CHAPTER ONE

Events happened very rapidly with Francis Morgan that late spring morning. If ever
a man leaped across time into the drama and tragedy of the primitive and the
medieval melodrama of sentiment of the New World Latin, Francis Morgan, inheritor
of many millions, was destined to be that man. Yet he did not know about that. A
late night at bridge had caused a late rising.

"Parker," he said to the valet, "did you ever notice any signs of fat on R.H.M.?"

"Oh, no, sir," was the answer. "Your father was lean and aristocratic. You've
inherited it."

"You remember the old Sir Henry, the old pirate?"

"Yes, sir; I've read of him, sir. He was Governor of Jamaica. He died respected."

"It was a mercy he didn't die hanged," Francis laughed. "He's the only disgrace in
the family. We never found his treasure; but beyond rubies is the lean-in-the-
middle legacy he bequeathed us."

A telephone buzzed.

"But my dear Mrs Carruthers," was his protest. "It is a local flurry. Tampico
Petroleum is all right. It is legitimate investment. Don't sell. I'm away for a
couple of weeks fishing. Good-bye."

A telephone buzzed again. Francis told Mr Bascom to buy all that was offered.

In his office Thomas Regan, the partner of his late father, knew that something was
wrong with Tampico Petroleum.

A clerk brought in a visitor's card with a message pencilled on the card. Regan
read it: "Dear Mr Regan. I have the honour to inform you that I have a tip on the
location of the treasure Sir Henry Morgan buried in old pirate days. Alvarez
Torres."
Waiting for the visitor, Regan thought, that he needed a trimming.

"I have won to the clue to the gold of Sir Henry Morgan," Torres said. "It's on the
Mosquito Coast, not far from the Chiriqui Lagoon, and that Bocas del Toro is the
nearest town. I was born there - educated in Paris. A small schooner - the outlay
is cheap, - but the reward - the treasure!"

"You need the money," Regan said, and Torres bowed.

Regan wrote a check, it was the figures of a thousand dollars.

"I put no belief in your story," Regan said. "But I have a young friend who is too
much about town. The best thing for him is a trip after treasure. Strive to
interest him. That thousand is for your effort. If he agrees, two thousand more is
yours. Succeed in interesting him."

Senor Torres agreed and was gone, and Francis Morgan was shown in.

"I need a bit of counsel," he said. "What's up with Tampico Petroleum?"

"Tampico Petroleum is up - two points - you should worry," Regan said.

"I've got good reports," was Francis' answer. "This is the real legitimate."

"Just about how far would you buy?"

"All I've got. I tell you. I don't want Tampico Petroleum to skyrocket."

"Don't worry." Regan picked up Torres' card. "Look, who's just been to see me. Why
go fishing for mere trout? There's real man's recreation, and not camp recreation
with servants."
"Sir Henry died practically a poor man," Francis stated. "Where I can find Alvarez
Torres?"

***

The next morning the meeting took place in Regan's office.

At the end of half an hour Fransic announced that the next fish he caught would be
on one of the two islets off the Lagoon of Chiriqui, where the treasure lay.

Torres said he couldn't come with him and would join afterwards.

"Arrange with Senor Torres some division of the loot... if you ever find it. Equal
division, fifty-fifty," Regan said, arranging the apportionment of something he was
certain did not exist.

"Fine!" Francis shook their hands. "I've got to pack and break engagements."

Senor Alvarez Torres remained with Regan, receiving instructions for the part he
was to play.

"In short," Regan concluded, "I don't almost care if he never comes back."

CHAPTER TWO

Three weeks after that Francis was on board his schooner, the "Angelique". He asked
the captain to order a small skiff over the side. He wanted to shoot a parrot or a
monkey.

Francis saw a white hacienda and a woman who was scrutinising him through
binoculars.

"The Enrico Solano family lives here, sir." Captain said. "They own the landscape
from the sea to the Cordilleras. They are very poor, and they are prideful and
fiery as cayenne pepper."

Francis rowed shoreward having taken neither rifle nor shotgun.

In his mind was just an idea of meeting a young lady, with whom he could have fun.
When the skiff grounded, he turned around. The beach was bare.

Suddenly the woman sprang out of the jungle and seized his arm and said to follow
her.

Thinking it was some unusual game he yielded. And suddenly she sat down, releasing
him.

"My dear lady..." he began.

She stopped him and heard the movement of bodies padding down some yards away.

Commanding to be silent, she left him. He had heard her talking to men.

He heard them move on, and, after five minutes of dead silence, heard her call for
him.

"You fool!" she cried, lifting her finger to his moustache. "As if that could
disguise you!"

"But my dear lady..." he began to protest his certain unacquaintance with her.

Her answer, which broke off his speech, was as unreal as everything else which had
gone before. He felt that the tiny revolver was pressed against his abdomen.

"Go away. Forever. If you ever come back I shall shoot myself."
"I'd better go, then," he said and turned to the skiff.

A sob made him turn his head. The strange young woman was crying. His step back to
her was instant, and the touch of his hand on her arm was sympathetic. She
shuddered at his touch, and drew away from him. He was about to turn to the boat,
when she stopped him.

"At least you..." she began, "you might kiss me good-bye."

She advanced impulsively. Francis gathered her in to receive a passionate kiss on

his lips.

Then she drew away from him and directed him to get into the boat. He obeyed.

***

Rowed by a sailor in the skiff, Francis landed to explore one of the islands, the
Bull. He saw naked, except for breech-clouts, turtle-catchers, armed with machetes.
The Bull was their, they told him; but the Calf now was possessed by a madly human
creature.

While Francis sent one man with a message to that man, the others gathered at the
skiff, asking for money. Later he received his returned message with one note:
"Vamos."

The sailor refused to row Francis there, thinking it was like a suicide.

Francis came down to the beach and found an old canoe.

On the Calf further inhospitality greeted him on the part of a tall, young man, who
stepped from behind a palm, automatic pistol in hand, and shouted, "Get out! Scut!"

He rushed to the shelter of the tree. A bullet thudded into the other side of it.

The next few minutes they blazed away, or waited for calculated shots, and when
Francis' eighth and last had been fired, he was sure that he had counted only seven
shots for the stranger.

"What gun are you using?" he asked.

"Colt's," came the answer.

Francis said, "Then you're all out. Now we can talk."

The stranger stepped out, and Francis saw that a dirty pair of canvas pants, a
cotton undershirt, and a floppy sombrero constituted his garmenting.

It did not enter his mind that he was looking at a replica of himself.

"Talk!" the stranger drew a knife. "Now we'll just cut off your ears, and maybe
scalp you."

"Let's wrestle," Francis answered. "The winner will get the other fellow's ears."

"Agreed."

Suddenly the stranger yielded the instant, their bodies met and fell over on his
back, at the same time planting his foot in Francis' abdomen transforming Francis'
rush into a wild somersault.

The fall on the sand knocked most of Francis' breath out of him, and the flying
body of his foe, impacting on him, managed to do for what little breath was left
him.

"What d'you want to wear a mustache for?" the stranger muttered.

"The ears are yours, but the mustache is mine."

"Keep your ears. I never intended to cut them off. Get out of here. I've won you."

Francis turned down to the beach toward his canoe.

"Do you mind leaving your card?" the victor called after him.

"My name's Morgan."

The stranger murmured to himself, "Same stock - no wonder we look alike."

***

Swaying from the blow, Francis saw the apparition of Sir Henry Morgan himself,
cutlass in hand, rushing up the beach to his rescue from Indians. Further, the
apparition was singing:

"Back to back against the mainmast,

Held at bay the entire crew..."

Francis next opened his eyes inside the grass hut. First he saw the picture of Sir
Henry Morgan. Next, it was a younger edition of the same moving flesh, who brought
him a mug of brandy. Francis and the stranger touched mugs in a salute to each
other.

"I am a Morgan," the stranger said. "That man on the wall fathered my breed. Your
breed?"

"The old pirate's," Francis returned. "My first name is Francis. And yours?"

"Henry. We must be remote cousins. I'm after the old Welshman's loot."
"So'm I," said Francis. "But to hell with sharing."

"The old blood talks in you," Henry smiled. "I've turned most of this island upside
down in the last six months, and all I've found are these old duds."

"That song's a wonder," Francis said. "I want to learn it." Together they sang the
pirate song.

CHAPTER THREE

Henry rowed off Francis to the "Angelique". Francis was studying his kinsman.

"You're just like him, and in more than mere looks," Henry laughed. "When you
refused to share yesterday, it was old Sir Henry to the life. He did not like
sharing. But I will share the Calf with you. There's nothing here. I found only the
chest full of old clothes."

"What's the matter with trying the Bull?" Francis asked.

"That's my idea right now," was the answer, "but I've got another clue. Those old-
timers had a way of noting down their latitude and longitude whole degrees out of
the way."

"And I'd like to take back what I said about not sharing."

Their hands extended and gripped in ratification.

"Morgan and Morgan strictly limited," smiled Francis.

"Assets, the whole Caribbean Sea, a chest of old clothes, and a lot of holes in the
ground," Henry continued. "Snake-bite, thieving Indians, malaria, yellow fever -"
"And pretty girls with a habit of kissing strangers one moment, and of sticking up
them with revolvers the next moment," Francis cut in. "Let me tell you about it.
Day before yesterday, I rowed ashore over on the mainland. The moment I landed, a
pretty girl dragged me away into the jungle. She passed unpleasant remarks on my
mustache and chased me back to the boat with a revolver."

"Where was this?" Henry asked.

"It was the ground of the Solano family. After that she wanted me to kiss her."

"And did you?" Henry demanded.

"What could a poor stranger in a strange land do?"

The next second Francis blocked before his jaw a crushing blow of Henry's fist.

"I... I beg your pardon," Henry mumbled. "I'm a fool, but I'll be hanged if I can
stand for -"

"There you go again," Francis interrupted. "One moment you bandage up my cracked
head, and the next moment you want to knock that same head clean off of me."

"That was Leoncia."

"Can't a fellow kiss a pretty girl at a revolver's point without having his head
knocked off by the next ruffian he meets in dirty canvas pants on an island?"

"When the pretty girl is engaged to marry the ruffian in the dirty canvas pants -"

"And she took me for you. I don't blame you for losing your temper."

"It's the old Morgan temper," Henry said. "He was by all the accounts a peppery old
cuss."
"Since they all thought it was you why did they want to kill you?

"It is a nasty mess, and I suppose my temper was to blame. I quarreled with her
uncle Alfaro Solano. He always was looking for trouble with me - didn't want me to
marry Leoncia.

"It started in a pulqueria where Alfaro had been drinking much alcohol. He insulted
me. They had to hold us apart, and we separated. But our threats were heard by many
witnesses.

"Within two hours the Comisario found me bending over Alfaro's body. He'd been
knifed in the back, and I'd found him on the way to the beach. I haven't been back
in San Antonio since. They did not give me even the semblance of a trial.

"A messenger from Leoncia delivered back the engagement ring. So I came over here
to play hermit for a while and dig for Morgan's treasure..."

"No wonder her father and brothers wanted to kill me," Francis said. "We're as like
as two peas, except for my mustache -"

"And for this..." Henry showed him a long white scar on the left forearm. "When I
was a boy I fell off a windmill and through the glass roof of a hothouse."

"Begin prospecting on the Bull, and I'll explain things to Leoncia and her people
-"

An hour later the two young men were saying good-bye.

"Just two things more, Francis. First, Leoncia is an adopted child, and old Enrico
worships her. The other thing is the absence of the law. They make it whatever they
want it in this hole. The Jefe Politico at San Antonio is cruel and likes hangings.
Keep your eye on him. And so long."

***
Two days later, after receiving the news that all the men of Leoncia's family were
away, Francis had himself landed on the beach.

A little boy agreed to carry a note to the senorita of the big hacienda. Francis
started writing, "I am the man whom you mistook for Henry Morgan, and I have a
message for you from him".

He was writing calmly on when Leoncia exclaimed and ran into the jungle.

He sprang toward the direction of the cry and collided with a young woman.

"What's happened?" Francis asked.

She pointed at her knee, where two tiny drops of blood oozed from two small
lacerations.

"It was a deadly viperine. I shall die in five minutes." She said and fainted.

He recollected the need to shut off the circulation above the wound and prevent the
poison from reaching the heart. He tied his handkerchief around her leg above the
knee. Next, he opened the blade of his pocket-knife, burned it against germs, and
cut carefully into the two lacerations.

At that moment the Indian boy came, swinging a small dead snake and crying:
"Labarri!"

Leoncia moved, then looked at the dead snake and felt relief.

"You dare!" she threatened him. "It's only a baby labarri, and its bite is
harmless. I thought it was a viperine. They look alike when the labarri is small."

She discovered his handkerchief knotted around her leg and took it away.

