limits on which I think you should insist." + +Don Luis caught at this readily. + +"My good Carlos," Don Luis directed, turning to his secretary, +"place in Senor Reade's hands a map of this part of the country." + +"A map of your possessions only, Don Luis?" asked Dr. Tisco. + +"A map of my possessions, of course," agreed Don Luis. + +The map was brought, a large one, and spread on the table. + +"Now, perhaps," suggested Tom, "the tract I am about to mark off +on this map is a larger one than Don Luis had intended to include +in the sale, but let us see what Don Luis will have to say." + +With Harry's help Reade marked off on the map a tract containing +about forty-four hundred acres. This was fully twice as large +as the tract Don Luis had planned to deed with _El Sombrero_. +However, as Don Luis reckoned all this wild mountain land to +be worth not more than twenty-five cents an acre, he did not care +about Tom's liberality in the matter of real estate. + +"We will have these limits ruled in with red ink," Montez proposed, +"and the deed shall cover the limits so indicated. Yes; I will +sell that whole tract of rich mineral land to you, gentlemen, +for two million and a half of dollars." + +"Then," declared Tom Reade, "you will find that you will not regret +your purchase, gentlemen." + +"You are confident of that, Reade?" asked President Haynes, anxiously. + +"I am more than confident," Tom declared, promptly. "I am as +certain of what I state as ever an engineer can be of anything." + +"If we were alone," thought Don Luis Montez, exultantly, "I would +take off my hat to this young Gringo, Reade. He is a far more +accomplished liar than I can ever hope to be. And these Americanos +are becoming convinced all ready." + +"Do you agree with your associate, Hazelton?" inquired Mr. Ellsworth. + +"Absolutely," Harry proposed. "I have been watching Tom Reade to see +if he was making the statement emphatic enough to suit my ideas. +Gentlemen, the property we have staked off on this map is a good +investment one that will soon make the American financial markets ring." + +"I'm satisfied, on Reade and Hazelton's report," declared Mr. Haynes. +"I know these young men, and I'd trust my life or my fortune to their +honesty or their judgment alike." + +"I'm satisfied, too," nodded Ellsworth. + +"I can say the same," nodded Mr. Hippen. + +"Then we hardly need to look or inquire further," laughed another +of the intending investors, pleasantly. + +From this will be seen how much frequently depends upon the reputation +of an engineering firm for honor and judgment. In New York City, +downtown, is an almost dingy suite of offices. It is the business +headquarters of a firm of mining engineers known and trusted the +world over. Probably the entire equipment of these offices, including +the laboratories and assay rooms, could be purchased for seven +or eight thousand dollars. The real asset of this firm is its +reputation for splendid judgment and unfailing honor. Let this +firm of engineers indorse a new mine sufficiently, and Wall Street +will promptly raise twenty million dollars to finance the scheme. +This firm of engineers, despite its rather dingy quarters, often +earns a yearly income running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. + +These men of the A.G.& N.M. R.R. knew Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton +as well and favorably as the mining world at large knows the New +York firm which has been referred to above. + +"It all looks good to me," declared President Haynes, speaking again. + +"And to me," nodded several others of the visitors. + +"In the mine, this afternoon," Tom proposed, "we can show you much +more that you will like." + +Now, as by magic, Don Luis's servants appeared with tables which +they set and spread on the porch and luncheon was served. + +"Now, we will go see _El Sombrero_ itself," Don Luis proposed. +"I shall not have much to say to-day. I understand that you are +willing to have Senor Tomaso Reade do the explaining." + +"More than willing--anxious," replied General Manager Ellsworth. + +That night Tom and Harry returned to their tent. As they went +at a late hour their absence from the house was barely noted. + +All through the afternoon the visitors had been busy inspecting +ore supposed to have been blasted in the tunnels of _El Sombrero_ +Mine. As the reader will understand, every bit of this ore had +been brought from a profitable mine further up in the mountains. + +"How does it seem to be a rascal, Tom?" inquired Harry, as he blew +out the candle in their tent. + +"Great!" muttered Tom Reade. + +The day following was given somewhat to sight-seeing in and around +the mine, but still more to a discussion of the intended purchase. +As Don Luis would not hear to reducing his price, the visitors +were finally satisfied to pay the money demanded. + +"When will you be ready to turn the money over, gentlemen?" inquired +Montez. + +"As soon as we can reach a town where there is both a bank and +a telegraph office," replied