o see his
visitors at once.

"Sit down," he invited, motioning them to chairs in the private office
to which they were admitted. "Didn't expect to see you again, Hagan, in
such a hurry. You must have rushed through your business with Old
Gripper and his crowd. How did you come out?"

"By the door," answered the Irishman; "and it's little good it did us to
go in."

"Did you take my advice as a tip in regard to that railroad deal?"

"It's no advice I needed, for I wasn't thinking of pushing into that."

"There might be money in it if they put her through in the proper
manner; but it's Merriwell's idea, I reckon, to capitalize her at her
proper value; and that will make it necessary for the men who build to
take just as much risk as the general public who buys the stock. It
doesn't seem possible that a shrewd old fox like Watson Scott can be
dragged into such a dangerous affair. Now, if you and I were doing it,
Hagan, we'd do it in a way that would leave us practically without risk,
and I think we'd clean up a good thing out of it."

"Why can't we do it?" exclaimed Hagan, as if struck by a sudden thought.

"Why can't we?" questioned Jerome, in some surprise. "Why, that other
gang is in it."

"We'll block 'em, me boy! We'll hold their scheme up, and reap the
harvest ourselves!"

"How can it be done? Oh, no; I'm not looking for trouble with that
bunch. It isn't necessary to build railroads in order to make money.
There are plenty of roads in existence that can be manipulated and
squeezed dry. There is no need to go searching round for new roads to
build."

"But there is something more to squeeze in this than a railroad. What if
I show you how we can get an interest in a vast tract of land in Eastern
Sonora--a tract that is rich in minerals in one section and may be
opened up for ranches and plantations in another?"

"Ranches and plantations? I've heard that all of Northern Mexico is
barren and arid and practically worthless."

"Much of it is."

"How would you get hold of this land and obtain a railroad land grant
from the Mexican government?"

"The grant is already in existence."

Hagan then explained to Jerome as clearly as possible Felipe Jalisco's
claim to a great area of land in Sonora.

"The boy is without influence with the government," confessed Hagan,
"else he would make application for his rights. Unfortunately, the
politics of his family have run in the wrong direction, and he knows he
would b