"And now we'll talk business, Miss Solano," he said. "Don't interrupt me." He
picked up the note he had been writing. "I was just sending that to you by the boy
when you screamed. Read it."

Her eyes scanned the opening line: "I am the man whom you mistook for Henry
Morgan..."

"But your name?"

"Francis Morgan. We are distant relatives. Can you find the scar on the arm?" he
asked.

She bent her head in swift vain search, then shook it slowly as she faltered, "I
ask your forgiveness. I was terribly mistaken."

***

Torres saw Francis produce a ring, and Leoncia received the ring upon her third
finger.

So, Torres did not return the girl's greeting at the first. Instead, he burst out
at Francis, "One does not expect shame in a murderer, but at least one does expect
simple decency."

"The last time, Leoncia, that I saw this gentleman was in New York. He wanted to do
business with me. Now I meet him here and the first thing he tells me is that I am
a murderer."

"Senor Torres, you must apologize," she declared angrily. "This is Francis Morgan."

***

After lunch Francis declined her hospitality to remain for the night and meet
Enrico Solano and his sons. He could not stand the presence of Leoncia as she
charmed him to a big extent.
So Francis departed, a letter to Henry from Leoncia in his pocket.

From the beach, Francis signaled the "Angelique" to send a boat ashore for him. But
before it half a dozen horsemen, revolver-belted rode down the beach upon him at a
gallop. Two men led. Francis recognized Torres. Every rifle came to rest on
Francis, and he obeyed the order.

"I suppose you think I've broken some harbor rule or sanitary regulation by
anchoring here. But you must settle such things with my captain. I am just a
passenger."

"You are wanted for the murder of Alfaro Solano," was Torres' answer.

"I suppose you'll give me a quick trial and hang me at daybreak."

"Ten o'clock in the morning is more comfortable," the Jefe Politico replied.

***

In a cell with walls five feet thick Francis remembered the trial from which he had
just emerged. The hour was half-past eight in the evening. The trial had lasted
half an hour. Twenty minutes would have covered it had Leoncia not prolonged it by
the ten minutes.

The very possession of the letter given him by Leoncia and addressed to Henry
Morgan had damned him. The rest had been easy. Witnesses had identified him as the
murderer.

Suddenly the bolts of his cell door shot back and he arose to greet Leoncia.

Leoncia broke down, sobbing on his shoulder: "It is a cursed country. There is no
fair play."

"They just knew I was guilty."

"I love you," she whispered.

"No, no," he said. "Henry and I are too alike. It is Henry you love."

Then the Comisario entered. Francis kissed her hand in farewell.

***

At ten o'clock Francis was led out into the jail patio. All San Antonio was
present, including Leoncia, Enrico Solano, and his five tall sons. The Jefe
Politico ordered the execution to proceed.

Suddenly singing was approaching from without; and the song was:

"Back to back against the mainmast,

Held at bay the entire crew..."

Leoncia cried out with sharp delight as she saw Henry Morgan.

The Jefe said to go on the hanging with the new man. And here arose hot protest
from the Solano men that Henry was likewise innocent of the murder of Alfaro. Henry
was arrested.

CHAPTER FOUR

Francis and the Solanos talked, when a servant whispered in Leoncia's ear, and led
her away.
Alvarez Torres greeted her, bowed low and seated her in a sofa.

"The trial is over," he said softly. "He is sentenced. tomorrow at ten o'clock is
the time."

"He never killed my uncle!" Leoncia cried.

"The judge, the people, the Jefe Politico believe that he did. I came to offer my
service in all ways you may command. My life and my honour are at your disposal."

Dropping gracefully on one knee before her, he took her hand and began to speak.

"Leoncia, I always loved you. When you returned from schooling abroad, a grand and
noble lady, I was burnt by your beauty. Do you know what you have been to me ever
since your return? I have my own name for you: the Queen of my Dreams."

Leoncia thought in a long pause.

"Come," she said. "We will join the others. They are planning now to save Henry
Morgan."

"Have you hit upon anything yet?" Leoncia asked, entering the room.

Old Enrico shook his head.

"I have a plan," Torres said. "We will go and take Henry out of jail in forthright
fashion. There are enough rascals to storm the jail. Pay them well, and the thing
is done."

Leoncia nodded eager agreement. Old Enrico's eyes flashed. The young men were
taking fire from his example. And all looked to Francis for his opinion. He shook
his head slowly.

"Why should all of you risk in a madcap attempt, doomed to failure from the start?"
"Senor Morgan is right," Enrico said. "Thick walls of the jail could stand a siege
of weeks."

Torres shook hands all around and departed.

"We do not need Torres," said Francis. "Senor Solano, have you plenty of saddle
horses? Good. Alesandro, can you get a couple of sticks of dynamite? Good. Leoncia,
do you have a plentiful supply of whiskey? Now listen..."

CHAPTER FIVE

It was in the mid-afternoon, and Henry, at his barred cell-window, looked out into
the street. Suddenly he saw a rattletrap wagon drawn by a horse.

When the old man pulled on the reins one broke. The driver fell backward into the
seat, and his weight on the other rein caused the horse to turn sharply to the
right. The wagon was a wreck.

A crowd of people was forming about him. These were shouldered by the gendarmes.

The old man went to the wagon and began an examination of the several packing
cases. On being addressed by one of the gendarmes, he made voluble reply.

"I am Leopoldo Narvaez. It is true, my mother was German, but my father was
Baltazar de Jesus Cervallos e Narvaez, son of General Narvaez, who fought under the
great Bolivar himself.

"I have driven from Bocas del Toro. It has taken me five days. But even a noble
Narvaez may be a peddler, and even a peddler must live. Is there Tomas Romero who
lives in San Antonio?"

"There are a number of Tomas Romeros in Panama," laughed Pedro Zurita, the
assistant jailer. "There is Tomas Romero, the thief. There is the rich Tomas
Romero."
"It must be he. If my precious stock-in-trade can be safely stored, I shall seek
him now. I shall be able to trust it with you, who are an honest man." He handed
two silver pesos to the jailer. "I wish you and your men to have some pleasure of
assisting me."

The gendarmes began to carry the boxes into the jail.

"Careful, senors," he asked, as they took the big box. "It is of value and it is
fragile."

The peddler sat on the horse, saying he would return on the next day, and rode
away.

Henry thought to himself, that the old peddler's voice had sounded familiar.

***

Pedro Zurita lifted the large box to sample its weight, and sniffed.

"Leave it alone, Pedro," one of the gendarmes said. "You have been paid to be
honest."

The jailer sat down. Continually the eyes of the men fixed on the box.

"Ignacio, open that box. We may not, for we have been paid to be honest."

He found a bottle of whiskey. Pedro prepared to knock its neck off.

"The stuff is contraband. We will destroy it. When he comes I'll arrest him," Said
Pedro.

"If we destroy the evidence - thus?" Augustino asked.

"We will save the evidence!" Pedro replied, smashing an empty bottle. "The box was
heavy. It fell. The box and the broken bottles will be evidence."

***

"With the high compliments of our jailer, Pedro Zurita," Ignacio gave the bottle to
Henry.

"Tell him from me to go to hell along with his whiskey," Henry replied.

Henry was at the window just in time to meet Francis face to face who gave him a
revolver.

"Stand back in your cell, there's going to be a hole in this wall," Francis said.

Hardly had Henry backed into a rear corner of his cell, when the door was unlocked.

In their hands the gendarmes carried rifles. At sight of Henry's revolver, they
stopped.

Ignacio fired, missing and going down as Henry answered. The rest came to the
corridor.

Henry waited for the explosion. The window and the wall beneath it became all one
hole.

"Fifteen minutes' gallop will take us to the beach, where the boat is waiting,"
Francis said.

"An old peddler wrecked a wagon in front of the jail -" Henry began.

"Even a noble Narvaez may be a peddler, and even a peddler must live," Francis
mimicked.
CHAPTER SIX

"We can get both Morgans," said Torres. "Henry hangs tomorrow. Francis and the
Solanos will surely storm the jail this evening. You should see to it that Francis
Morgan is killed in the fight."

"Why?" the Jefe asked. "Let Francis go back to New York."

"My relations with the Regan are confidential and important. He told me to keep
Francis away from New York for a month. I will divide fairly with you out of the
success of our venture."

"We will make the preparation for this reception. I shall tell the gendarmes to
fire at him."

Suddenly a ragged boy said, "The strange Gringo has blown down the side of the
jail. And the other Gringo has escaped with him out of the hole."

They rushed to the jail.

"The jail is most destroyed," were Rafael's first words. "Dynamite! I fell
unconscious. When sense came back to me, all others lay around me dead!" Almost
could he have added, "drunk"; but he stated the catastrophe as it tragically
presented itself to his imagination. "The cell was empty. There was a huge hole in
the wall. The Gringo Morgan was gone."

"My jail!" the Jefe cried. "I swear by all the Saints the vengeance I shall have.
Horses!"

***

Captain Trefethen saw long-boat returning with his mad American charterer.

And aboard came the woman and they brought the rifles, and a sack of money.
"What are those people ashore doing?"

"They tried to hang me yesterday," Francis laughed. "And tomorrow they were going
to hang my kinsman. Now, Mr Skipper, how long do you expect to be around here?"

"I think you have broken laws ashore. And now you want me to break the laws of
maritime by enabling you to escape. So, I must stick around here until this little
problem is solved"

Francis ordered to sail them out, agreeing to recharter at three times the first
charter.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"And now we've lost both the Gringo pigs," Alvarez Torres lamented on the beach.

"They will not get out of Chiriqui Lagoon," the Jefe said. "The promise is for a
night of little wind. The captain will go out past Bocas del Toro. We will outwit
him. Captain Rosaro is near the coast to Las Palmas with the "Dolores".

They rode to an old tugboat. Captain Rosaro agreed to help them after receiving
fifty five dollars. One man went back with the horses, the rest of the party
descended to the deck of the tug.

***

Leoncia awoke first. She looked at the two young men. They were so alike, and she
was puzzled that she should have it in her to love two men at the same time.

Three hours later she had her first lesson of steering under Francis' teaching.
Henry was trying to be all unconcerned at the lesson. But Captain Trefethen stared
openly.
A rising puff of breeze made Francis put the wheel up. His hand to the spoke rested
on her hand. Leoncia's eyes lifted to his, then dropped in confusion. She
terminated the lesson.

The captain told Henry, "There is room for both gentlemen in senorita's heart."

And the next second he lay on his back, the back of his head sore from contact with
the deck, the front of his head sore from contact with Henry Morgan's right hand.

He sprang to his feet, knife in hand. Several sailors joined in. Francis sprang to
Henry.

"I'm sorry I struck you," Henry said. "I apologize, skipper."

"No man can do a physical damage on me without providing a money requital."

Henry dipped into his pocket for two ten-dollar gold-pieces, and gave them to
Captain.

At that instant a sailor called, "A steamer-smoke dead aft!"

The "Angelique" lost the rapidity and "Dolores" was seen, armed men on her tiny
deck.

"We cannot escape, sir," Captain said. "We are captured."

"Right there are the two Tigres islands," Henry said. "They guard the narrow
entrance to the inlet called El Tigre. On either side of them it is too shoal to
float unless you know the channels. But between them is deep water. A schooner can
run it. Now, the wind favours."

"And if the wind fails, my beautiful schooner will go on the rocks," Captain
protested.
"If it happens, I will pay you full value," Francis assured him.

"Now, skipper," said Henry. "We're just opposite El Tigre. I want a coil of half-
inch, old, soft rope, plenty of sail twine, a case of beer, kerosene and a coffee-
pot."

Henry fastened the bottles to the line. Also, he cut two lengths of the line and
attached them between the bottles, adding the coffee-pot and empty coffee tins.

"El Tigre is very narrow," Henry said to Francis. "There's one place where the
channel isn't forty feet between the shoals. You take starboard and I'll take port,
and when I give the word you shoot that beer case out to the side."

The "Dolores" slowly overhauled them. As the rifles began to speak from the tug,
the skipper built up a low barricade of sacks of vegetables, old sails, and ropes.
The helmsman managed to steer. The sailors sheltered in corners, while the Solano
men returned the fire of the tug.

The tug was two hundred yards away, when Henry gave the word. To either side can
and beer-case flew, dragging behind them through the air the beaded rope of pots,
cans and bottles.

They saw the tug slow down to a stop, and the "Angelique" sailed on.

"The wind has ceased, sir," said the Captain. "How can we move without wind?"

"What kind of a shore have they got here, Senor Solano?" Henry asked.

"Haciendados and Mayas," Enrico answered. "We can get horses and food ashore."

CHAPTER EIGHT

Some peons were chopping down the tropic forest. An elderly gentleman was off his
horse at the sight of Enrico, his lips sayng words and his eyes expressing
admiration to Enrico's daughter.
The request for horses granted, and the introduction of the two Morgans took place.
The haciendado's horse was immediately Leoncia's.

