ning. Gerald was bughouse on a gambling proposition, across the
Mexican line. He heard of a stockholder he could buy out for fifteen
thousand dollars, and that's what set him to working his brother for the
money, in the first place.

"Well, he was as close-fisted with that dinero as any miser you ever
saw. I didn't have a cent in my pocket, and Gerald wouldn't give me any
cash. He paid my expenses, but that was all.

"Last Saturday he saw that mix-up at Sixth and Main, in Los Angeles, and
he got the idea that Hill was trailing him. Of course, Gerald knows all
about Hill's search for his lost father---"

"Of course he does!" grunted Hiram. "There's a reason for that."

"And he conceived the notion of sending Hill a letter and signing the
name of Upton Hill to it," went on Burton. "The idea was to get Hill off
of our trail, and we all reckoned the scheme had won out. I didn't know,
until I looked up into the glass bottom of that boat, that Hill was
within a hundred miles of Catalina Island! And I thought Clancy was
still in Phoenix! Say, it was sure a big surprise to me."

"That's what I reckoned," remarked Hill, with a chuckle.

"I used to be swimming instructor in a gymnasium," proceeded Burton,
"and as soon as we reached Avalon I made a deal with Mynie Boltwood, who
owns a boat, and we took to snorkin' the tourists. Gerald was still the
tightwad, and I couldn't live on prospects, no matter how rosy they
might be. Sunday afternoon, while I was out diving, Gerald and Bob
called on Lopez. I get it straight, from a fellow who knows, that Lopez
told them the Fortunatus deal had fallen through. Right then and there
is where those two skunks began to scheme to beat me out of my share of
the swag we brought from Wickenburg."

Burton fell silent for a moment, evidently reflecting on the great
wrong that had been done him by his former pals. At last he resumed:

"Wynn and Katz chartered the _Sylvia_ to take them down the coast. I was
told that by Lopez, and I reckon he got it from Captain Hogan. Lopez--I
saw him no more than half an hour ago--says Wynn and Katz are planning
to cut loose from me, I've been a fool all along to let those two do all
the schemin' and never put in my oar. But now I'm going to get busy."

"You saw Lopez pretty soon after you gave us the slip at Sugarloaf
Rock?" Clancy asked.

"Quite a long time after that. I laid low in town until Mynie Boltwood
brought me my clothes. You see, I was expecting