y can handle it for you. They are honest and
capable."

When spoken with about the matter the men were eager to undertake the
task of guarding the mine until peace should be restored, after which
they were willing to undertake its development. And so, when the party
left, these men stood on the shelf of rock by the opening, reminding
Lieutenant Gordon and Fremont for the twentieth time to be sure to send
up provisions. It is needless to add that the provisions were sent!

When the party reached El Paso one of the first men they met was Don
Miguel, who smiled in a sarcastic manner as he greeted Nestor.

"And so you were released?" the boy asked.

"On orders from Washington," was the reply.

"The case ended when the arms were captured," Nestor said.

"And if they had not been taken?"

"If a raid had actually taken place, you would have been charged with
murder," was the quiet reply.

"Only for you," snarled the other, "my plans would have succeeded."

"Only for the strange combination of circumstances which brought us
both to the Cameron building that night, you should say," Nestor
replied. "It chanced that we appeared on the scene in time to
interrupt a murder plot."

"It is fate!" Don Miguel said, with a frown. "It was to be. Why, half
the police officers in New York might have visited the suite without
seeing anything significant in those letters. And even if they had
found them interesting reading, they would not have been capable of
smashing all our plans. At the beginning of the world it was set that
you were to be there that night! It is fate!"

Don Miguel bowed to the boy and took himself off. The government,
fearing international complications, had ordered his release, and the
boy was glad of it. The boys were all back in New York in two days,
accompanied by Lieutenant Gordon, who was interested in seeing that
Nestor received a suitable reward for what he had done. When the check
finally came from Washington Nestor was so surprised at its size that
he sought the lieutenant, who laughed at him.

"Uncle Sam always pays well," he said, "and he wants a little more of
your time!"

"Wants me?" asked Nestor.

"Well, he asks me to get some keen fellows together and go down to the
Canal Zone and look into a bit of treason."

"And you want me to go?" cried the boy, almost disbelieving his own
ears.

"It is just this way," the lieutenant said. "I want some one with me
who can act and act quickly