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!"