ised a large sum, and threats were made against
him, for the originator of the plot had a certain hold over him.

"But I was to throw the blame on innocent parties if I could," the
Spaniard went on, in his confession. "Also I was to select a means
of causing the explosion that would not easily be detected. I
selected moving pictures as the simplest means. I knew that some
were to be made of the Canal for Government use, and I thought if
I got in with the moving picture operators I would have a good
chance, and good excuse, for approaching the dam without being
suspected. After I had accomplished what I set out to do I could,
I thought, let suspicion rest on the camera men.

"So I laid my plans. I learned that Mr. Hadley's firm had received
the contract to make the views, and, by inquiries, through spies,
I learned who their principal operators were. It was then I came
to you boys," he said. "Ashamed as I am to confess it, it was my
plan to have the blame fall on you."

Blake and Joe gasped.

"But when you saved my life at the broken bridge that time, of
course I would not dream of such a dastardly trick," the Spaniard
resumed. "I had to make other plans. I tried to get out of it
altogether, but that man would not let me. So I decided to
sacrifice myself. I would myself blow up the dam, or, rather, make
a little explosion that would scare prospective shippers. I did
not care what became of me as long as I did not implicate you. I
could not do that.

"So I changed my plans. Confederates supplied the dynamite, and I
got this clock-work, in the brass-bound box, to set it off by
means of electrical wires. I planned to be far away when it
happened, but I would have left a written confession that would
have put the blame where it belonged.

"I kept the battery box connections and clockwork inside the small
camera I carried. Tonight all was in readiness. The dynamite was
planted, and I set the mechanism. But something went wrong with
it. There was too much of a delay. I came back to change the
timer. I broke the string connections you made, and--I was caught
by the camera. The news had, somehow, leaked out, and I was
caught. Well, perhaps it is better so," and he shrugged his
shoulders with seeming indifference.

"But please believe me when I say that no harm would have come to
you boys," he went on earnestly, "nor would the dam have been
greatly damaged.

"It was all a terrible plot in which I became involved, not