CHAPTER IX.
ABOUT THE THIRD SUSPECT.
Nestor laughed at the puzzled boy's exclamation and sat for some timelooking down on the dim camp-fire near the tents he had visited a shorttime before. The night was cloudless, with a slight wind blowing fromthe west. Now and then the sound of hoarse voices came from the peaksabove.
"The Mexican knocked off his heel there," he finally said, "and Scobyleft his coat-button. They might just as well have left their cards inthe papers they examined."
"What papers were they?"
"The Tolford estate papers."
"Yes, of course. The Mexican wanted to know something about the buriedmine," Frank said. "We're getting at the motive now."
"Now, this third visitor," Nestor went on, "as I have said, went thereon business--on business connected with a contract for the purchase offirearms and ammunition. Mr. Cameron undoubtedly opened the door toadmit him after he had locked himself in. The door might not have beenlocked again that night, but that is immaterial at present. This thirdman, whom we may as well call Don Miguel, the diplomat, was not in thebuilding 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 theyhad been possessed of guilty consciences, they would have run away. Atleast, it looks that way to me. You see, this Don Miguel might havestruck the blow and left the offices open and at the mercy of theothers. 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 thattent, and here are more exhibits in the case--another Grand Army buttonand another raveling. I cut them from Scoby's coat as he lay asleepover 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 beentalking about--Felix, Jimmie calls him--is also there, with six orseven rough-looking fellows, probably miners. It is easy to imaginewhat 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 getthe description. The man you call Don Miguel would have no motive inattacking him, would he?"
"We'll see about that later on," was the reply. "So far as I can seethrough it, the case stands as it did before, with three men in thesuspect row."
"Gather them in, then," advised Frank. "Send for the soldiers and havethese two pinched. Then go to New York, or wherever this third manis, and have him pinched, too. That will clear the atmosphere alittle."
"I have an idea," Nestor said, "that this Felix went to New York onpurpose to get the mine paper, or a copy of it. He probably had adescription of his own, which would not take him to the mine, and wentto the Cameron building hoping that he could get the one in the estatepapers, and that the two of them, his own and the other, would enablehim 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 leadersaid. "He may show the way to the mine. Anyway, it is a chance worthtaking. Otherwise, I might, as you advise, arrest him and the watchmanwith 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 toMexico."
"You're getting to be a puzzle," exclaimed Frank. "I thought thesafety of Fremont was the main thing, with the mine a close second."
"I might have hidden Fremont in New York, and the mine matter couldhave 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 abouthow 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 takechances on that. I thought this might be his camp when I came downhere."
"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 meall about the other two, why not tell me about this one?"
"There are international reasons," was the grave reply.
"Oh!" exclaimed Frank. "That's why you're hand-in-glove with the army,and why you're in the code row. Say, but you've told me all about howthe others were identified as having been in the Cameron suite, nowtell me something about this Don Miguel, if you can. Has he got ashort leg, or a withered hand, or a long shoe heel? Go on and tell mehow he looks and acts, if you can."
"Well, he's a dusky, slender fellow," Nestor laughed, "and showsculture and education. He dined at a lobster palace that night andwore evening clothes. He went directly to the Cameron building fromthe restaurant, using a taxicab and speaking both French and Spanish,as well as English, to the driver. He is a good dresser, andordinarily a discreet man, yet he left a schedule of firearms in theCameron suite when he left. He should have taken that with him."
Frank eyed his companion curiously, his face eager in the moonlight,his right hand rubbing his forehead, as if trying to scour away thecobwebs.
"Quit your kidding," he said.
"It is only a question of observation and inquiry," laughed Nestor."There is no Sherlock Holmes business about it."
"And you think this man in evening dress will come down here and mixwith these ragged bums?"
"I think he will come down here," was the reply.
Frank watched the small camp-fire below, just touching with red lightthe tents Nestor had so successfully entered a short time before. Thelogic of the case seemed to be sound enough. Any one of the three menmight have committed the crime with which Fremont was charged.
Two of the three were sleeping in that tent, while the third one wasexpected. What connection could there be between the man in eveningdress and the sullen Scoby and the villainous Felix? What significancecould there be in the schedule of firearms he had left in the suite?
How were the attack on Cameron, the matter of the hidden mine, and thematter of international importance associated together? These questionsand many others presented themselves to the boy as he watched the firedie out and waited for Nestor to go on.
"This third man is a diplomat, is he?" he finally asked. "Does thatmean that he is in the diplomatic service of some government, and thathe is acting here in that capacity?"
"Something like that," was the reply, "though it might be difficult toget any government to father the mission he is really on. He claims, Iunderstand, to be acting for a junta. At least, he has not brought anygovernment into the affair so far, that I know of."
"Well, what does he want?"
"His benevolent purpose is to bring on a war between Mexico and theUnited States," was the astonishing reply.
"I don't think he's next to his job as a statesman, then," observedFrank, "unless he wants to see Mexico cleaned out."
"However that may be, he believes that a raid on Texas soil from thisside of the river would provoke our government to an invasion, as itprobably would."
"I should hope so."
"And he believes, too, that in such an emergency the Mexican federalsand insurrectos would join hands in fighting the common enemy."
"That is quite likely. He's got that figured out in good form,"laughed Frank. "I guess he isn't such a dub, after all."
"He is probably right in the supposition that such a war would stop thefighting over here--that is, the fighting as it is now going on. Heseeks peace in his own land at the risk of a war wit
h our country."
"Then he ought to be shot," declared the boy.
"He was negotiating with Mr. Cameron for the purchase of firearms andammunition," Nestor went on. "His people haven't got the guns, and Mr.Cameron dealt in them."
"I see. Go on--faster," cried the excited boy.
"He went to the office that night hoping to convince Mr. Cameron thathe ought to sell him the arms he wanted. He doubtless expected toleave the office with a signed contract for what he wanted--arms andammunition enough to make the proposed raid at least formidable. Hefailed. Mr. Cameron would not sell the arms, knowing that they were tobe used against his own country."
"Good boy! Hope he gets well."
"Then this diplomat probably asked for the correspondence which hadbeen carried on between the two men. He doubtless feared that Mr.Cameron would reveal the plot to the government, as he would have done."
"Say," cried Frank, "this is getting pretty swift."
"It has been swift from the start," replied the other.
"Did this diplomat get the arms of some one else?" asked the boy,presently.
"I don't know, but it is believed that he did."
"And is coming here with them?"
"Unless they are stopped at the border."
"Then," Frank said, soberly, "I know what all these men are gatheringhere for. I know what they are waiting for--guns."
"I'm afraid you are right."
"Does the War department know?"
"Certainly."
"You found out about it and told Washington by wire?"
Frank reached forward and seized Nestor's hand and shook it as if heexpected to keep it in his grasp forever.
"I know you did," he said. "You needn't say a word."
"The War department has the letters," said Nestor, "the letters thediplomat did not secure from Mr. Cameron. I don't know why he did notget them, I'm sure. They were in a drawer of the big desk. It is quiteprobable, however, that he was frightened away, as the others were.That must have been quite early in the evening, and who it was thatscared him away is what is puzzling me."
Boy Scouts in Mexico; Or, On Guard with Uncle Sam Page 9