Mr. Haynes. "The whole amount of +money is on deposit in New York City, subject to sight draft. +If you are well enough known at the bank, Don Luis, to introduce +us, the draft may be drawn at that bank, and accepted from New +York on telegraphic inquiry." + +"The speed of you American business men is marvelous!" cried Don +Luis Montez, delightedly. + +The next morning Don Luis, Mr. Haynes and a New York capitalist +in the party departed in an automobile, going back to the railway +town. Two days later they returned. The entire deal had been +put through. The mine had become the property of this group of +American capitalists. Don Luis's home was included in the sale. +The money had been paid over on telegraphic advice from New York. +Don Luis, in turn, had transferred his huge credit to Mexico +City by wire, and this fortune now awaited his orders at the capital +of the republic. + +Soon after Don Luis had returned he called the young engineers aside. + +"_Caballeros_," he murmured, "I am delighted with the loyal service +you have rendered me. Before to-day is over I shall hand you +drafts on my bank at the capital for twenty thousand dollars each, +gold. Then the transaction will be closed. Again I thank you. +Be good enough to remain about, for I shall soon want you." + +Over the hills a white-clad figure rode on horseback. As he came +nearer, still at a gallop, the man was seen to be a soldier. + +"I wonder if there is any treachery in this?" muttered Harry, +in Tom's ear. "Does Don Luis intend to have us arrested, after +all, and sent to prison to be held _incommunicado_, and so make +sure of keeping us out of the way?" + +"I don't believe so," Tom replied. "It wouldn't be a wise move +on his part. He'd be afraid that we'd denounce him even as we +were being led away." + +"Then why the soldier?" + +"Let's wait and see." + +No one else appeared to have paid any heed to the horseman. A few +minutes later the soldier rode up the driveway. + +"Senor--Haynes?" called the soldier, holding up an envelope. + +Tom passed the word. Messrs, Haynes and Ellsworth were absent, +it seemed, on a walk. + +"If it's a telegram," said Mr. Hippen, "I'm a director in the same +road. It may be on railroad business. I'll take the telegram." + +It was turned over to him. Mr. Hippen broke the seal of the envelope, +took out the enclosure and read it. Then he read it aloud, as +follows: + +"Train thirteen wrecked this forenoon." It was signed by President +Haynes's secretary. + +"Humph!" said Mr. Hippen. "I don't see the need of wasting the +railroad's money to send that despatch here." + +He folded it and placed it in his pocket, against Mr. Haynes's +return. + +"I shall want to talk with you two for a few minutes," Don Luis +presently whispered to Tom. "I shall have my car here soon. +When you see it, both of you come forward and be ready to take +a short ride with me." + +In the background stood Dr. Tisco, looking on with cynical eyes. + +"Of course, the poor American fools haven't any idea that they +will set out on the ride, but will never return," murmured Don +Luis's secretary, to himself. "Pedro Gato, turned loose on the +same day he was arrested, has waited a long time for his revenge. +He and the dozen bandits he has gathered around him will shoot +the American engineers full of holes out on the road, and Don +Luis, when he returns, deluged in his own tears, will tell the +awful story of the encounter with the bandits. What a clever +scoundrel Don Luis is!" + +Fifteen minutes later the automobile stood before the steps to +the big porch. + +"You two, my friends," called Don Luis, resting a hand on Tom's +shoulder and beckoning to Harry. "You will take one last ride +with me, will you not? And, while we are gone, I shall discuss +a few more of my plans with you." + +Wholly unsuspicious of this final tragic touch to the drama, Tom +Reade and Harry Hazelton went down the steps, following Don Luis +Montez into the car. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +MR. HAYNES ASKS A FEW QUESTIONS + + +Slowly the car started clown the drive. "Oh, Don Luis!" called +Mr. Hippen, running to the corner of the porch. + +"Stop!" said Montez to his chauffeur. "Mr. Haynes is signaling you," +continued Mr. Hippen. "I think he wants to say something to you." + +Don Luis turned, and beheld the president and the general manager +of the A.G.