Nestor laughed at the puzzled boy's exclamation and sat for some time looking down on the dim camp-fire near the tents he had visited a short time before. The night was cloudless, with a slight wind blowing from the west. Now and then the sound of hoarse voices came from the peaks above.
"The Mexican knocked off his heel there," he finally said, "and Scoby left his coat-button. They might just as well have left their cards in the papers they examined.""What papers were they?"
"The Tolford estate papers."
"Yes, of course. The Mexican wanted to know something about the buried mine," Frank said. "We're getting at the motive now.""Now, this third visitor," Nestor went on, "as I have said, went there on business--on business connected with a contract for the purchase of firearms and ammunition. Mr. Cameron undoubtedly opened the door to admit him after he had locked himself in. The door might not have been locked again that night, but that is immaterial at present. This third man, whom we may as well call Don Miguel, the diplomat, was not in the building when I got there.
The others were."
"Then why didn't you have them both pinched?" demanded Frank.
"Partly because they were in the building," was the reply. "If they had been possessed of guilty consciences, they would have run away. At least, it looks that way to me. You see, this Don Miguel might have struck the blow and left the offices open and at the mercy of the others. Now you see how useless it is to draw hasty conclusions.""That's so. He might," Frank admitted.
"No trouble to get Scoby, anyway," said Nestor. "He is asleep in that tent, and here are more exhibits in the case--another Grand Army button and another raveling. I cut them from Scoby's coat as he lay asleep over there.""You never had the nerve to go into the tent?" asked Frank.
"They are all asleep," was the reply, "so I ran no risk in going in, and it was easy to crawl under the canvas. The Mexican we had been talking about--Felix, Jimmie calls him--is also there, with six or seven rough-looking fellows, probably miners. It is easy to imagine what they are here for.""They got the description out of the safe, and are going to the mine," exclaimed Frank. "I believe they attacked Mr. Cameron in order to get the description. The man you call Don Miguel would have no motive in attacking him, would he?""We'll see about that later on," was the reply. "So far as I can see through it, the case stands as it did before, with three men in the suspect row.""Gather them in, then," advised Frank. "Send for the soldiers and have these two pinched. Then go to New York, or wherever this third man is, and have him pinched, too. That will clear the atmosphere a little.""I have an idea," Nestor said, "that this Felix went to New York on purpose to get the mine paper, or a copy of it. He probably had a description of his own, which would not take him to the mine, and went to the Cameron building hoping that he could get the one in the estate papers, and that the two of them, his own and the other, would enable him to reach his goal." "I reckon you have that right," Frank said, "and he got Scoby to work with him.""I'm going to let him go ahead with his search," the patrol leader said. "He may show the way to the mine. Anyway, it is a chance worth taking. Otherwise, I might, as you advise, arrest him and the watchman with him. But here, again, this third suspect intervenes.""You appear to think a lot of this third man," grinned Frank.
"Naturally," Nestor replied, "since he is the man who brought me to Mexico.""You're getting to be a puzzle," exclaimed Frank. "I thought the safety of Fremont was the main thing, with the mine a close second.""I might have hidden Fremont in New York, and the mine matter could have waited.""Is this Don Miguel here?"
"He is expected here. I came down to meet him.""Hope you'll know him when he comes."
"There will be no trouble about that," was the reply. "I know about how the fellow looks. And I rather think he will recognize me.""He may see you first," suggested Frank.
"If he does, I probably won't see him at all. Well, I must take chances on that. I thought this might be his camp when I came down here.""What is he coming here for?"
"To kick up a row."
"And is he going to succeed in doing it?"
"That is more than I can say at present."
"I wish you wouldn't be so mysterious," cried the boy. "You've told me all about the other two, why not tell me about this one?""There are international reasons," was the grave reply.