Enrico asked him about the trails up to the Cordilleras and mentioned oil.

"We knew of the oil ooze. But it was the Hermosillo Company that sent its engineers
in secret. They say it is a great field. They have many wells, and have bored much,
they have so much oil that it is running away over the landscape. They have begun
to build the pipe-line."

"Have they built any tanks?" Francis asked.

"They have great reservoirs in the hills, and still they cannot choke down the
flow."

"Have they roofed these reservoirs?" Francis asked.

"No, Senor."

"They should be roofed," he said. "A match could set the whole works off."

At that moment the chief overseer of the plantation rode up. And his employer took
his horse.

"The animal is yours, friend Enrico," the haciendado said. "I regret that you
cannot partake of my hospitality. But the Jefe is a bloodhound and we shall do our
best to send him astray."

With Leoncia and Enrico mounted, the cavalcade started.

In some time they saw the group of men, with Torres in the lead.
"We are in search of Enrico Solano and his friends," Torres said. "Where did they
go?"

The haciendado and his overseer indicated a different direction, but Torres saw one
of the listening peons. He flashed a silver dollar to the peon and he nodded in the
right direction.

"A little bird has told me that they have gone the other way," Torres said, moving.

The overseer looked at the workers. One peon indicated the man to the overseer.

"There's the little bird," the overseer cried, shaking the traitor. Out of his rags
flew the dollar.

The haciendado said, "He has killed somebody. Beat him, and make him confess."

The man made confession. Then he fled for the jungle. Such was his speed, that he
overtook the Solano party and fell down. Francis gave him a drink.

Next, the pursuit arrived. Torres asked the peon about the Solanos. He denied
knowledge of them. Torres' stick fell upon his head and went on falling. It made
him point the way of the chase.

The haciendado, with the neighboring haciendados and overseers appeared and caught
him. Back at the plantation, he was tied to a post of a wire fence, while they went
to have breakfast. But the wire of the fence, and the lame horse built an idea in
the peon. He quickly tore his bonds, crawled under the fence, mounted the horse,
and galloped its away toward the Cordilleras.

CHAPTER NINE

Henry teased Francis with, "In the jungle dollars are worthless."

Francis replied, "I can make dollars work in the jungle."

He wrote the figure "50". He laid the paper on the trail and put a silver dollar on
it. Counting out forty-nine other dollars from the bag, he sowed them very
immediately about the first one.

***

Augustino saw the silver dollar holding down the sheet of paper with the mystic
"50". Rafael found another dollar. Augustino was on hands and knees overhauling the
ground.

A mile farther on the posse stop again all gathered around a hollow tree stump.
Five feet from the ground was an opening. Above it was a sheet of paper. On it was
written "100".

They chopped the tree and divided the money.

Later they came upon an abandoned farm. There was a house, and a well. They saw a
sheet of paper on which was written "300". Guillermo was lowered to pick up the
coins.

***

"They fought like cats and dogs about the well," Francis said. "The Jefe, at the
point of his gun, had to force the smallest of them to go down. And then he
blackmailed them."

Five miles farther on, the horses of Leoncia and her father in collapse, Francis
urged the others on and dropped behind. In an open space, he found the hoof-prints
with crude oil. A hundred yards beyond he came upon the flow itself, a river of
oil. It oozed slowly down the hill. Here Francis sat down on a rock and kept his
ears pricked for the first sounds of the pursuit.

***

The beaten peon rode across the top of the ravine and his horse collapsed. He made
the horse go into the jungle. He heard some noise and fled into the jungle, from
which he saw two strange men appear. They came to the well, and, by an iron wheel
turning the valve, choked down the flow.

"No more," commanded the leader. "Another turn, and the pressure will blow out the
pipes."

Then the haciendado, the overseers and other haciendados approached.

The two oil-men had seen nobody. But the haciendado made his horse follow them.

When all was clear, the peon came back, turned the mechanism wide open, watched the
oil fountaining and flowing down the mountain. Also, he noted the bubbling of the
escaping gas. All that saved him for his further adventures was the fact that he
had used his last match.

So he moved down the mountainside and upon Francis, who received him with the
rifle. Down went the peon on his knees. Francis heard the clatter of a stone. Then
he recognized the peon.

"They will beat me to death," the peon said. "You are my only friend, save me."

Francis passed him the automatic and motioned him to take shelter.

The Jefe with his men and Torres appeared. He fired his rifle, and they fell back
out of sight.

At the end of an hour, Francis had the last cartridge in his rifle. But the hour
had been saved for Leoncia and her people, and Francis knew that he could escape by
wading across the river of oil. So all would have been well, had not come another
men. This was the haciendado and his fellows. The peon begged his box of matches
and asked to climb the canyon.

The next moment, the river of oil flared into flame. In the following moment, clear
up the mountainside, the well itself sent a fountain of ignited gas a hundred feet
into the air. And, in the moment after, the ravine itself poured a torrent of flame
down upon the posse of Torres and the Jefe.

Francis and the peon went up the opposite side and raced up the recovered trail.
CHAPTER TEN

While Francis and the peon hurried up, the ravine had become a river of flame,
which drove the Jefe, Torres, and the gendarmes to scale the steep wall of the
ravine. At the same time the party of haciendados was made to escape out of the
roaring canyon.

"There are more wells," the peon smiled. "They will all burn. And so shall they pay
for the many blows they have beaten on me."

"How much are you worth?" Francis asked the peon.

"I possess nothing but a debt of two hundred and fifty pesos."

"And yet here you are burning up millions of pesos' worth of oil. So you are some
hombre."

"I am a hombre and I am half Maya," he said. "My father is pure Maya. But he loved
a mixed-breed woman of the tierra caliente. I was so born; but she afterward
betrayed him for a nigger, and he went back to the Cordilleras. I loved a mixed
breed of the tierra caliente. She wanted money, and I sold myself to be a peon. And
I saw never her nor the money again. For five years I have slaved and been beaten,
and at the end my debt is two hundred and fifty pesos."

***

And while Francis Morgan and the peon tried to overtake their party, in the heart
of the Cordilleras, were preparing other events destined to bring together all
pursuers and all pursued.

In a cave sat a man and a woman. A woman read aloud from a book. Both were
barefooted and bare-armed, clad in hooded gabardines of sackcloth. The old man was
blind.
He lifted his hand and put a pause in the reading.

"The law of man is to-day a game of wits. They have mistaken the way for the goal,
the means for the end. Yet law is necessary. At the bottom of the law is the
sincere quest for justice.

"But we have a just law in the Cordilleras. Sack-cloth helps the equity of judicial
decision."

Later he said. "Order my children to investigate about shootings in the canyons."

The young woman passed out into the day. At either side of the cave-mouth sat a man
of the peon class. Each was armed with a rifle and a machete. At the girl's order,
both arose and bowed. One of them tapped with his machete against the stone, then
laid his ear to the stone and listened. The stone was but the out-jut of a vein of
metalliferous ore. And beyond, on the opposite slope sat another peon who first
listened with his ear pressed to similar quartz, and next tapped response. After
that, he stepped to a tall tree, reached into the hollow heart of it, and pulled on
the rope within.

A branch, sticking out from the trunk like a semaphore arm moved it up and down.
Two miles away, on a mountain crest, the branch of a similar semaphore tree
replied. Still beyond that, and farther down the slopes, the flashing of a hand-
mirror in the sun heliographed the blind man's message from the cave. And all that
portion of the Cordilleras became voluble with coded speech of vibrating ore-veins,
sun-flashings, and waving tree-branches.

***

While the Solanos used the time afforded them by Francis, Leoncia and Henry lagged
behind waiting for Francis. Henry turned back. Leoncia tried to do the same. But
the animal refused to obey. Leoncia went on foot. She was almost on his heels when
he met Francis and the peon.

They were caught in surprise by the party of haciendados that dashed out upon them
with rifles from the jungle. They had captured the runaway peon, but all would have
been well with Leoncia and the two Morgans had the owner of the peon been present.
But an attack of the malaria had put him in a chill near the burning oilfield.

The haciendados were gentle to Leoncia but they tied the hands of the Morgans
behind them.
The Jefe and Torres appeared. All men of both parties of pursuers tried to explain
and demand explanation at one and the same time. Torres came to Leoncia and bowed
low.

Henry and Francis caught the conversation of Leoncia and Torres.

"I am here to save you. It is a question absolute of certain death by execution for
Henry Morgan," Torres said. "But I can save Francis Morgan, if... you marry me. I
might be able to do something for Henry. Even may it be possible for me to save his
life, if he leaves Panama."

At that moment Henry's foot kicked Torres which moved him in the direction of
Francis, who also kicked him. Suddenly some armed men had appeared and silently
controlled the situation.

The gendarmes and haciendados retreated in fear, muttering prayers and saying: "The
Blind Brigand!"

"The Cruel Just One!"

"They are his people!"

But the much-beaten peon fell on his knees before the leader of the men and asked
for justice.

Leoncia, Henry and Francis also demanded the Cruel Justice.

The leader nodded and indicated the disarming of the prisoners and the order of the
march.

***

Blindfold for a number of miles at the last, the prisoners were led into the cave
where the Cruel Justice reigned. They saw a big cave, lighted by many torches, and
a blind and white-haired man in sackcloth seated on a rock throne, with, beneath
him, a pretty woman.

The blind man spoke. "The Cruel Justice has been invoked. Let the woman speak
first."

"I only have helped the man I am engaged to marry to escape from death for a murder
he did not commit," Leoncia informed.

"You have spoken," said the Blind Brigand. "Come forward to me."

Led by sackcloth men, she was made to kneel at the blind man's knees. The girl
placed his hand on Leoncia's head. For a full minute his fingers rested about her
forehead and registered the pulse-beats of her temples. Then he removed his hand
and made his decision.

"Arise, Senorita," he pronounced. "Your heart is clean of evil. You go free. - Who
else appeals to the Cruel Justice?"

Francis immediately stepped forward.

"I also helped the man to escape from an undeserved death."

He, too, knelt, and felt the soft finger play over his brows and temples and come
to rest finally on the pulse of his wrist.

"It is not all clear to me," said the Blind One. "You are not at rest nor at peace
with your soul. There is trouble within you that vexes you."

Suddenly the peon stepped forth and spoke.

"Oh, Just One, let this man go," said the peon passionately. "Twice I betrayed him
to his enemy this day, and twice this day has he protected me from my enemy and
saved me."
The peon felt finger-touches of the judge. Bruises and lacerations were swiftly
explored.

"The other man goes free," the Cruel Just One said. "Yet is there trouble within
him."

The girl saw the glance of knowledge between the man and woman and felt a love
affair.

The Just One spoke: "The eternal vexation of woman in the heart of man. This man
stands free. Twice has he helped the man who twice betrayed him. I want to settle
for this beaten creature."

He played his fingers over the face and brows of the peon.

"Are you afraid to die?" he asked suddenly.

"I am very afraid to die," was the peon's reply.

"Then say that you have lied about this man, and you shall live. Think well."

But the peon answered: "I am very afraid, but I cannot betray him thrice."

"From now on you shall always think like a man and act like a man. Go free."

But then the blind judge asked him: "What was the cause of all your troubles?"

"I loved a mixed-breed woman of the tierra caliente. I put myself in debt to the
haciendado. She fled with the money and another man. I have worked for five years,
and my debt is the same."

"You have received many blows. Each blow on your body is quittance in full of the
entire debt. Go free. But next time love a mountain woman. You are half Maya?"
"I am half Maya," the peon murmured. "My father is a Maya."

"Remain in the mountains with your Maya father."

The Cruel Just One waited, and Henry stepped forward.

"I am the man sentenced to the death undeserved for the killing of a man I did not
kill."

But the Jefe interrupted. "Before many witnesses he threatened to kill the man.
Within the hour we found him bending over the man's dead body that was yet warm."

"Kneel both of you," the man said. His fingers played over the faces and pulses of
them.

"Is there a woman?" he asked Henry Morgan.

"A woman wonderful. I love her."

"It is good to be so vexed, for a man unvexed by a woman is only half a man," he
said.

He addressed the Jefe. "No woman vexes you, yet you are troubled. Stand up, both of
you. I cannot judge. Yet there is the test of the Snake and the Bird. Infallible it
is for by such ways."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

To all intents it might have been a tiny pit in the heart of the Blind Brigand's
cave. The sackcloth men, the haciendados, and the gendarmes were present to look at
some fight.
At command of the leader, Henry and the Jefe descended down a short ladder into the
pit.

The Jefe addressed the leader: "I shall not fight with this man. He is younger than
I."

