d,
were fanning the air in denial, and it seemed as if he would spring
upon the boy.

"It is false!" he shouted. "All false!"

"Suspicious that the arms and ammunition were to be used against his
own country, Mr. Cameron drew you out on this point, how cleverly you
well know, until the whole plot lay revealed. You were purchasing the
goods in the interest of a junta which proposed to arm such outlaws and
rag-a-muffins as could be assembled, and to send them across the Rio
Grande on a hostile mission in the guise of Mexican soldiers."

"False! False!" almost howled the diplomat. "How is it that you, a
boy, a mere child, who should be with his mother in the nursery, should
know such things?" he demanded; then seeing his error, he added,
"should place such a construction on a plain business transaction?"

"It was the purpose of this junta," Nestor went on, not noticing the
interruption, "in marching this ragged army across the border to
precipitate war between the United States and Mexico. With an invader
on their soil, the members of the junta reasoned, all Mexicans would
flock to the standard of their country, and the war with the United
States would be fought out by a united Mexico."

"Lies! Lies!"

Don Miguel was now walking fiercely about the little dent in the side
of the mountain where the camp was built, pressing close to the loaded
guns of the guards, each time, before he turned back to swing and rave
over the ground again.

"This very pretty conspiracy to involve the United States in a war with
Mexico," Nestor continued, "was unwittingly foiled by a desperate
crime--perhaps committed by yourself."

CHAPTER XV.

ACCUSING EACH OTHER.

Don Miguel stopped in his nervous pacing of the small space in front of
the tents and thrust his passion-swept face to within a foot of that of
the speaker.

"A desperate crime!" he repeated. "Do you have the temerity to mention
my name in connection with crime?"

"On the night of your visit to Mr. Cameron," Nestor went on, coolly,
"you dined at one of the famous lobster palaces on Times Square. Early
in the evening, let us say not far from nine o'clock, you left the
restaurant and took a cab for the Cameron building. You spoke both
French and Spanish to the driver, as well as English, and tipped him
liberally, paying the charge in gold."

Don Miguel swung away again, his face expressive of a desire to do
murder.

"You found Mr. Cameron in his office,"