Boy Scouts in Mexico; Or, On Guard with Uncle Sam

by G. Harvey Ralphson

  CHAPTER XXV.

  READY FOR THE CANAL ZONE.

  "This is the end of the case," Frank Shaw said, covering the face ofthe dead man with a handkerchief. "Fremont is free to go back to NewYork, taking his mine with him! Nestor was right when he declared thatthe solution of the Cameron mystery lay on this side of the Rio Grande."

  "But the object of our visit has not yet been accomplished," Nestorsaid, "and so I can't go back with you. Perhaps you would better leaveme in charge of the mine!"

  "You are wrong," Lieutenant Gordon said, then, "the object of ourjourney is accomplished. I was ready to announce the fact when youstopped me to listen to the last words of the poor wretch who liesthere."

  "Do you mean that the arms and ammunition were stopped on the otherside?" demanded Nestor.

  "That is what the signals said! When I left Don Miguel in charge ofthe secret service men at San Jose and came back into the hills to findyou, I left word with the men to climb to the top and signal if thenews came that the arms had been stopped. I don't know just how theygot the news, but it is undoubtedly reliable. The arms are in UncleSam's possession. The rag-tag-and-bob-tail-of-creation fellows we haveseen skulking about here will have to go away without a fight."

  "That is too bad!" grunted Frank. "I wanted to see a raid!"

  "It is better as it is," replied Nestor.

  "And the signals told me something else," continued the lieutenant."Something about your end of the case," he added, turning to Fremont.

  "About Mr. Cameron?" asked the boy, excitedly. "He is--"

  "In his right mind again, and knows who struck him."

  Then the Black Bears and the Wolves joined hands and actually dancedabout the old hut until it seemed about to collapse. The secretservice men looked on and smiled at the sight of so much happiness.Then Fremont asked:

  "And he will live?"

  "There is no doubt of it," was the reply. "I do not know the details,for one rocket told me that he was in his right mind again, and anotherthat he would live."

  "Then we can all go back to New York and get ready for the trip downthe river!" said Jimmie. "You fellers can ride on cushions and I'llhoof it."

  "Say," cried Stevens, in a moment, "if this raid scare is all over, geta couple of drums and let Frank and Peter drum their heads off."

  "I don't want to drum," Frank said, "not here, anyway! I don't want togo down the Rio Grande, either. I've had enough of Mexico."

  He turned to the night watchman with a shudder and bent over him. Theman's face was whiter than before, and his form seemed rigid. Seeingthe boy's action, Lieutenant Gordon also stooped down. When he arosehis face was grave.

  "Prussic acid!" he said. "It seems that he was prepared for anemergency!"

  "The last of the three conspirators!" Nestor said. "To wander throughthe world until past middle age and then to come to this! But it isbetter so."

  It was daylight now, and the burials took place. After taking a verylight breakfast, the party started back over the mountain. They passedup the ravines and canyons to the mine, and Lieutenant Gordon ascendedthe mountain of crushed rock and entered the gold chamber.

  "There is a fortune here," he said looking about. "What are you goingto do with it?" he added, turning to Fremont.

  "I had not thought of that," was the reply.

  "You'd better be thinking about it!" said Jimmie. "Some one will comedown here and geezle it!"

  "No one will ever find it," Fremont said.

  "But we found it!" Stevens remarked.

  "There are a couple of men in my company," the lieutenant said, then,"who are anxious to get out of the service. Why not leave them here tokeep possession? After this revolution is over, you can come down hereand work it, or they can handle it for you. They are honest andcapable."

  When spoken with about the matter the men were eager to undertake thetask of guarding the mine until peace should be restored, after whichthey were willing to undertake its development. And so, when the partyleft, these men stood on the shelf of rock by the opening, remindingLieutenant Gordon and Fremont for the twentieth time to be sure to sendup provisions. It is needless to add that the provisions were sent!

  When the party reached El Paso one of the first men they met was DonMiguel, who smiled in a sarcastic manner as he greeted Nestor.

  "And so you were released?" the boy asked.

  "On orders from Washington," was the reply.

  "The case ended when the arms were captured," Nestor said.

  "And if they had not been taken?"

  "If a raid had actually taken place, you would have been charged withmurder," was the quiet reply.

  "Only for you," snarled the other, "my plans would have succeeded."

  "Only for the strange combination of circumstances which brought usboth to the Cameron building that night, you should say," Nestorreplied. "It chanced that we appeared on the scene in time tointerrupt a murder plot."

  "It is fate!" Don Miguel said, with a frown. "It was to be. Why, halfthe police officers in New York might have visited the suite withoutseeing anything significant in those letters. And even if they hadfound them interesting reading, they would not have been capable ofsmashing all our plans. At the beginning of the world it was set thatyou were to be there that night! It is fate!"

  Don Miguel bowed to the boy and took himself off. The government,fearing international complications, had ordered his release, and theboy was glad of it. The boys were all back in New York in two days,accompanied by Lieutenant Gordon, who was interested in seeing thatNestor received a suitable reward for what he had done. When the checkfinally came from Washington Nestor was so surprised at its size thathe sought the lieutenant, who laughed at him.

  "Uncle Sam always pays well," he said, "and he wants a little more ofyour time!"

  "Wants me?" asked Nestor.

  "Well, he asks me to get some keen fellows together and go down to theCanal Zone and look into a bit of treason."

  "And you want me to go?" cried the boy, almost disbelieving his ownears.

  "It is just this way," the lieutenant said. "I want some one with mewho can act and act quickly, and who can think on the spur of themoment. Also some one who will not be suspected of being in the secretservice of the government."

  "I see!" cried the boy, his eyes flashing.

  "And so," continued the lieutenant, "I was thinking that you might getsome of the Black Bears and Wolves we had in Mexico to go down thereand look about. Where is little Jimmie? I like the boy."

  "Fremont has about adopted him!" laughed Nestor. "I guess the boy willhave an easy life from this time on."

  "And Fremont is now the acknowledged heir?"

  "Oh, yes. Mr. Cameron is holding the property until he comes of age,but is giving him the income, which is very large, to say nothing ofthe mine."

  "Mr. Cameron, of course, knew that Fremont was the heir?"

  "Oh, yes, he knew, and he had statements from Mother Scanlon to proveit. It was all clear for Fremont before the crime was committed. Alucky boy!"

  "Of course he appreciates your efforts in his behalf?"

  "Does he? Why, he wants me to stop working and come and play with himfor the remainder of my life! Suppose I take him to Panama if youreally want me to go?"

  "I certainly do, and for the reason given," was the reply. "Get some ofthe Black Bears and Wolves together and organize an excursion to theCanal Zone. You must not mix with me, or the other secret service mendown there, but you must keep us posted as to what you discover."

  "That will be a picnic," cried Nestor. "What is doing down there?"

  "I don't know much about it myself," was the reply, "except that it isa plot to stop the building of the canal. You'll find out soon enoughwhen you get down there. When can you go?"

  "In three days," was the answer. "Just as soon as I can round up theboys. The folks down there will think a menagerie has struck town whenthey see all the wild animals creeping i
n on them. Say, what wouldUncle Sam do if it wasn't for the Boy Scouts of America?" he added,with a laugh.

  "Couldn't exist!" smiled the lieutenant.

  It is needless to say that the prospect of a trip to Panama, with alittle intrigue thrown in, pleased the boys greatly, and in three daysthey were ready to start, waiting only for orders from LieutenantGordon.

  THE END.

  What they did and what they saw and heard in the Canal Zone will betold in the forthcoming book of this series entitled, "Boy Scouts inthe Canal Zone; or Plot Against Uncle Sam."