"It is the Snake and the Bird," the leader answered. "You shall be the Snake. This
rifle shall be in your hands. The other man shall be the Bird. In his hand shall be
the bell."

And the Jefe made no further protests.

Only one cartridge was put into the rifle, and it was handed to the Jefe after he
was blindfolded. Henry, equipped with the bell, stood directly across the pit, the
Jefe was faced to the wall and kept there while the brigands climbed out of the pit
and drew the ladder up. The leader said: "The Snake has but one shot having no time
limit. The Snake cannot touch his blindfold. The Bird should never leave the bell
or stop the clapper of it. We have rifles, to see that you die if you break any of
the rules. And now, start!"

The Jefe turned slowly about and listened, while Henry, carefully moving, caused
the tinkle.

With a quick shift Henry transferred the bell to the other hand and ran in the
opposite direction. But the Jefe slowly advanced. Henry stood still, and the bell
made no sound.

The Jefe collided the rifle with the wall. He moved a yard to the side and collided
with the opposite wall. Then he adopted a clever method. Putting his hat on the
ground as a starting point, he crossed the edge of the pit on a chord, extended the
chord by a pace farther along the wall, and felt his way back along the new and
longer chord. This time he initiated his third chord.

Henry saw that he could not escape such combing. Tinkling the bell as he ran
exchanging it from one hand to the other, he was immobile in a new place.

Henry waited till the Jefe's latest chord brought him directly upon him. Then he
sat lower than the rifle and cried "Fire!" The Jefe pulled the trigger, and the
bullet moved above Henry's head.
"The man uninjured is innocent. Remains now to test the other man," announced the
leader.

The leader handed the rifle to Henry and started to blindfold him.

The Jefe tried to stand motionless; but his hand trembled and the bell tinkled. He
flung it away and threw himself on the ground. But Henry, following the sound of
his enemy's fall, lowered the rifle and pulled trigger. The Jefe yelled out in
sharp pain as the bullet perforated his shoulder.

***

The Blind Brigand said: "This man has been proven guilty. For his life a ransom of
ten thousand dollars shall be paid, or else shall he remain here."

A long silence obtained, even Henry said that such promise of murder was unpleasant
to him.

"What say you, peon? the Blind Brigand asked. "Shall this man die for want of a
ransom?"

"This man is a hard man," spoke the peon. "Yet I would pay his ransom myself."

But Francis handed a check to the woman and she read the check aloud.

"The sum is for ten thousand dollars gold," the Blind Brigand said. "This man is
one of three things: a good man; a fool; or a very rich man. Tell me, O Man, is
there a woman wonderful?"

And Francis answered: "Yes, O Cruel Just One, there is a woman wonderful."

CHAPTER TWELVE
At the place where they had been first blindfolded the sackcloth men, Leoncia,
Henry, Francis and the peon stopped. The haciendados, and the Jefe and Torres with
their gendarmes had come in half an hour. At permission the captives removed their
blindfolds and were allowed to go.

Suddenly the haciendado with his friends appeared. "I have good news for your
father," he told Leoncia. "I have used the government wireless and communicated
with the President of Panama. The word has come back that justice has been
miscarried in the court at San Antonio; and that all is legally forgotten against
all of the noble Solano family and their Gringo friends."

Then he saw the peon and caught him and all the haciendados started beating him.

Francis and Henry protested.

"The Cruel Just One cancelled my debt," the peon whispered.

The haciendado said that law did not operate on his plantation.

"Oh, you men of the Cruel Just One, take me back to the Cordilleras," asked the
peon.

But the leader shook his head and wanted to depart. Francis stopped him, and passed
the check to the haciendado. The latter put the end of the rope around the peon's
neck in Francis' hand.

Francis placed the rope in the peon's hand, saying: "Put not the rope in any man's
hand."

Meanwhile a lean old man with only a breech-clout on him clasped the peon in his
arms.

"He is my father," proclaimed the peon proudly. "He is pure Maya."

Francis asked the sackcloth leader to find the Solanos and to tell them to return
home.
The haciendado invited them to wait for Enrico and his sons return.

To their surprise the peon and his father came with the Morgans. They were
expressing their devotion, first of all to Francis, and, next, to Leoncia and
Henry. After Enrico and his sons had arrived, the party went to board the schooner,
and the peon and his father followed along.

"The hidden treasure of the Mayas is in my father's keeping," the peon explained.
"He is the descendant from the high priest. You made me free. The gift of a man's
life is greater than all the treasure. If you desire treasure, we will lead you to
the Maya treasure. And the way into the mountains begins from San Antonio. Father,
bring forth the tale written in our ancient language."

From within his cloth the old man drew forth what looked like a snarl of knotted
strings. But the strings were twisted with some old bark.

"The knot-writing, the lost written language of the Mayas," Henry said.

It was composed of many strings of varying lengths and diameters with the knots.

"What d'you say, Francis?" Henry asked.

"But business calls," Francis answered.

"The treasure could make us richer than you are now."

Leoncia asked in an undertone in Francis' ear: "Have you so soon tired of treasure-
hunting?"

He answered in the same tones: "How can I stay here, loving you, while you love
Henry?"

It was the first time he had openly told about his love, and Leoncia felt joy.
"You and Enrico can find the treasure and split it two ways," Francis told Henry.

But the peon, having heard, broke into quick speech with his father, and, next,
with Henry.

"It is you he feels grateful to for his son," Henry said. "If you don't go, he
won't help us."

But it was Leoncia, looking at Francis with pleading, who said, "Please, for my
sake," who really caused Francis to reverse his decision.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A week later, out of San Antonio, three expeditions started for the Cordilleras.
The first was composed of Henry, Francis, the peon and his father, and of several
of the Solano peons.

At the time of the siesta hour Leoncia and her brother Ricardo moved on mules.

The third expedition was composed of Torres and Jose Mancheno, a murderer whom
Torres had saved. But Torres' plans were ambitious. Not far up the slopes of the
Cordilleras lived the strange tribe of the Caroos. Founded by runaway negro slaves,
they also stole women of the tierra caliente. This colony had maintained itself in
semi-independence. Here Jose Mancheno had been born. There he was leading Torres in
order that the commands of Regan might be carried out.

***

They rode out through the jungle. Suddenly the old man hastened his mule into the
jungle.

At the end of half a mile the old man reached a natural depression in the ground.
Three feet in depth, of area sufficient to accommodate a dozen persons, its form
was like colossal human foot.
The old priest said: "In the foot-step of the God must we wait till the eyes of
Chia flash."

The mules were tied to the trees, water was fetched and a fire was built in the
foot-step.

"This is very dangerous, to have anything to do with the old Maya sacred things,"
the peon said. "It is the death-road. My father knows. Many men have died. His
father also died."

"And when your father dies," Francis asked, "then you will be the Maya high
priest?"

"No, senor," the peon answered. "My father did not teach me because I was not of
the pure Maya blood. My father is the last living man who knows that ancient
language."

The old Maya observed Leoncia, saying that women are no good, and women are the
eternal enemy of God and man, keeping them apart. He said she had to go back."

Francis turned to the peon. "Ask your father to read the knot-writing and see what
it says for or against women travelling in the foot-steps of God."

The priest touched the writing. There was no objection to woman.

"So I guess it's all right, Leoncia, for you to stay for a bite to eat," said
Francis.

Scarcely had they sat on the ground, when Francis, standing up, had his hat knocked
off.

The next moment they saw a strangely clad group of men.

"They are the Caroos," the peon said. "They are savage and terrible."
The Maya arose, and said Leoncia was the cause of this trouble. A bullet moved near
him.

Francis jerked the old man down.

Henry shot in response. Next, Ricardo, Francis, and the peon joined in.

When the last cartridge, save several in Francis' automatic pistol, was gone the
pit became silent. Jose Mancheno signaled to the Caroos to come on.

"Nicely trapped, senors," he said to the defenders, while other Caroos laughed.

But the next moment with wild cries of terror the Caroos were fleeing.

"Look!" the peon cried. "They have learned the danger of the sacred things of
Maya."

The old priest was looking at the distant mountainside, from which two bright
flashes of light were repeating themselves.

"They are the eyes of Chia," the peon repeated.

***

An hour later the priest led on his mule. The flashings had not been visible any
more. Only from that one spot, did the landscape permit the seeing of them. Then
the way became impassable for their mules, and Ricardo was left behind to keep
charge of the mules and to make a camp.

Suddenly, the old man halted. Francis laughed, and across the wild landscape came
back an echo. He ran the knots hurriedly and then announced: "When the God laughs,
beware!"
Henry and Francis told him it was an echo.

Half an hour later, they came to the sand-dunes. Again the old man stopped. From
the sand in which they walked, arose some noise. When they stood still, all was
still. A single step, and all the sand about them became vocal. "When the God
laughs, beware!" the old Maya said.

Drawing a circle in the sand with his finger, he sank down within it on his knees.
The peon joined his father inside the circle, where the old man was drawing
cabalistic figures.

"It's the barking sand." Henry answered. "Such sands do bark, but they do not
bite."

But the priest did not want to go out of his circle.

"He says," the son interpreted, "that we are doing such sacrilege that the very
sands cry out against us. He will go no nearer to the dread house of Chia. Nor will
I."

"Let us go on," said Leoncia. "We are very close to those flashings. Let the old
man wait within his circle until we come back."

So they walked on an open, level space, close under a cliff. Leoncia took the men's
hands and they ran. Suddenly the disaster happened. Henry and Francis broke through
the ground, sinking to their thighs, and Leoncia was only a second behind them in
sinking.

When they found themselves waist-deep, the two men realized the danger and began to
raise Leoncia up. When she stood free Francis said: "Now we're going to toss you
out of this. At the word 'Go!' let yourself go and keep on going. Don't stand up
until you reach the solid land."

On hands and knees, she gained the solid rocks of the shore and called for the
rope.

Henry managed to fling one end of the rope to Leoncia.

At first she pulled on it. Next, she fastened a turn around a boulder, and let
Henry pull. But it was in vain. Then Leoncia cried out: "Stop pulling! I have an
idea! Give me all the slack!"

The next moment, dragging the rope, she was climbing the cliff up to a tree rooted
in the crevices. Passing the rope across the tree-trunk, she drew in the slack and
made fast to a boulder.

She could find a branch of sufficient strength to serve as a crowbar. Attacking the
boulder from behind she managed to topple it over the brink.

As it fell, the rope tautened and slowly pulled Henry. Only Francis' head, arms,
and tops of shoulders were visible when the rope was flung to him. At last he stood
beside them on the hard soil.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They saw a steady persistence of white light that blazed like the sun. Both men
remarked, from the density of vegetation, there had been no travel of humans that
way in many years.

Thirty feet above, on the face of the cliff, were two huge eyes.

"The eyes of Chia!" Leoncia cried.

"They're composed of oysters," Henry said.

"Where there are eyes there should be a nose and a mouth," Leoncia said.

Henry and Francis had taken away the rubbish and saw a small opening. Francis gazed
and found a cave with a lighting system.

The passage led them forty paces. Then it narrowed, turned to the right, and made a
turn into another chamber. Francis stopped, noticing a long avenue of humans, long
dead, but not dust.

"The Mayas knew embalming and mummi-fying," Henry said.

All were European-clad, and all exposed the faces of Europeans. About them, were
the ages-rotten habiliments of the conquistadores and of the English pirates.

Thirty paces they took, when Henry said: "There's Alvarez Torres."

Under a helmet, in a medieval Spanish dress, stood a mummy with Torres' face.

Half into a niche was thrust a stone the size of the passage to block it.

"I'll bet here's where the old Maya's father died," Francis said.

Henry pointed before him on the floor at a skeleton. "It must be what's left of
him."

A turn gave them access to a well-lighted rock chamber, littered with bones of men.

"From the looks, they began to fight for the treasure before taking it," Francis
said.

"Might there not have been survivors?" suggested Henry.

Francis said: "No. See those gems in those eyes. Rubies. And the men's eyes are
emeralds"

They followed his gaze to the stone statue of a fat woman who stared at them red-
eyed and open-mouthed. The mouth was very large. Beside it was a man's statue, with
one huge ear.

"But they cannot constitute the Maya treasure," Henry stated. "Yet we lack the key
-"

Leoncia found the key-hole in the man's big ear.

"We should bring up Ricardo and the old man and his knots," said Francis.

"You wait with Leoncia, and I'll go back and bring them up," Henry said.

***

On the barking sands the peon and his father knelt in the circle. A rain beat upon
them. The peon saw Torres and a Caroo move across the sand causing no sound. He
told his father about it.

It was the way of the sand to be vocal only when it was dry. The priest fingered
the knots of the sacred writing string. "It says, that when the sand no longer
talks it is safe to go."