& N.M. Railroad hastening toward the gate. + +"Drive down to the gate and await the gentlemen there," was Don +Luis's next order. + +Mr. Hippen, too, started down the roadway, seeing which Dr. Tisco +reached his side and went with him. + +There was a general meeting of the different parties at the gate. + +"I signaled you, Don Luis, to inquire if Ellsworth and myself +might go on your drive with you?" explained Mr. Haynes. + +"Gentlemen, I am truly sorry," began Don Luis Montez, in his most +honeyed tones, "but the truth is that I desire to have a private +conference with Senores Reade and Hazelton." + +"Then we won't ask to accompany you, this time." said Mr. Haynes, +laughing. + +"We would be glad to take you, but our business conversation would +then be delayed," Don Luis explained. "However, if you wish--" + +"I don't want to spoil your talk," laughed Mr. Haynes. "But I +have this to say to Reade and Hazelton. We gentlemen have been +discussing the new management of the mine, and we are united in +feeling that we want these young men to remain here and manage +our new property for us. In fact, with such a valuable mining +property on our hands we wouldn't feel in the least easy with +any one else in charge." + +"Here is a telegram that came for you, Mr. Haynes," said Mr. Hippen, +quietly, handing over the sheet. "Of course, Reade and Hazelton +are not going to sign with any one else." + +"Pardon me," said Mr. Haynes, and let his glance fall on the telegram. + +Any one noting the railway president's face at that moment would +have noted a quick, though suppressed, change there. + +"Don Luis," went on Mr. Haynes, quickly, "I fear that I really +shall have to interrupt your drive for a little while. I have +just received news that I shall want to discuss with you." + +"Why, your news refers to nothing more than a wreck on your Arizona +railway system, doesn't it?" inquired Don Luis, who was eager +to get away and attend, as speedily as possible, to the impending +assassination of the young engineers. + +"You will oblige me by coming back to the house, won't you, Don +Luis?" insisted Mr. Haynes, who seemed, somehow, a changed man +within the last minute. + +"Certainly," agreed the Mexican courteously, and the chauffeur +turned the car. + +As they walked along, Mr. Haynes managed to whisper a few words +in Mr. Ellsworth's ear. + +"I have sent Ellsworth to call all our associates together," explained +Mr. Haynes, as he joined Don Luis and the young engineers on the +porch. Something in the changed atmosphere of the place made +Don Luis Montez feel decidedly uneasy. + +The Americans responded quickly to Mr. Ellsworth's rounding up. +Each of them, as he came forward, looked unusually grave. Mr. +Haynes waited until he saw all of his associates around him. +Then he began: + +"Don Luis, in my recent absence a telegram came for me. Mr. Hippen, +though a director of our railway, is not familiar with the telegraph +code that we use in our inner office. This telegram, sir"--unfolding +it--"is from my private secretary, a most careful and trustworthy +man of affairs. I feel certain, Don Luis, that he would not have sent +this telegram unless he had had the strongest reasons. Now, in our +office code a wire relating to a wreck of Train Thirteen--there's +no such train on our schedule--means always just one thing. The +significance of this telegram is, 'Don't on any account put through +the impending deal.'" + +If Don Luis Montez felt any inward start he controlled his facial +expression wonderfully. + +"Senor Haynes," he replied, "I don't understand the meaning of +your code message. You have no deal here to put through. You +have made and closed the only deal here about which I have the +honor to know anything." + +"But my secretary doesn't yet know the state of affairs here," +continued Mr. Haynes, gravely, "and he doesn't know that we have +yet bought the _El Sombrero_ Mine. Therefore, his despatch can't +refer to anything else. My private secretary is certainly warning +me not to buy _El Sombrero_ Mine until we have further information." + +"But you have bought it," cried Don Luis, in a voice pitched rather +higher than usual. "You have bought it and have the deed to all +this property. The money has been paid, and is now mine, subject +to my order." + +"Don Luis," continued the American railway president, "I ask you, +before all my associates, to consider the matter still open until +I can receive further particulars from my private secretary. +If there is any good and sound reason why we should not have bought +this mine--" + +"But you have bought it, paid for it, and the money is mine!" +cried Don Luis Montez. "There is no more to be said about it." + +"Sir," went on Mr. Haynes, gravely, "there is but one question +of fact that can affect the sale. Suppose--I hate to say it, +but suppose that the mine is not a rich one, not worth any such +price as we paid for it, and that you sold it to us, knowing--" + +"The mine is a rich one--one of the richest in Mexico," insisted +Montez, "and you have secured a very great bargain." + +"I trust and hope that all that is true," continued Mr. Haynes. +"Yet, if such should not be the case, and if we have bought a +property under conditions that would make it certain swindle had +been perpetrated--" + +"Senor!" warned Don Lids, taking a step forward, a deadly light +in his eyes. "Be Careful!" + +"I am only stating a supposition," resumed Mr. Haynes, coolly. +"Don Luis, I believe I have stated enough of that supposition +to make it all clear. If that supposition is true, then you would +have to buy the mine back from us again." + +"Would I?" sneered the Mexican. + +"Yes, Don Luis, or we could bring the