forces, who claimed to represent the people of Mexico, while countless
bands of guerillas hung on the flanks of the regular armies. These last
were murderers, pure and simple. It mattered nothing to them which side
won. They robbed and slaughtered impartially, wherever booty or victims
awaited them, and their ranks were recruited from the very scum of the
earth.

Only that morning a brisk action had taken place at a small town on the
line, and although the guerillas had been driven off they had managed to
inflict considerable damage. A desperate attempt to destroy a bridge had
been foiled, but one of the trestles had been so weakened that the heavy
train did not dare to cross until repairs were made. This caused a delay
of an hour or two, and, in the meantime, most of the passengers left the
train and strolled about, watching the progress of the work.

Among these had been Bert Wilson and Tom Henderson, Dick's inseparable
friends and companions. A strong bond of friendship united the three and
this had been cemented by many experiences shared in common. They were
so thoroughly congenial, had "summered and wintered" each other so long
that each almost knew what the others were thinking. Together they had
faced dangers: together they had come to hand grips with death and
narrowly escaped. Each knew that the others would back him to the limit
and would die rather than desert him in an emergency. By dint of
strength and natural capacity Bert was the leader, but the others
followed close behind. All were tall and muscular, and as they stood
beside the train they formed a striking trio--the choicest type of young
American manhood.

They were on their way to Panama to witness the opening of the Panama
Canal. That stupendous triumph of engineering skill had appealed to them
strongly while in course of construction, and now that it was to be
thrown open to the vessels of the world, their enthusiasm had reached
fever heat. All of them had chosen their life work along engineering and
scientific lines, and this of course added to the interest they felt
simply as patriotic Americans. They had devoured with eagerness every
scrap of news as the colossal work went on, but had scarcely dared to
hope that they might see it in person. A lucky combination of
circumstances had made it possible at the last moment to take the trip
together; and from the time that trip became a certainty they thought and
talked of little el