They overtook Torres and Mancheno, who watched the priest and his son go by, and
took up their trail well in the rear. While Henry, taking a short cut, missed both
couples of men.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"It was a mistake on my part to remain in Panama," Francis said to Leoncia. "I am a
straight talker, Leoncia. But you baffle in speech. You do not tell me your heart."

"Well, I do love you. And I intend to marry Henry."

"But you can't love me and marry Henry."

"I love you both. But I cannot marry both of you. Therefore I shall marry only one
of you."
Suddenly the old Maya priest and his son emerged close upon them.

Francis entered the cave a second time. The old priest followed behind, while the
peon was left on guard outside. In the avenue of mummies the priest halted and said
those men were robbers.

In the chamber the priest prostrated himself and prayed. Then he studied some
strings and said: "From the mouth of Chia to the ear of Hzatzl. The feet of Chia
rest upon nothingness."

Francis moved the goddess.

"But the next three knots declare: Beware! Beware! Beware!"

A cry from Leoncia drew his gaze to the floor by the feet of Chia. He had been just
about to fall into the hole her feet had concealed. He wanted to shoot there. But
the old man stopped him.

"The message says: who violates the nothingness beneath the feet of Chia shall
die."

Meanwhile the peon went to the scout, when Alvarez Torres and Jose Mancheno arrived
at the cave-opening. The colossal eyes of Chia were too much for the superstitious
Caroo.

"I will wait here and guard," he said to Torres.

Torres entered the Maya cave. And Jose Mancheno ran away. Thus, the peon,
returning, found nobody at the cave mouth and himself entered into it.

Torres trod carefully. He examined the mummy at the end of the line.

Still gazing, he was warned by approaching foot-steps, and decided to hide. Taking
the helmet from the head of his ancient kin, he placed it on his own head. Likewise
did he drape the rotten mantle about his form, and equipped himself with the great
sword and the great boots.

The peon met up with his father, Leoncia, and Francis.

"Put your hand into the mouth of Chia and take the key," the old man said to his
son.

When the peon thrust his hand into the mouth of the goddess, with a scream he
pulled it back and gazed at a tiny drop of blood on his wrist. The snake
disappeared in the mouth of the goddess.

"A viperine!" screamed Leoncia.

And the peon, went backward, stepped into the hole, and vanished down the
nothingness.

The old priest said: "I have angered Chia, and she has killed my son."

Leoncia pointed to a stream of water which boiled up over the hole and fountained
up.

"The ancient Maya priests invented this device. Somewhere down the hole the peon's
body struck the lever that opened stone flood-gates."

The water was about their ankles.

"It's all right," Francis said. "Those old Mayas were engineers, and they built
some drainage. Well, old man, read your knots, where is the treasure?"

"Chia has killed my only son. What care I for treasure? The anger of the gods is
upon me."

They decided it was time to get out.

Thrusting Leoncia to lead in the place of safety, he caught the priest by the hand
and dragged him after. Water was to their waists as they emerged into the chamber
of mummies.

Leoncia saw the mummy move. She screamed and fled the way she had come, while
Francis drew his automatic pistol. But the mummy cried out: "Don't shoot! It is I -
Torres! The way is blocked. The water is higher than the entrance, and rocks are
falling. We must save all our lives."

Dragging the old man by the arm, Francis came to the chamber of the idols, followed
by Torres. Here, at sight of him, Leoncia screamed her horror again.

"It's only Torres," Francis said. "Come, old man! Read the knots and get us out of
this!"

"The way is not "out" but "in"," the priest said.

"But how can we get in?"

"From the mouth of Chia to the ear of Hzatzl," was the answer.

Francis fired several times into the stone mouth, pulled out the wounded viper and
killed it.

He thrust his hand into the mouth and drew forth a key and inserted it.

A wall was rising. All came along the narrow passage, when the old Maya turned
back.

The section of the wall descended into its original place, immediately shutting off
the stream.

***
Outside, there was a small river of water flowing at the base of the cliff. Henry
and Ricardo, arriving, noted the stream, and Henry observed: "That's something new.
There wasn't any stream of water here when I left. And now there is no entrance. I
wonder where the others are."

As if in answer, out of the mountain, borne by the stream, shot the body of the
priest. Henry laid him face downward and proceeded to give him the first aid for
the drowned.

"Where are they?" Henry asked.

"All gone," he answered.

"Who?" Henry demanded.

"My son; Chia killed him, as she killed them all. The rich young Gringo, the enemy
of the rich young Gringo, and the young woman of the Solanos. The tongue of Chia is
a viperine. By her tongue Chia killed my son, and the mountain vomited the ocean
upon us there in the mountain."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Only his son was bitten and fell into that hole," Henry said. "And they may be in
some chamber. If we could attack the slide, we might drain the water off."

"I'll get the men. And you can bring up the mules, peons, and camp equipment."

***

The Caroos refused to help Henry and he rode into San Antonio.

"We will help you," the Jefe said. "But not tomorrow we shall rescue them."
"I snap my fingers at you," Henry retorted. "You have no power over me. I am a
full-pardoned man by the President of Panama himself. And you are pigs."

The Jefe gave a signal, and the gendarmes sprang upon Henry and disarmed him.

The Jefe suggested twenty-four hours in the stocks to cool his heated head.

***

Henry's sleep was restless because of nightmare, and stings of mosquitoes. He

filled the dawn with his curses which attracted the attention of an aviator of the
US Army.

"My swearing last night was only a trifle compared with yours," he said to Henry.

"And who are you?" Henry asked.

"I am Lieutenant Parsons. Here in Panama I am to fly across this day from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. May I serve you before I start?"

"Sure," Henry nodded. "Smash this lock."

He did it. Henry told him possibly tragic disaster and asked for help.

***

Back in the heart of the mountain, the three imprisoned ones found themselves in
total darkness the instant the stone that blocked the exit from the idol chamber
had settled into place.

Francis moved ahead with his left hand in contact with the wall. Torres felt his
way along the right-hand wall. By their voices they could thus keep track of each
other.
Suddenly Francis cried warning. They found a cave with a stairway. Having followed
the path down, they saw a glimmer of daylight. Nearly was the valley.

"It is the Valley of Lost Souls," Torres informed.

"I heard that no person who ever got into it ever got out again," said Leoncia.

In a flash, the whole slope broke away, and all three were sliding and rolling down
the slope.

"A helmet is the only protection against the sun," Torres said. He read the
inscription aloud:"DA VASCO."

"Da Vasco was my direct ancestor. My mother was a Da Vasco."

They ate some berries and fell asleep.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Daybreak in the Valley of the Lost Souls, and the Long House in the village. Out of
the house walked the Priest of the Sun. On his head was a cap of gold.

He struck a great log suspended between two posts. It vibrated like distant
thunder.

After that people gathered. They were Indians, Spanish and the blend of both races.

As the sun showed its edge, the priest greeted it himself making a low bow, while
the tribe prostrated itself. When the full sun shone, all the tribe arose and sang
joyfully. Seeing some smoke in the valley, he sent some young men to kill the
person.
***

Leoncia, Francis, and Torres lay asleep, the latter with the helmet on his head.
Leoncia was the first to awaken, and she watched three strangers staring at Torres.

Leoncia woke Francis. The strangers made the universal peace sign, laying down
their bows.

The three Lost Souls debated in low tones.

"Sounds like a sort of Spanish," Francis observed.

"It's the Spanish of the conquistadores," Torres said. "The Lost Souls never get
away."

Following their guides, they came to the Long House of the tribe.

"Look at that!" Leoncia said, indicating to a stone bust. "It is the face of
Torres."

"And there is an inscription. It says, 'Da Vasco.' It has the same sort of helmet
that Torres is wearing. And the priest looks like Torres' brother," Francis added.

"Strangers remain unkilled," the priest said. "So the Sun God is angry. Speak,
young men."

One man said they could not kill him because of the prophecy about the ancestor's
return.

The priest burnt the sacred cooking fire. But the fire flamed up, and died.

"The sacrifice is unacceptable. We shall not sacrifice the strangers... now."

Inside the Long House clear water and a thick stew of meat and vegetables were
served.

The little girl asked: "Is that man really Capitan Da Vasco, who returned from the
sun?"

Torres said: "I am a Da Vasco."

"It's a good bet - play it!" Francis commanded. "It may pull us all out of a hole."

Then some men entered, bound their hands and led them out to the altar. Here, where
they observed a crucible on a tripod over a fire, they were tied to new posts.

"You must die," the Sun Priest said. "For four hundred years, living in this
valley, we have killed all strangers. You were not killed, and our altar fire went
out."

"Beware!" Torres called. "I am Da Vasco. I have come from the sun."

"Well, priest, speak up and answer the divine Da Vasco," Francis spoke.

"How do I know that he is divine?" the priest asked. "Do I not look much like him
myself? Am I therefore divine? I know that I am a man born of a woman and that I am
not Da Vasco.

"If you are the divine Da Vasco, then answer me one question. Do you love gold?"

"Gold? To me it is like this dirt beneath my feet."

"Pass the ancient test. Drink gold, and say you are Da Vasco, and we will worship
you."

The priest put gold nuggets into the heated crucible. They saw the gold melt into
fluid.
Into a pot he poured the molten gold. Some men advanced on Leoncia to open her
mouth.

"Hold, priest!" Francis shouted. "She is not divine. Try the golden drink on Da
Vasco."

Then he instructed Torres. "Do not drink. Show them the inside of your helmet."

Torres jerked one hand free, pulled off his helmet, and held it to the priest.

Such was the priest's surprise, that the pot fell and spilled the fluid.

He said: "We shall wait for a sign."

The little maid saw the sign.

Above them an aeroplane circled, while from it descended the familiar:

"Back to back against the mainmast,

Held at bay the entire crew."

They saw an object fall, and then expand into a spread parachute.

Suddenly the candle fell burning the faggots. Henry was kicking the blazing faggots
and cut the strings. Leoncia said: "Down on your knees to Torres and pretend you
are his slave."
Henry, Francis and Leoncia knelt at the feet of Torres. Torres pinched Henry's ear.

"You can't step on my ear!" he shouted, at the same time dropping him with his
right hook.

The Sun Priest grasped the situation. But Henry dropped his automatic pistol.

"Let's wake the Lady Who Dreams. Only the wisdom of her dreams will help us."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Convoyed by the spearmen, the party of Leoncia, the two Morgans, and Torres, was
led to a beautiful lake and saw a bungalow. There stood two young men of the tribe.

They moved aside, at a command from the Sun Priest, and let the party pass.

So they came in a large room with a sofa. And there was a beautiful sleeping woman.

Before her, were two tripods of gold - the one containing smouldering fire, the
other, a golden bowl. Near was a great dog.

The Lady moved and awoke. When she stood up, the Sun Priest prostrated himself.

The Lady commanded Leoncia to approach. The two women gazed into each other's eyes.

"You are loved of men. I have seen you before," the Queen said to Leoncia.

"And who are you, stranger?"

"I am Da Vasco," he said. "This is the helmet I wore four hundred years ago when I
led the ancestors of the Lost Souls into this valley."
The Queen smiled and asked: "Then you were born four hundred years ago?"

"I have always been. My home is in the sun."

She took a powder and put it into the tripod, commanding to look.

What Torres saw was a bedroom and a birth in the Bocas del Toro house he had
inherited.

"I have shown you the beginning of you. Look now, and see your ending."

But Torres said, "Let me pass."

"I saw a chamber of the dead and the owner of the ancient helmet. Shall I speak
further?"

"No, no," Torres asked.

She nodded him back. Next, she centred on Francis, whom she nodded forward. She
extended her hand. He kissed it. Henry said in English: "Do it again, Francis! She
likes it!"

"I know your language," the Queen said to Henry. "I like it. It is the first kiss
that I have ever had. Francis, once again kiss my hand."

Francis obeyed. Then she gestured him back to the others, and addressed the Sun
Priest.

"Well, priest, you have brought these captives here for a reason which I already
know."

"O Lady Who Dreams, shall we not kill these intruders?"

"I know that you are all unmarried."

She turned to Leoncia. "Is it well that a woman should have two husbands?"

"It is not well," Leoncia answered.

"It is very strange," the Queen said. "Since there are equal numbers of men and
women in the world, it cannot be fair, for it means that another woman shall have
no husband."

Another pinch of dust she tossed into the great bowl of gold.

She invited them all up to the bowl. "We may all see different things," she said.

To Leoncia was it given to see an ocean separate her and Francis. To Henry was it
given to see the Queen and Francis married. Francis saw the face of Leoncia,
immobile as death. Torres refused to see anything. The Sun Priest saw his secret
sin and the face of his daughter.

"And now, Priest of the Sun, to judgment. You know more of the ancient rule than do
I. You know that the tribe has always maintained a Queen of Mystery, a Lady of
Dreams. The time has come when we must consider the future generations. Unmarried
strangers have come. This must be the wedding day set. Time and place are met. The
judgment is that I shall marry the stranger destined to me. If no one of these will
marry, then they shall die. One of these men was destined to marry me. So, take the
captives away, and let them decide which is the man."