matter about in another +way. I know the name of the bank in Mexico City to which you +have transferred the funds received from us. Our attorneys, acting +through Mexican lawyers, can tie that money up and keep it in +the bank until the question has been decided as to whether--" + +"Be careful, senor!" again warned Don Luis. + +"Sir," demanded Mr. Haynes, bluntly, "is the mine a valuable one, +or is it a swindle?" + +"You should not ask me," Montez retorted, bitterly. "You have +your own engineers on the ground--engineers whom you trust. +Ask them! They will tell you." + +"Thank you," assented Mr. Haynes, bowing. Then, turning to Tom, +the American railway president went on: + +"Reade, tell me the truth about this matter in a word. Have we +been defrauded in any way?" + +"You have not, Mr. Haynes," Tom answered steadily. "You have +now in your possession a property that is worth far more than +has been paid for it." + +"You agree with that statement, do you, Hazelton?" asked Mr. Haynes. + +"I do, sir," Harry nodded. + +Dr. Tisco, standing in the background, had all he could do to keep +himself from dancing a few jig-steps. + +"Decidedly, these young Americans are champion liars!" he thought +to himself. "They can readily outlie Don Luis or myself. Now, +if Don Luis still insists on having these gifted young engineers +killed I am afraid I shall look upon him as being a man without +honor." + +"You have heard your own engineers, senores," broke in Don Luis. +"You trust them. Now, are you not satisfied that I have dealt +fairly with you?" + +"Somehow, I ought to be satisfied," agreed Mr. Haynes. "And yet +my private secretary is such a very careful and dependable man +that I shall have to await further advices. Of course, I place +the fullest confidence in the honesty of our American engineers, +Reade and Hazelton. Tom, do you believe that you could possibly +have been deceived as to the valued of this mining property?" + +"I do not believe it possible, sir," Tom replied, as steadfastly +as before. "In the face of anything that might be said, Hazelton +and I will continue to claim that you have bought a property here +worth more than you have paid for it." + +"Then I apologize, Don Luis, for what might have seemed to be +slighting language," Mr. Haynes continued, bowing to the Mexican. +"You will understand, of course, what good reason I had to be +anxious." + +"Say no more, senor. You had most excellent reasons," smiled +Don Luis, at ease once more. "I cannot blame you in the least for +your passing doubts, but I am glad they have been set at rest by +these capable and honest young engineers. And now, Senores Reade +and Hazelton, shall we resume our interrupted ride in the car?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ENGINEER TURNS + + +"You are about to have more visitors, I see," announced Mr. Hippen, +from a corner of the porch. + +Barely five hundred yards from the house, on one of the roughest +roads coming down the mountains, were some forty or fifty horsemen. +Nor did it require more than a second glance to show that the +newcomers were cavalry troops of the Mexican army. + +At the head of the cavalcade rode three or four men who had an +official appearance. + +"It is one of the periodical visits of the governor of the state +of Bonista," explained Don Luis. "Ah, if the governor is with +that party, Senor Haynes, you will soon have more reason to know +that it would be impossible for me to defraud you. The governor +himself will assure you that I am of an old Spanish family and +of the highest personal honor." + +"I shall be most glad to meet the governor," remarked Mr. Haynes, +dryly. + +Don Luis Montez stepped to where he could obtain a better view +of the horsemen, who were moving their horses at a walk. He held +his hands over his eyes to keep the light from interfering with +his view. + +"I am afraid, after all, that his excellency, the governor of +the state, is not one of the horsemen," said Montez, regretfully. +"Not unless he is riding at the rear of the party. But we shall +soon know." + +Just inside the limits of the estate all of the cavalrymen except +a half dozen halted. Three officers, six troopers and a gentleman +in citizen's dress rode on up to the porch. + +"Is Don Luis Montez of your number?" called the man in citizen's +clothes. + +"I am Don Luis," responded Montez, going forward and raising his +hat. + +"I am Manuel Honda," continued the stranger, raising his hat in +return. "Will you be good enough to have one of your servants +take my horse?" + +This was done at a gesture from Montez. Senor Honda dismounted, +then came up the steps. + +"You are very welcome, senor," said Don Luis, holding out his hand, +which the other accepted. Then the stranger swept his glance over +the others grouped on the porch. + +"These are your American visitors?" inquired Honda. + +"Yes," nodded Don Luis. + +"We will withdraw if you two gentlemen have business to discuss," +suggested Mr. Haynes. + +"I beg that all of you gentlemen will remain," urged Senor Honda. + +"I wish to show you every courtesy, senor," said Montez, quickly, +"but it seems to me that you are taking the liberty of giving orders +in my home." + +"Have you sold your mine?" asked Honda. + +"Yes," Montez acknowledged. + +"And this estate was part of the mine property?