HAGAN SECURES A PARTNER.
"The fight has begun, Felipe, me boy," said Hagan, as the two left the
brokers' office and stood waiting for the elevator to carry them down to
the ground floor. "I knew it would be no easy thing, but it was worth
trying."
"I will kill him!" repeated the Mexican lad, in a savage whisper.
"No, no; better not."
"He robs me!"
"But it is not safe to kill in this country."
"Always the Jaliscos kill their enemies."
"If you were to do that in this State it would be the electric chair for
yours."
"If they prove not that by me it was done----"
"You were foolish, me lad; you threatened. Besides that, to kill him
would be to kill the goose that must lay the golden egg. You can see the
folly in that. If you were to kill him, how could you force him to pay
you the money you demand?"
"But what is it I am to do? I hate him! He is bold and he does not take
the fright."
"Sure he's a hard boy to frighten," nodded the Irishman.
"But I will drive fear into his heart!" hissed Felipe. "He shall soon
know that death is near him everywhere. Ah! that is what I will do! I
will frighten him until he is glad to pay to escape the death that may
strike him any time. I have friends who will stand by me. They are here
in this city, and soon I can find them. They will help me to frighten
the bold American. We will find a way."
"Perhaps you may, but I have me doubts. Here is the car."
The car stopped, the sliding door rattled, and they stepped in, being
swiftly carried to the ground floor, from which they emerged upon lower
Broadway.
"A little while ago," said Hagan, "I was in a scheme with Porfias del
Norte to bring this Merriwell to his knees and denude him of his Mexican
property. He defied us all, but I believe we might have succeeded had
Del Norte lived. It was his game to frighten or destroy Merriwell. We
followed the fellow up into the Adirondacks, but when I found that Del
Norte actually meant to murder Merriwell I declined to remain and be
concerned. It was carrying the thing too far for Bantry Hagan. I left
and returned to New York. Well for me that I did. As near as I can get
at it, Del Norte did capture Merriwell, aided by two other men, and got
him into a mountain cave. But just as Del Norte was on the point of
putting an end to Merriwell his Indian guide turned on him and helped
the prisoner to escape from the cave. Then came a landslide that
covered the mouth of that cave with tons of earth and bowlders and
buried Del Norte and his comrades in a living tomb. The death they
experienced there must have been a horrible one."
He shrugged his thick shoulders at the thought of it.
"Evidently," he went on, "Merriwell congratulated himself on the death
of Del Norte, for he fancied that would put an end to all his troubles
and he would be able to carry through his great schemes without
opposition. He must be a bit disgusted now. He'll find Hagan a stayer.
But he has strong backers behind him, and we need some men equally good,
Felipe. There's Jerome--Basil Jerome! Just the man! He'll go into
anything that promises big, and he knows how to carry any scheme
through. He can make dollars grow on elder bushes, that man! His office
is round here on Nassau Street. Come along, Felipe, and we'll see if we
can find him."
They walked through Wall Street to Nassau, passing the Stock Exchange on
their way. Turning up Nassau, they soon came to the building in which
Basil Jerome had his office.
Jerome was in, and, on receiving Hagan's name, he agreed to see his
visitors at once.
"Sit down," he invited, motioning them to chairs in the private office
to which they were admitted. "Didn't expect to see you again, Hagan, in
such a hurry. You must have rushed through your business with Old
Gripper and his crowd. How did you come out?"
"By the door," answered the Irishman; "and it's little good it did us to
go in."
"Did you take my advice as a tip in regard to that railroad deal?"
"It's no advice I needed, for I wasn't thinking of pushing into that."
"There might be money in it if they put her through in the proper
manner; but it's Merriwell's idea, I reckon, to capitalize her at her
proper value; and that will make it necessary for the men who build to
take just as much risk as the general public who buys the stock. It
doesn't seem possible that a shrewd old fox like Watson Scott can be
dragged into such a dangerous affair. Now, if you and I were doing it,
Hagan, we'd do it in a way that would leave us practically without risk,
and I think we'd clean up a good thing out of it."
"Why can't we do it?" exclaimed Hagan, as if struck by a sudden thought.
"Why can't we?" questioned Jerome, in some surprise. "Why, that other
gang is in it."
"We'll block 'em, me boy! We'll hold their scheme up, and reap the
harvest ourselves!"
"How can it be done? Oh, no; I'm not looking for trouble with that
bunch. It isn't necessary to build railroads in order to make money.
There are plenty of roads in existence that can be manipulated and
squeezed dry. There is no need to go searching round for new roads to
build."
"But there is something more to squeeze in this than a railroad. What if
I show you how we can get an interest in a vast tract of land in Eastern
Sonora--a tract that is rich in minerals in one section and may be
opened up for ranches and plantations in another?"
"Ranches and plantations? I've heard that all of Northern Mexico is
barren and arid and practically worthless."
"Much of it is."
"How would you get hold of this land and obtain a railroad land grant
from the Mexican government?"
"The grant is already in existence."
Hagan then explained to Jerome as clearly as possible Felipe Jalisco's
claim to a great area of land in Sonora.
"The boy is without influence with the government," confessed Hagan,
"else he would make application for his rights. Unfortunately, the
politics of his family have run in the wrong direction, and he knows he
would be turned down if he should try to secure his rights. But he
actually owns the very land possessed by Merriwell--the land on which
Merriwell's mine is located. And that mine is said to be fabulously
rich. He will accept a fair sum as his share of the spoils; the rest we
can divide between us."
"There's something in it," nodded Jerome.
"Here is the document," said Hagan, displaying Felipe's paper. "Can you
read Spanish?"
"No."
"Well, even Merriwell, who can read Spanish, confessed that it seemed
genuine. You see the opportunity, man; come in with us and make a good
thing for yourself."
Jerome considered.
"There is no reason why we should attempt to build that road, Hagan," he
said. "If you want me as your partner, I believe we can make a big thing
out of it without ever constructing a rod of railroad."
"How?"
"Dead easy. We'll form a company, with the avowed purpose of putting the
road through. We'll buck the Merriwell crowd just as if we meant
business. If we do it in the proper manner, we can jar them some. But
it's best to wait a bit until they get started, for it wouldn't do to
frighten Scott and the others out before they were fairly under way. We
will come down on them like a ton of bricks at the right time. If we
scare them so they are on the verge of abandoning the whole deal, it's
likely Merriwell will cough up a fancy sum just to have us drop our game
and let them go on. There you are. It's money made on pure bluff."
"Fine enough!" chuckled Hagan, in satisfaction. "I knew I was coming to
the right man when I came to you, me boy!"
"What am I to receive?" asked the Mexican lad, who had been listening
with deep interest.
"Your share," answered Hagan.
The boy sprang up.
"I have another way!" he exclaimed. "I have the way of my own. Senor
Merriwell shall find death creeping at his heels day and night. He shall
know it is I, Felipe Jalisco, who threatens him with destruction; but I
will take care to keep beyond his reach. He shall know that the only way
to escape the peril that follows him is to pay me all I ask."
"We'll have to hold him down, Hagan," whispered Jerome. "The little fool
is liable to murder Merriwell and ruin everything."