They were already moving away out of the room, when a cry from the Queen stopped
them.

"Francis, I've seen something about you. Gaze with me upon the Mirror of the
World."

Francis saw himself and the Queen in his house, being curious at sight of the
stock-ticker.
CHAPTER NINETEEN

"Somebody's got to marry that crazy woman," Leoncia spoke up. "Now, Senor Torres,
is your chance to save all our lives and your own."

"I would not marry her for ten million gold. She is too wise. I am a brave man. But
before her I am not brave. Henry and Francis are braver than I. Let one of them
marry her."

"But I am engaged to marry Leoncia," Henry said.

And their eyes centered on Francis, but Leoncia broke in.

"The only way to settle it is drawing lots." She pulled three straws from the mat
and broke one off very short. "The man with the short straw is the victim."

Torres and Francis drew long straws. To Henry there was no choice. All tragedy was
in his face as he looked at Leoncia, and she felt pity. Seeing her pity, Francis
cried: "I'll marry her."

A little girl entered the room. Torres saw the string of rubies about her neck.

"The Lady Who Dreams just gave them to me," the maid said.

"Has she any more?" Torres asked.

"Just now did she show me a great chest of them."

"Listen," he said to Henry and Francis. "I speak better Spanish than you. I know
the Spanish woman character better. So I'll try to talk her out of this marriage."
***

The Queen invited Torres, gave him some drink and asked: "What is it you have to
tell me?"

"I am the one selected," he replied.

"I saw not your face in the Mirror of the World. There is... some mistake, eh?"

"A mistake," he agreed. "The magic in the drink made my heart speak, I want you so
much."

"A second mistake perhaps will now result, eh?" she teased, when he had had the
drink.

"No, Queen," he replied. "My true heart I can master. Francis Morgan is selected."

"It is true," she said. "His was the face I saw."

"He has sent me to examine your dowry. He is one of the richest men in his
country."

The Queen invited him to her sleeping chamber. Lifting the lid of a heavy chest,
she motioned him to look in. He saw that the chest was filled with a lot of gems.

Torres thrust in his arms to the shoulders.

"They are beyond the value of courage, love, and honor?"

"They are beyond all things."

"Can a woman's or a man's true love be bought by them?"

"They can buy all the world."

"Will they buy me the heart of your good friend Francis?"

Torres nodded.

"Come," she commanded. "I will show you how I value them."

She led him out on a platform, one side being the cliff. Near it the water formed a
whirlpool.

The Queen tossed the handful of gems into the heart of the whirlpool.

"More than one man has gone there. None has ever returned. I'll await Francis'
coming."

Torres entered the sleeping chamber, went to the chest, and put a handful into his
pocket. When he could take a second handful, the laughter of the Queen was at his
back.

He sprang toward her, and pursuing her out upon the platform only prevented from
seizing her by the dagger she threatened him with.

"Thief," she said quietly. "And the way of all thieves in this valley is death."

Torres cried, sank down, and buried his face in his hands. The Queen looked
sidewise, which was his moment. He rose in the air upon her, clutching her wrists
and taking the dagger from her.

"Either you shall die into the whirl of water, or marry me this day."

Yet she made a hiss. The great white hound came through the doorway. Torres stepped
to the side. But his foot failed, and the weight of his body fell down into the
water.

The Queen saw him disappear, the hound after him, into the heart of the whirlpool.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The Lady Who Dreams raised the lid of the jewel chest. To the woman she gave a
command, and returned to the platform, from where she could look into the room
unobserved.

Francis came, gathered up a handful of gems, dropped them back, and went to the
couch.

Entering the room, she laughed: "Was Senor Torres a liar?"

"Was?" Francis asked.

"He is gone. But he said that he was the one selected to marry me."

"A liar," Francis commented dryly.

"He told me that you desired to know what wealth was mine. This I know was a lie."

***

"I do not know the past, except what I have been told of it. The present I see
clearly in my Mirror of the World. The future I can see, but vaguely. I was born
here. Always into the life of each queen came a lover. My mother's mother left the
valley to find her lover. So did my mother."

A woman entered and spoke. The Queen told him: "We are to depart to the Long House
for our wedding. The Priest of the Sun is trying to turn the people against our
wedding."
***

"It's not late, Francis, to change your mind," Henry said when they were before the
altar.

"She wouldn't marry you, Henry, if you asked her. Just propose to her, and you will
see."

Henry had gone to the Queen and began to speak.

The Queen laughed and joined Leoncia and Francis, the priest and Henry going after
her.

"Henry has asked me to marry him, which makes the fourth this day," she said to
Leoncia. "Francis, Henry, Torres, and the Priest of the Sun."

She directed her own private spearmen behind the priest to include him.

"Proceed, priest," the Queen commanded. "Else will my men kill you now."

He placed the Queen and Francis facing him, while he stood above on the platform.

"In the name of the Sun God I refuse to perform the wedding ceremony."

"Then you shall die here and now," the Queen hissed at him, nodding her spearmen.

He gave in. With a gesture he made the Queen and Francis fully bow.

He broke a corn-cake in two, handing a half to each. The priest presented to the
Queen a tiny dagger and a tiny golden cup. She spoke to Francis, who rolled up his
sleeve and presented to her his bared left forearm. She paused, thought, and
touched the dagger point carefully to her tongue.
She threw the dagger away, shaking. It was poisoned. She drew another dagger and
broke Francis' skin with the point of it and caught in the cup the several red
blood-drops. Francis repeated the same for her and on her, then the priest took the
cup and offered the mixed blood upon the altar.

The priest made solemn pronouncement that the two were man and wife.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Torres' head emerged above the surface and he refreshed his lungs with air. Then he
saw the hound. Climbing onto the bank, he fled along a narrow ledge. The dog
overtook him.

The hound extended its paw in greeting and Torres shook it, sitting in relief.

Then he saw the underground river and there was an opening to one side, through
which streamed daylight. But across it a monstrous spider web was stretched.

Between the great web he saw some space for him to crawl; but, when he attempted
it, the dog crawled out. Such was the panic haste of its return that it collided
with him and both fell. But the man clung to the rocks, while the dog fell into the
water and was carried under the rock.

He crawled up between the web-strings, saw what the hound had seen, and coming back
he, too, fell into the water, and was drawn into darkness.

***

The wedding party was seating itself for the wedding breakfast, when an arrow
flashed between the Queen and Francis. Henry and Francis looked through the window.
Seeing, that on the shore all the male Lost Souls were arching the air from their
bows, they began shooting.

The siege of the house was brief. By no method could they put out the blazing
thatch of the roof ignited by the fire-arrows.

"There is one way to escape," the Queen said and pointed to the whirlpool.

The Queen led Francis into her sleeping room. She kicked aside the floor matting
and lifted a trap door. At her indication, Francis dragged over the chest and
dropped it through.

They came back to the platform.

"Hold me in your arms, husband of mine, and lift me and leap with me," she
commanded.

And so they leapt. Henry caught Leoncia to him, and sprang after into the whirl of
waters.

***

The four people were brought onward by the underground river to the daylight
opening where the great spider-web guarded the way. At the ledge, all four drew out
of the water and rested.

Henry decided to explore a bit, and invited the Queen with him.

"Who asked you to marry her?" Leoncia said to Francis after Henry and the Queen
left.

"I did it for your sake and my sake - or for Henry's sake, rather. I have a man's
honor!"

"Man's honour does not always satisfy woman," she replied.

"Would you prefer me dishonorable?" he asked.

"I am only a woman who loves," she pleaded.

Calls from Henry and the Queen finished the conversation, for Leoncia and Francis
joined the others in gazing at the great web.

"It is good that we do not have to go that way," the Queen said, pointing down to
the stream. "In my Mirror of the World, I have seen the way. One of my spearmen
dared to look at me as a lover. He was flung in alive. When he came to this place
he climbed out, and threw himself into the stream. Then he swam to the shore,
climbed the bank and disappeared among large trees."

Francis decided to investigate, drew his automatic, and crawled under the web. He
shot, retreated and, falling upon him, a monstrous spider, was still moving.

"It is the only way," said the Queen, and they leapt.

***

On the bank of the Gualaca River sat two Indian girls fishing. No bites jerked
their rods.

"We have been very quiet, Concordia," the girl called Nicoya observed to her
companion, "and it has won us no fish. Now shall I make a noise."

She dropped banana peels into the water and there arose up a great white hound.
They watched the hound climb the bank, and disappear among the trees.

Concordia tossed in a clod of earth. And then a helmeted head arose and disappear
into the forest.

Some time later two young Indian men appeared in a canoe.

"We have been seeing things," Nicoya said.

"Then have you been drinking pulque," the young man said.

Concordia said: "We don't have to drink to see things. First, we saw a dog, then a
man with iron head came up out of the water. Throw in your bottle and you will see
something."

The bottle fell, when up to the surface floated the monstrous body of the dead
spider.

The girls both fell onto the earth. And up arose a man and a woman. The girls hid
in the bushes, and they watched Francis swim with the Queen to the shore.

Together they threw in clods, and up rose another man and woman. Henry and Leoncia
swam ashore, and passed on out of sight among the trees.

They came back to their village, being sure of having been blessed by the gods.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Torres reached San Antonio. He brought the helmet of Da Vasco as he wanted to show
it to the Jefe and the Judge in evidence of the narrative.

First he met the Jefe, and said: "I am possibly the richest man in Panama. I have
braved all dangers and penetrated to the treasure. I shall make you rich along with
me."

Torres went to his house. A boy handed him an envelope sent by Regan, who ordered
to keep Francis away from New York for three weeks more to get fifty thousand.

Entering the jewelry store of Rodriguez Fernandez, he was noticed by the old Maya
priest.

"Lend me money," the priest asked. "Help me to rescue my son. The treasure is
yours."
"I have no money for myself. Besides, it was you who led your son to the Maya
mountain."

Torres pushed him aside.

The jeweler greeted him. Torres selected the smallest gem, and passed it over to
the jeweler.

"It is not perfect. Much of it will be lost in the cutting. I would give five
hundred dollars."

***

Descending the Gualaca River by canoe, Leoncia, the Queen, and the two Morgans
reached the coast. But before this, a matter of moment had occurred at the Solano
hacienda. Going to the hacienda, accompanied by an old woman, came a Chinaman, by
name Yi Poon.

He sent a message, writing: "Big business. The Senorita Solano. I have great
secret."

Alesandro almost pulled the Chinaman into the house, and rushed him up to Enrico.

"He has news of Leoncia!" Alesandro shouted.

"Where is she?" Enrico asked.

"This Senorita Leoncia," he said. "She is not your girl. She has other papa and
mama."

"Yes," Enrico nodded. "I adopted her when she was a baby. But where is she now?"

"You give me five hundred pesos and travel expenses and I tell you her real name."
Enrico was just ordering the money, when the quiet maid ran into the room and wept
of joy.

"The Senorita!" she said and indicated the road with a nod of head.

Yi Poon and his secret were forgotten. Enrico and his sons went out to see Leoncia.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Torres rode to the home of the Solanos, with the great white hound running with
him.

In the living room there were the returned adventurers and all the Solanos. The
Queen blamed Torres for his theft of her jewels, when they saw him in the window.

"Let us have some fun," said Leoncia. "Let the four of us disappear. And you will
sit around desolated over the loss of me. Torres will enter and inform the
information."

Leading the Queen, she commanded Francis and Henry to follow to the hiding place.

Torres entered upon a scene of sorrow.

"Your beautiful daughter and the two Gringo Morgans are dead. They died in the Maya
Mountain. After incredible dangers I won my way out through the heart of the
mountain, gazed down into the Valley of Lost Souls, and returned into the mountain
to find them dying -"

"Had my daughter no word for me, dying?" Enrico interrupted to sob.

"Yes," Torres sobbed back. "She died with your name on her lips."
Suddenly he saw Henry and Leoncia come to the room and talk, without noticing
Torres.

"I have lied to you," Torres said. "I was sure they were dead. Also, I thought it
better for you to believe Francis dead than know him for the Gringo dog he is."

"In the Valley there is a woman who pretends to read the future," Torres continued.
"In physical beauty she is beautiful. She has sent Henry and Leoncia out of the
Valley by some secret way, while Francis has remained with her in sin. That Francis
wanted not her but her treasure."

Then he saw Francis and the Queen walk down the room. The Queen caressed the hound;
while Torres vainly tried to make some fresh lie to escape from the impossible
situation.

Enrico Solano was the first to laugh. All his sons joined him.

"And now," said Francis, "I will throw him out."