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I would suggest, Don Luis," Honda answered, with a smile, +"that this place is no longer your home." + +"Senor, are you making fun of me?" demanded Don Luis, with heightening +color. + +"By no means, Don Luis. But you have observed that I have an escort +of our country's troops." + +"Assuredly." + +"From that what would you infer?" + +"You may very likely hold some government commission," guessed Don Luis. + +"Assuredly I do," Honda replied. + +"In the state of Bonista especially?" + +"Even so." + +"Then if you hold a commission in the state of Bonista," replied +Don Luis Monte; "you must represent my very good friend, his excellency, +the governor of this state." + +"Just at present the governor of Bonista is in difficulties," hinted +Senor Manuel Honda. + +"How?" demanded Don Luis. + +"Yes; in difficulties," continued the visitor. "At least, his +excellency, the governor, is not able to leave his house." + +"Ah! He is ill, then?" + +"Ill in spirit, yes," smiled Senor Honda. + +"Will you be good enough to explain?" Montez asked, anxiously. + +"Don Luis, it was I, Manuel Honda, who confined his excellency +to his official dwelling and placed a guard about the buildings." + +"Oh? Is there a revolution, then, in the state of Bonista?" + +"None that I know of," Honda rejoined. "Don Luis, I am from the +national capital. I represent the government of the Republic +of Mexico, and I have considerable power in this state. I am +solely in command, at present, of all the national troops within +this state. These army officers will assure you that I hold a +national commission to investigate affairs even in this remote +state of Bonista. I could show you my credentials from the national +government, if it were worth while." + +"Then will you be good enough, Senor Honda, to tell me what you +wish here." + +"Don Luis, I am here because I believe this to be one of the central +points in the investigation that I am about to hold. I will come +to the point at once. You have sold your mining property here. +One of my first acts will be to make sure that you do not draw the +proceeds of the sale from any Mexican bank until after the national +government is satisfied." + +"That is a high-handed proceeding, Senor Honda!" cried Montez, a +deadly glitter in his eyes. + +"It is such a proceeding as a national government may take at +need," replied Senor Honda, calmly. "Of course, Don Luis, if +your conduct in selling the mine is found to be blameless, then +you will soon be able to use your money in any way that you please. +But, first of all, the government must be satisfied." + +"Have you any further questions that you wish to ask me at present?" +Montez demanded, suddenly. + +Though he had kept himself rather calm up to the present, the +rascal felt that he must soon vent the spite and hate welling +up within him, or explode from the pent-up force of his own emotions. +The late mine owner, though he could not penetrate the mysteries +of the present situation, was now sure that Tom Reade and Harry +Hazelton must be in some way behind it. No matter what happened +to him afterwards, Don Luis was now furiously bent on getting +the young engineers off on the lonely mountain trail where Gato +and his comrades were lying in wait for the two young Americans. + +"I shall have no more questions for you, for the present," Senor +Honda replied. "Just now I wish to have some conversation with +these Americans." + +"Then come, senores," cried Don Luis, with forced gayety, as he +thrust a hand under the arms of Tom and Harry. "Come, we will +have our ride and our talk. We will be back here in half an hour +and then we shall hear this affair through. Come!" + +Tom Reade threw off the fellow's arm, exclaiming, warningly: + +"If you touch me again, you snake in the grass, I'll reduce you +to powder with a fist that's fairly aching to hit you!" + +The vehemence of Tom's declaration made every one within hearing +gasp with astonishment. + +"What does this mean, Reade?" gasped President Haynes, looking +thunderstruck. + +"It means, sir," reported Tom, wheeling about, "that this fellow, +Montez, threatened us with death if we did not sign a glaringly +false report concerning _El Sombrero_ Mine. We were also to be +killed if we did not stand by our report to the fullest degree +after you and your friends arrived." + +"Then _El Sombrero_ Mine is worthless?" cried Mr. Haynes, his +face turning a ghastly white. + +"As far as I know, sir, or as far as Hazelton knows," Tom Reade +made prompt answer. "_El Sombrero_ isn't worth the cost even +of filling up the shaft." + +"And you, Reade--and you, Hazelton--the men we trusted +implicitly--you stood by and saw us robbed!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"I don't blame you for being angry," Tom answered, quickly. "However, +you may safely go a bit slow on the idea that we stood by to see +you robbed, merely to save our lives. We had tried to escape +from here. We even sent out two letters by secret messengers, +these letters to be mailed at points distant from here. The letters +would have told our friends in the United States what was up. +But, in some way of his own, Don Luis managed to catch the messengers +and get hold of the letters." + +"Then," added Harry Hazelton, "we thought we were doomed if we +didn't yield to Don Luis's commands. Even at that, we were prepared +to accept death sooner than sell ourselves out. Death would have +been the cheapest way out of the scrape. But at last we found +a way of helping Don Luis in the way he wanted, and of getting +square with the rascal at the same time. Tell them what I mean, +Tom." + +"Why, it was like this," said Tom, seating himself on the railing +of the porch, and facing the assemblage. "Harry and I began to +roam all over this property, as though to kill time. Out in Nevada, +as it happens, we two and a friend of ours own a mine that seemed +almost worthless. Almost by accident we discovered that we were +working the mine just a little off from the real vein. Now, we +didn't find that _El Sombrero_ was being worked off the vein. +What we did find was in that big strip of forest over to the +east of _El Sombrero_--" + +Tom turned, for an instant, to point to the forest that he meant. + +"You will remember, Mr. Haynes, that we had Don Luis include that +forest tract in the title of the _El Sombrero_ purchase. That +forest is really a jungle. One has the greatest time forcing +his way through it. When you open it up on a big scale you'll +have to send hundreds of men in there with machetes to chop paths +through and clear off the tangled brush. We spent days in that +jungle, at first because we had nothing better to do. Mr. Haynes, +and gentlemen, if we know anything about mining, then that forest +land is worth an immense fortune in the minerals it will yield. +You paid two and a half millions of dollars for the entire property. +That great forest stretch, in our opinion as engineers, is worth +as much and perhaps more than that." + +"That's right!" leered Don Luis. "Jest with them, Senor Reade, +to your heart's content." + +"I'm telling these countrymen of mine the truth, fellow," retorted +Tom Reade, casting a look of withering scorn at Don Luis Montez. +"Had you been square and decent with us, we would have told you +of the mineral wealth in yonder forest. As it is, we've punished +your conduct by beating you at your own game." + +"If I believed you, Senor Reade--" began Don Luis, bending his +head low as he thrust it forward and gazed piercingly at Tom's face. + +"I don't care anything about your believing me," retorted Tom. +"But Harry and I will prove to these real men every word that we've +been saying." + +"You have robbed me!" hissed Don Luis, now believing. + +His hand flew to a rear pocket. He drew a pistol. But two soldiers +had crept up behind Montez at a sign from Senor Honda. Now, one +of the barefooted soldados struck the weapon down. It clattered +on the porch, and the other soldier picked it up. + +There was a struggle between Don Luis and the soldiers. Two other +soldiers came to their aid, and--Click! snap! Montez was +securely handcuffed. + +"Take them off!" screamed Montez, paling like one about to die. +"Senor Honda, this is an outrage, and you shall--" + +"Peace, fellow! Hold your tongue!" ordered Honda. "Do you not +understand? You are a prisoner, nor are you ever likely to be +much better off than that. A complaint of the treatment of these +Americans, Reade and Hazelton, was forwarded to our government +by the American minister in Mexico City. The complaint mentioned +that the governor of Bonista was a confederate of yours in more +than one underhanded bit of business. On account of the urgings +of the American minister to this country, I was despatched here +to investigate, and with authority to arrest the governor of Bonista, +if necessary, and any other rogues." + +"That's a lie!" snarled Don Luis. "How could the American minister +learn what was going on in this country? These mountains of Bonista +have never told my secrets." + +"They did, for this one time," Tom broke in, gleefully. "And +I can tell you how it happened. Harry, do you remember the day +that Nicolas was gone so long that you were uneasy about him? +Well, I knew where Nicolas was, for I had sent him off. He thought +he had found a messenger who would have more success in getting +our letters mailed than had fallen to the lot of the messengers +with our first two letters. Nicolas's messenger, from to-day's +developments, must have got through. While I was sending one +letter I thought it as well to send two. One letter was to our +home offices, directing that the matter contained in my letter +be taken on the jump to the government at Washington. The