"First," the Queen said, "let him return to me the dagger and the gems he stole
from me."

Torres laid the jewels on the table.

Francis and Henry took Torres by collar and trousers and started in a rush for the
door.

Afterward, the Queen gave the gems to Leoncia as a wedding present.

***

Yi Poon told Torres he had a secret about Leoncia, which could stop her marriage.
He wanted six hundred dollars gold.
"I'll pay you," Torres said. "You tell me first, then, if no lie, I'll pay you."

Yi Poon led him to the woman on the beach.

"This old woman," he explained, "will soon die. Priest said her to tell secret. So
she no lie. She is a baby nurse. One time she take job with English family. Then
she get very mad and steal their girl. That little baby girl Senor Solano adopted.
That family's name 'Morgan.' That Gringo Morgan is the Senorita Leoncia's brother.
You pay me now six hundred gold."

"You will learn better some day the business of selling secrets," Torres said. "A
secret told is a whisper in the air. It is a ghost. You can never claim back a
secret when you have told it."

"I have told you no secret", said Yi Poon. "When I sell secrets I do not sell
ghosts. My proofs are what I sell. You will pay me six hundred gold for the
proofs."

In the end Torres paid him after examining the documents, the old letters, the baby
locket and the baby things. He paid an additional hundred gold to execute a
commission for him.

***

Francis read a telegram:

Important your immediate return. Situation is serious. Bascom.

In the living room the two Morgans found Enrico and his sons opening wine.

"Tomorrow shall be the wedding," said Enrico.

Francis brought his telegram and assured them that his fortune was at stake.
Leoncia followed him to the library. He caught her in his arms and they kissed.

"This must stop, Francis!" she cried, tearing herself from him. "You cannot remain
here for my wedding. There is a steamer from San Antonio to Colon. You must sail on
it. You can catch passage on the fruit boats to New Orleans and take train to New
York. I love you! - you know it."

"That heathen marriage was no marriage," Francis said. "It is not too late -"

"Marriage or no," she replied, "you must go. I shall not be able to withstand the
presence of you. I do love Henry, but not in that way I love you."

She pressed his hand against her heart and his arms were around her. She tore
herself away.

***

Next morning, with Francis and the Queen departed on their way to Colon, Yi Poon
arrived at the Solano hacienda to sell his secret the second time. To Enrico's
amazement, he saw Leoncia suddenly cast down a document, and Henry step back and
exclaim: "Never can we marry!"

"What" Enrico cried. "What do you mean, sir? Marry you shall, and marry today!"

"It is against God's law and man's," Leoncia said, "We are full brother and
sister."

And Yi Poon knew that he could take report to Torres that the marriage would not
take place.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

In New York the Queen accepted such civilization as an offering from her royal
husband. Royal he was, served by many slaves. Francis touched his hand to nothing,
save to her arm.
In the mansion she peeped in some room. It was the library, which she had seen in
the Mirror of the World. The telephones, and the stock-ticker, too, she remembered.

Francis began his explanation of the instrument but realized the impossibility of
doing it. Then he saw that Frisco Consolidated was down twenty points. He came to
the telephone, "This is Morgan. When Mr Bascom arrives, tell him I am on the way.
Thank you."

Francis told her he must depart for Wall Street. It was business.

"Is business your god whom all of you worship?"

He smiled, saying: "It is the great and terrible god, and when it kills it kills
swiftly."

"And you have caused its displeasure?" she asked.

"Yes, though I know not how. I must go to Wall Street -"

"Which is its altar?" she broke in to ask.

"Which is its altar," he answered.

When Francis took his hat and kissed her, she wished him luck before the altar.

After several hours of amazing adventures in the house, she came to investigate the
library.

The Queen explored the telephone. Then she took the receiver and placed it to her
ear. A woman's voice sounded so near to her that she dropped the receiver. Parker
entered the room. So perfect was his dress, so dignified his carriage, that she
mistook him for a friend of Francis.
She pointed to the telephone. He said "A mistake," into the transmitter, and hung
up.

"Where is that woman? I shall have no other woman but myself in my house."

"There is no woman in this house, madam, except servant women," he said. "That
voice is the voice of a woman miles away who is anybody's servant who desires to
talk over the telephone."

"She is the slave of the flying speech?"

"Yes," Parker admitted. "If you wish, the slave will enable you to talk with your
husband. First you will speak to the slave. The moment you take this down and put
it to your ear, the slave will respond. When she has said 'Number,' say 'Eddystone
1292,' Next, another slave will say, 'This is Eddystone 1292,' and you will say, 'I
am Mrs Morgan. I wish to speak with Mr Morgan, who is in Mr Bascom's office.' And
then you wait, and then Mr Morgan will talk to you."

She did it. The two different slaves obeyed the magic of the number she gave them,
and Francis talked with her, and promised to be home not later than five that
afternoon.

***

"What secret enemy have you?" Bascom demanded. "This raid might start a break."

"There's Tampico Petroleum, which can cover everything," Francis suggested.

"If we involved Tampico Petroleum, and anything serious should break down, you'd be
finished. I need a million to-day. At least twenty million more in the next three
weeks."

***

At the entrance of the library the Queen paused, hearing the voice of another man.
The familiarity of their conversation showed that they were close friends.
"And don't tell me, Francis," the other was saying, "that you've travelled through
Panama all this while without losing your heart to the senoritas a dozen times."

"Only once," Francis replied. "I found the most wonderful woman in the world."

"And did the lady reciprocate?" Johnny asked.

"She loves me as I love her." He stood up suddenly. "Wait. I will show her to you."

The Queen hid in the doorway. In a few moments he returned with a photograph.

"But why be so sad about it?" Johnny asked.

"Because we met too late. I was compelled to marry another. And I left her forever
before she was to marry another. And my wife will ever have my devotion, but not my
heart."

The truth came to the Queen. In her room his ring was torn from her finger and she
fell upon her bed. In some time she took her dagger, and came to him. There was the
photograph of Leoncia. She debated between him and Leoncia. Seeing a pad and a
pencil she scribbled two words, tore off the sheet, and placed it upon the face of
Leoncia. Next, she pinned the note between Leoncia's eyes.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

After visiting the old judge, the Jefe was saying to Torres:

"Needing the protection of the law for our adventure after these gems and loving
our friend the judge, we will let him in for a modest share of whatever we shall
gain."

Behind the stairs Yi Poon sat. That morning the person of promise was an old peon.
Inside remained only the Jefe, Torres, and the judge. And Yi Poon waited. The old
peon made a step and Torres left his companions. The peon asked money. But Torres
refused.

"I shall never forget that my old eyes saw you stab the Senor Alfaro Solano in the
back."

"You will wait two weeks for the proper time when I shall again give you money."

Torres was gone. Yi Poon came to the peon.

"We will sit here and tell each other what we know about the rage in the heart and
the steel cold in the back; and if you tell me what pleases me, then you shall
drink pulque."

***

The night, when the Jefe Politico and Torres organized their expedition, was
destined to be an important one in the Solano hacienda. The family sat on the
veranda. They saw a figure approach.

"What do you want, Chinaman?" Alesandro demanded.

"One time you have very fine brother, the Senor Alfaro Solano, die with knife in
his back. I got witness. He see man stick knife in his back. One thousand dollars
his name," said Yi Poon.

"Where is your witness?" he shouted.

And Yi Poon called the peon.

***

At the same time, on the edge of town, twenty mounted men gathered more than twenty
mules and waited the command of the Jefe to depart into the Cordilleras. Apart from
all other animals was a big mule loaded with two hundred and fifty pounds of
dynamite. The delay was due to the Senor Torres, who had ridden away along the
beach with the Caroo murderer, Jose Mancheno.

And, while Torres waited on the beach, the Caroo went to the hacienda of the
Solanos. Little did Torres guess that twenty feet away lay a sleeping drunken old
peon and a very sober Chinese.

All members of the hacienda were going to bed. Leoncia heard the rattle of pebbles
against her windows. Jose Mancheno handed her a note, saying it was from a
Chinaman.

She read: "First time, I tell you secret about Henry. This time I have secret about
Francis."

Leoncia's heart leaped at mention of Francis, and she accompanied the Caroo.

Yi Poon saw the Caroo appear with the Solano senorita, bound and gagged, thrown
across his shoulder. Then Yi Poon saw Leoncia tied into the saddle of the spare
horse and taken away. Leaving the peon, the Chinaman arrived at the hacienda. He
beat upon the door with his fists.

"I have big new secret," Yi Poon informed. "I don't sell secret. I make you
present. The Senorita, your sister, she is stolen. She is tied upon a horse that
runs fast down the beach."

Alesandro laughed his unbelief. Yi Poon put the thousand dollars in his hand,
saying:

"If the Senorita is in this house now, keep that money. If not, then you give money
back..."

And Alesandro was convinced. A minute later he was rousing the house. Five minutes
later the horse-peons were saddling horses, while the Solano tribe was equipping
itself with weapons.

***
Up and down the coast the Solanos scattered, looking for the trail of the
abductors. Thirty hours afterward, Henry found them eating breakfast. Henry stole
the dynamite-loaded mule.

He filled his pockets with sticks of dynamite, sowing the retreat with dynamite.

***

Henry signaled his presence to Leoncia; and another two hours were wasted when she
found her opportunity to steal away to him. Her escape had been soon discovered.
They hid in the rock.

When the men appeared, Henry pulled trigger, the distance rose up in a cloud of
smoke and earth dust. So animals and men were overthrown, and all of them shocked
by the explosion.

Henry and Leoncia ran to the second planting, and later to the third one.

After that he raced Leoncia to his horse, put her in the saddle, and ran on beside
her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When Parker softly entered he found his master still asleep and noticed the strange
dagger. Then he opened the door to Mrs Morgan's room. Next, he shook Francis by the
shoulder.

"I think something has happened to Mrs Morgan. She is not in her room."

Francis looked at the dagger, and, drawing it out, read the note.

"Adios forever," said the note.

What shocked him even more, was the dagger thrust between Leoncia's eyes. The
explanation was obvious, as the Queen had betrayed jealousy against Leoncia from
the first.

"Call up the detective Birchman," Francis said.

In the quest after his wife, Francis entered upon a series of adventures. He grew
accustomed to being dragged from dinner, or of being routed out of his bed, to
respond to hurry calls to come and look over new-found missing ladies. Francis
visited countless hospitals and even the Morgue.

And through it all, the Wall Street battle went on against the undiscoverable
enemy.

"I look to Tampico Petroleum to save me," Francis said to Bascom.

"And if your foe is powerful enough to swallow down that final asset?" Bascom
asked.

"Then I shall be broke. But my father went broke half a dozen times before he won
out."

Meanwhile Henry and Enrico's sons worried about the treasure, into which Torres was
even then dynamiting his way. Henry invited Leoncia with them. But she refused.

Leoncia descended the hill, thinking about Francis. So deep was she in such fond
recollections that she did not see the carriage drive up the beach road. Nor did
she see a lady dismiss the carriage and go to her. This lady was none other than
the Queen.

Standing behind Leoncia, she saw Leoncia gaze long at a tiny photograph of Francis,
and her mad jealousy raged anew. A poniard flashed to her hand. The quickness of
this movement was sufficient to warn Leoncia, who put her parasol forward to look
up at the person at her back.

"You are unfaithful to your husband."

"I have no husband. Henry Morgan is my brother."

"You have taken Francis from me," the Queen cried. "In my arms he thinks of you."

The Queen dropped her knife and sank down. Leoncia comforted her.

"I left Francis the moment I knew he loved you," the Queen said. "I returned here
to kill you. But it is not your or his fault. I have failed to win his love. Not
you, but I it is who must die. But first, I must recover my treasure and help
Francis. His fortune may be taken away from him."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The Valley of the Lost Souls was invaded from opposite directions by two parties of
treasure-seekers. From one side, came the Queen, Leoncia, Henry, and the Solanos.
Slowly, did Torres and the Jefe progress. When they had finally made a way, it had
proved to be above the cave floor, so that more blasting had been required to drain
off the water. Having blasted their way in to the mummies and to the Idols, they
had to blast their way out again. Torres took the gem eyes.

The Queen and her party penetrated to the Valley through the mountain on the
opposite side. The Queen, gazing into her Mirror, knew every inch of the way.

"It is a short distance through the last passage. Then we will come to a small
opening in the cliff and look down upon the spot where my house once stood," the
Queen said.

But there was no mouth to the passage. It was blocked off by rocks.

"It's just a slide of rock," Henry said, "and it won't take us long to set it
right."

But it did take long. Large charges of explosive were not used because of Henry's
fear of exciting a greater slide. The dynamite was used for the purpose of
loosening up the stones so that they could shift it back along the passage.
***

The entire population knew of the coming of visitors. So horrible had been their
experiences with their last ones that they begged the Sun to send no more visitors.
They decided to kill any.