other +letter, Mr. Haynes, was directed to you, sir, for I did not then +know that you were one of the Americans expected here. I thought, +Mr. Haynes, that your active hustling with the Washington government +might help in rushing matters. For some unknown reason, my letter +to our offices must have gotten through before the letter did +that was sent to Arizona. Your private secretary, Mr. Haynes, +must have opened my letter addressed to you. He realized that +he could not with safety to us send you more than the telegraphic +code warning to keep out of the deal. I never told Hazelton, +until just now, in the presence of you all, that I had ordered +Nicolas to send off more letters by a messenger whom Nicolas felt +that he could trust. But you remember the day well enough, Harry?" + +"I do," nodded Hazelton. "I was fussing about the long absence of +Nicolas just before you turned up with that stranger whom we nursed." + +"And speaking of strangers," muttered Reade, glancing off down +the driveway, "there's the identical stranger, at this moment +talking with the soldiers halted by the gate." + +Almost as though he had heard himself called the stranger glanced +up at the group on the porch, then came forward. He walked briskly, +despite his lean, wasted frame. + +"How? So this fellow is in irons?" queried the stranger, halting +as he saw the handcuffs on Don Luis's wrists. "Justice is sometimes +very tardy, though in this instance she has not failed. Handcuffs +become this felon; they are his natural jewelry!" + +"Then you know Don Luis?" questioned Tom, after an instant's silence. + +"I should know Don Luis well," boasted the stranger, drawing himself +up proudly. "Also I know this fellow!" + +"My father!" cried a startled feminine voice from the doorway. +Then Francesca, her eyes filled with fright, hastened across +the porch. She would have thrown her arms around the neck of +the manacled man had not the stranger caught her by one arm and +held her back. + +"How dare you, senor?" panted the girl, turning upon the stranger. +"And who are you?" + +"Do not touch this felon with your clean hands," warned the stranger, +with a sternness that was tempered with gentleness. + +"Who are you, senor?" the girl insisted. + +"Can't you guess?" broke out Tom Reade, wonderingly. "Senorita +Francesca, I helped take care of this man while he was ill in +our cook tent. In his fever I heard some words fall from his +lips that started me to wondering. But the other day I beheld +this gentleman gazing upon you from a distance. In his eyes, +as he looked at you, Senorita, I saw a light that I had never +seen in the eyes of this manacled brute. Then my guess was turned +to knowledge!" + +"Then, Senor Reade," begged the girl, "who is this man who would +hold me back from my--" + +"Tell her, sir," Tom urged the stranger. + +"Child," said the latter, with wonderful gentleness and tenderness, +"I am the real Don Luis Montez--your father!" + +"Then who is _he_?" cried Francesca, pointing to the handcuffed +Mexican, who had sunk upon a chair looking more dead than alive. + +"His true name," said the stranger, "is Paulo Rabasco. He was +born of good family, but was always dissolute and criminal. Once +he was my friend, I am ashamed to say; at least, I believed myself +his. We traveled, once, in a part of Mexico in which we were +both strangers. While there Rabasco became engaged in a budding +revolution, that was quickly nipped by the central government. +In my efforts to shield my supposed friend from the consequences +of supposed rebellion, I myself became suspected. In the night +Rabasco stole my papers, putting his own in my pocket. When the +police came they searched us both. I was believed to be Rabasco, +and this scoundrel insisted that I was. The papers in our respective +pockets seemed to prove it. The papers in mine connected me with +the intended rebellion. A swift military trial, and within a +few hours I was on my way to serve a life sentence of imprisonment +in Yucatan. + +"Rabasco, the self-asserted Don Luis, was turned loose. We looked +not unlike in those days. Rabasco, as I have since learned, grew +a beard. Then he went back to my home. My wife had died within +a few days. Most of the old servants had gone. Rabasco, the +unutterable scoundrel, set himself up as Don Luis Montez. He +imposed on the nurse, and took her away with my infant child whom +I had never seen after she was three months old. Rabasco went +to the United States as soon as he had established a flimsy title +to my modest property. In after years he returned, an older and +more successful impostor. Yet he feared to live on my estate, +dreading that some day his treachery might be discovered. So, +still calling himself Don Luis Montez, this scoundrel sold my +estate and took my child away to other parts of Mexico. My estate +was a modest one. On that foundation this fellow has been building +a larger fortune--but fate has overtaken him at last. There +are still friends of mine alive who will help me to unmask this +scoundrel and prove him Paulo Rabasco. He never would have been +known, had I not, after many years, escaped from Yucatan. I did +not dare proclaim myself at once, for fear of being arrested as +Paulo Rabasco and sent back to Yucatan. But now I no longer fear. +I am Don Luis Montez. I shall prove it without difficulty at last." + +"Then, if this be so, we haven't bought this mining property of +the rightful owner," interposed Mr. Haynes. "I imagine that the +real Don Luis will establish full claim to a property that was +founded on his stolen fortune. We shall recover our money from +the sham Don Luis, but I fear we shall not be able to obtain this +rich mineral property." + +"Tell me the particulars," begged the real Don Luis. + +Tom Reade stated the case fully, though in the fewest words that +would accomplish the telling. + +"You shall have the property by transferring the purchase price +to me after I have recovered this estate at law," promised the +real Don Luis simply. + +"But, my dear sir," objected Mr. Haynes, honestly, "do you realize +that we paid two and a half millions for the property, and that +our trusted engineers assure us that it may be worth more." + +"That makes no difference, Senor," replied the new Don Luis. +"The money you were first willing to pay is far more money than +I shall ever need. I crave only life and my child. If you journeyed +down into Mexico, expecting to buy a property at a certain figure, +and if you did do it, acting in perfectly good faith, then that +is enough. I will ratify the bargain." + +"But that would hardly be good business," smiled Mr. Haynes. + +"Business is a word that will interest me but little after I have +established my rights in the world," remarked Don Luis, mildly. + +The true Don Luis Montez did establish his rights. He secured +the estate built by Rabasco on the looted Montez fortune. The +money paid Rabasco for the mining property was easily recovered +through the courts and turned over to the rightful Don Luis. +Then the Americans secured the property at the original figure. +Don Luis soon won the affection of his daughter, and the two were +wonderfully happy together. + +Rabasco, the impostor, was sentenced to twenty years of penal +servitude. On his way to begin serving his sentence he broke +away from the military guard, and was shot to death. + +Dr. Carlos Tisco died, of fever, within six months of the time +of the real Don Luis's arrival. The governor of Bonista was discovered +guilty of so much corruption in office that he died, while serving +a sentence in prison. + +Pedro Gato became an avowed outlaw. Senor Honda, while acting +for the government in Bonista, sent the troops in pursuit of the +outlaw. He was caught and shot by the soldiers. + +As for Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, they were happy indeed when +they found themselves wholly reestablished in the respect of Mr. +Haynes and his friends. The young engineers had played a most +daring game throughout, and would have gone to their deaths at the +hands of the sham Don Luis sooner than to have betrayed their own honor. + +Tom and Harry spent days showing the American investors through +that forest stretch. It proved an amazingly wonderful mineral +claim, and has since paid enormous dividends. + +"Mr. Haynes," Tom asked, anxiously, one day, "would you have done +the same as we did, had you been in our place?" + +"I don't know, my boy," replied the railway president, with a +frank smile. "I'd hope that I would have done the same, but I +don't know that I would have had the same magnificent courage +that you two displayed throughout. It isn't every man who has +the courage to back his conscience with his life." + +Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton remained some three months longer +in the mountains of Bonista. Finally, when they could be spared +from the task of superintending the start of this rich mineral +claim they returned to the United States. + +"And what is to become of me, _caballeros_?" Nicolas mournfully +inquired, the day before their departure. + +"Do you think you could stand life with us, in the United States?" +asked Tom. + +"Could I?" exclaimed the poor fellow, clasping his hands. "Senor, +do not jest with me! Can it be that you mean it?" + +"I certainly do," nodded Tom. + +Ambition's lure led the young engineers back to the home country. +We shall speedily find them engaged again in the great fields +of their calling, and we shall find them, too, in a setting of +truly extraordinary adventure. All that happened to them will +be stirringly told in the next volume of this series, which is +published under the title, "_The Young Engineers On The Gulf; Or, +The Dread Mystery of the Million-dollar Breakwater_." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO*** + + +******* This file should be named 12778.txt or 12778.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/7/7/12778 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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