The little girl of ten was the first to see the visitors, crying: "Da Vasco!"

All saw Torres, the Jefe, and their followers. Their greeting took the form of a
flight of arrows. The rifles of Torres' men began to speak. So unexpected was this
charge that a number reached the invaders. Gendarmes and others were thrust through
by spears.

The Lost Souls were won thanks to the revolvers. The Jefe had a wounded arm. Torres
was uninjured. He and the Jefe led the way to the lake, and came to the ruins of
the Queen's dwelling. Only stumps of piles above the water showed where it had once
stood.

The Jefe sent his men to investigate in the water. The chest was dragged out. Not
until all the men were in the water, did Torres raise the lid.

While the two men stood and stared, their followers crept out of the water and also
stared. The Lost Souls were creeping from the rear, all were staring at the
treasure when the attack was sprung.

Two-thirds of the treasure-seekers died at once. The end for Torres and the Jefe
was a matter of moments, when a loud roar from the mountain followed by a crashing
avalanche of rock, made a change. The few Lost Souls ran into the bushes. The Jefe
and Torres saw Henry and the Queen.

"You take the lady," the Jefe said. "I shall get the Gringo Morgan."

Both fired. Torres sent his bullet into the Queen's breast. But the Jefe made a
clean miss of his target. The next instant, a bullet from Henry's rifle struck his
wrist.

The Jefe and Torres fled for the shrubbery.

***

Ten minutes later, Torres saw a woman of the Lost Souls spring out and brain the
Jefe with a huge stone. Torres shot her. He remembered the vision of his end and
wondered if this end was near upon him. Yet it had not resembled this place of
trees. He remembered nothing of vegetation - only solid rock, blazing sun and bones
of animals. He planned to find a safe hiding place until after dark. Then he would
come back to the whirl of waters. He had but to leap in.

And just then he dived. It was a dive down a slope of rock.

For a while, at the bottom, he lay breathless. Then, opening his eyes, he saw teeth
in a white jaw-bone; but they were pig's teeth. Other bones proved to be the bones
of smaller animals.

He remembered the Queen's golden bowl. The very place! He knew it at first sight.
Fully two hundred feet above him was the rim of the funnel with steep sides of
hard, smooth rock.

Before nightfall he made sure, by a dozen attempts, that the funnel was unscalable.
Between attempts, he crouched in the shadow. The place was a very furnace, and the
juices of his body came from him in perspiration. And he knew that no man could
survive a full ten hours of the baking heat.

Later he achieved a new theory of escape. Since he could not climb up, then the
only possible remaining way was down. He dug down through the mass of bones. Of
course, there was a way out. Else how did the funnel drain? Otherwise it would have
been full of water from the rains.

Then Torres made a discovery. He came upon an inscription and read: Peter McGill,
of Glasgow. On March 12, 1820, I escaped from the Pit of Hell by this passage.

He found the hole, and moved into it. He crawled on along the passage. At the end
of it he caught the light. But the nearer he approached, the slower he progressed.
He needed water.

The passage was contracting. It was too narrow for his body. He thrusted his head
through it and saw the freedom of the world that the rock denied to the rest of his
body.

Most maddening of all was a running stream some yards away. Torres found a skeleton
and a rusty knife. This was the knife that had scratched the inscription, and this
skeleton was the framework of the man who had done the scratching. And Torres went
mad, attacking the skeleton.

Again Torres squeezed his head through the slit to gaze at the fading glory of the
world. He saw the bright world dim to darkness as his final consciousness drowned
in the darkness of death.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Not for nothing had Regan been named The Wolf of Wall Street! At least five times
in his long career had he knocked the bottom out of the market, and each time he
gained millions.

Thus had it been working up for Francis Morgan. It was revenge against a dead man.
Francis' father was the one he struck against, although he struck through the
living man. Eight years he had waited when old R.H.M. was the Wolf of Wall Street,
but never by any luck had he found an opportunity against the Lion - for to his
death R.H.M. had been known as the Lion of Wall Street.

Regan had taken his time. At first Francis let his money remain in the safe
investments put by his father. When Francis had become active, had Regan had a
chance to destroy him. Regan's campaign had required many months to develop. He
knew every share of whatever Francis owned.

It had taken two years for Regan to prepare. In some of the corporations in which
Francis owned heavily, Regan was himself a director, a president or a vice-
president. In Northwestern Electric he controlled the two-thirds majority. And so
was with all the rest.

But Tampico Petroleum was practically Francis' private preserve.

Regan decided to strike, waiting for the moment of desperation when Francis would
be forced to dump it on the market.
***

"Lord! The market's gone to smash and Tampico Pet along with it. That won't last
longer than twelve tomorrow morning - then you'll be sold out," Bascom said.

"You know I've mortgaged the house, Dreamwold, and the Adirondack Camp to the
limit."

"What about your friend Charley Tippery?" Bascom suggested.

"Yes," Francis agreed. "There's only one thing the matter with him - his father
still lives."

***

Francis came to Charley Tippery. The Tippery jewelery establishment was the
greatest.

"Father wouldn't lend a penny on the North Pole unless he got the Pole for security
after appraising. And you haven't any security. I'll ask him and I'll be at your
house at nine tomorrow."

***

Bascom told Francis that Regan had called up and wanted to see him.

"He was an old friend of father's, and if anybody could pull me through, he could."

"Don't be too sure," Bascom answered. "I called him up before your returning. I
told him of your horrible situation here, and asked if I could rely on him. He
struck me being cold-blooded."

"Nonsense," Francis laughed. "He was too good a friend of my father's."

"Ever heard of the Conmopolitan Railways Merger?" Bascom asked. "Too long a story,
but take my advice. If you see Regan, don't put your cards on the table. Let him
play first."

Meeting Regan, Francis controlled his natural impulses. He even bluffed.

"In pretty deep, eh?" was Regan's beginning.

"I can still breathe," Francis replied.

Regan ran over the last few yards of the ticker tape.

"You're dumping Tampico Pet pretty heavily."

"And they're snapping it up," Francis came back, and for the first time he
considered the possibility of Bascom's intuition being right.

"Tampico Pet is falling at the same time it's being snapped up," Regan said.

"Somebody will pay something to get my dumpings out of their system."

"I've been watching your fight, even before your return. Tampico Pet is your last."

"I've got assets my market enemies never aream of. If you'll take my tip, in this
short market you start buying. You'll be sure to settle with the sellers long in
the end."

"It's a bluff!" Regan said. "You've got to show me it isn't bluff."

Regan waited, and Francis was suddenly inspired.

"It is," he muttered. "I'm drowning over my back-teeth now. But I won't drown if
you help me. All you've got to do is to remember my father and put out your hand to
save his son."

The Wolf of Wall Street showed his teeth. He pointed to Richard Henry Morgan's
picture.

"I kept it not to forget him," Regan said. "He double-crossed me in the
Conmopolitan Railways Merger. But he was too cunning to let me get a come-back on
him. So I've waited."

"You mean?" Francis asked quietly.

"Just that," Regan said. "I've waited and worked for this day, and the day has
come."

Francis rose to his feet and regarded his enemy curiously.

"I could kill you with my hands. You're no Wolf, but a yellow dog. They told me to
expect this of you; but I didn't believe. They were right. Well, I must get along
out of this. It stinks."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Regan asked.

"If you'll permit me to get my broker on your 'phone maybe you'll learn," Francis
replied.

"Go to it," Regan agreed.

"You were right," Francis assured Bascom. "Regan's all you said. Go right on with
your plan of campaign. He's the one who made the raid from the beginning."

"You see," he said hanging up," You were so crafty that we couldn't make out who it
was. Tomorrow, around this time, you're going to be the financial corpse when we
get done with you."
***

"This time tomorrow I'll be a perfectly nice scalped specimen for Regan's private
collection.

If Charley Tippery could only come through with some of the Tippery surplus
coin..."

"Or if the United States would declare a moratorium," Bascom hoped equally
hopelessly.

And Regan, at that moment, was saying to his agents to sell everything.

The United States declared its moratorium. Wakened out of his bed at seven by
Bascom in person, Francis had accompanied him down town. The moratorium had given
them hope, and there was much to do. Charles Tippery, however, was not the first to
arrive at the Riverside Drive palace. A few minutes before eight, Parker was very
much disturbed when Henry and Leoncia appeared.

Henry told he had a very important business to Francis and asked his telephone
number. But Parker shook his head. Then Henry went into the library, telling he had
millions to save Francis.

Parker was alarmed at the last words and decided to call to police.

In response at the front door, a servant admitted Charley Tippery and led him into
the library.

"Good morning," he addressed Henry. "Friends of Francis?"

"Oh, sir," Leoncia cried out. "We are more than friends. We are here to save him."

"I am Charley Tippery," he said.

"My name's Henry Morgan. And this is Miss Solano. She is my sister."

"I came on the same errand," Charley Tippery announced. "I have brought with me
eighteen hundred thousand - what have you brought?"

Henry pointed to the suit-case, unaware that he talked to a three-generations' gem

expert.

A quick examination of a dozen of the gems put wonder into Charley Tippery's face.

"They're worth millions!" he exclaimed. "Close up the suit-case, while I telephone!

- I want to catch my father before he leaves the house," he explained.

When he returned, Parker, a police lieutenant and two policemen came to arrest the
strangers.

"You'll arrest nobody, Lieutenant Burns," Charley Tippery smiled to him. "You'll
have to be bodyguard for this suit-case. There are millions in it. And now, come on
everybody."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The market had ceased sagging, and some stocks were even beginning to recover.

"Now's the time," Regan informed his conspirators. "Remember the list I gave you.
Sell these. As for all the rest, buy. By doing this you'll make a double killing."

***

"There you are!" Bascom, in despair in his private office, cried to Francis at ten-
thirty. "Here's the whole market rising, except your lines. We're finished."

Never had Francis been cooler. Since all was lost, why worry? - was his attitude.
"Take it easy," Francis counseled."That means that we're busted."

"I'm busted higher than a kite now, and they can't bust me any higher."

"You get the idea!" Francis cried. "Sell or buy. Anything from zero leaves zero."

Bascom, taking down the receiver, was about to transmit the orders to stop the
battle, when the door opened and they heard a pirate song that made Francis stop
his broker's arm.

As Henry came in, carrying a huge suit-case, Francis joined with him in the song.

From his pocket Charley Tippery drew and passed over three certified checks that
totaled eighteen hundred thousand dollars. Bascom shook his head sadly.

"Too late," he said. "That's only a drop in the bucket."

Charley Tippery took the suit-case and opened it. "Maybe that will help."

"That" consisted of a great mass of orderly bundles of gold bonds and gilt-edge
securities.

"How much is it?" Bascom asked.

But Francis stopped singing to gasp. And both he and Bascom gasped again when Henry
drew from his inside pocket a bundle of a dozen certified checks. They could only
stare at the huge sum, for each was written for a million dollars.

"And plenty more where that came from," Henry announced. "Now suppose you get
busy."

"You found old Sir Henry's treasure after all," Francis stated.
"No," Henry shook his head. "That represents a third of the old Maya treasure.
We've got another third down with Enrico Solano, and the last third's in the
Jewelers and Traders' National Bank. Say, I've got news for you when you're ready
to listen."

Bascom was already giving his orders to his staff over the telephone.

"Torres and the Jefe are dead," Henry told him."Torres shot your wife. Now I've got
other news. Leoncia is waiting for you. - Can't you wait till I'm through? I've got
more news that will give you the right steer before you go in to her. Best news you
ever heard. I've got a sister."

"I always knew you had sisters in England."

"This is a new sister, all grown up, and the most beautiful woman you ever laid
eyes on. Now we're coming to it. You're going to marry her. I give you my full
permission -"

"The woman doesn't exist I'd marry."

"You're going to marry this one. I'd bet on it. Go on and make it a real bet,"
Henry offered.

"Any amount you want."

"A thousand and fifty dollars. - Now go right into the office there and take a look
at her."

"I thought you said Leoncia was in there."

"So I did. And she isn't with another soul, and she's waiting to talk with you."

"One moment it's your new sister in there, and the next moment it's your wife."
"Who said I ever had a wife?" Henry came back.

"I give up!" Francis cried. "I'm going to see Leoncia."

He started for the door, but was stopped by Henry.

"Just a second more, Francis," he said. "I am not married. There is only one woman
waiting for you. That one woman is my sister. Also is she Leoncia."

It required a half minute for Francis to get it clearly into his head. Again, and
in a rush, he was starting for the door, when Henry stopped him.

"Do I win?" Henry asked.

But Francis shook him off, dashed through the door, and slammed it after him.

- THE END -

Hope you have enjoyed the reading!

Come back to https://english-e-reader.net/ to find more fascinating and exciting

stories!