ure of Captain Broome, who had apparently just emerged from the
building.

"I wonder what he was doing here," muttered Jim to himself.

"Who? What?" asked Berwick.

"Sh!" whispered Jim, "I will tell you later."

"Mr. Reynolds will see you for a few minutes," announced the clerk,
holding open the door to the inner office for them to pass through.

CHAPTER III.

PICKING UP THE ENDS.

The room which Jim and the chief engineer entered was furnished in
marked contrast to the outer room, which was plainly, even meagerly
equipped with a few chairs and a table or two and a desk. The inner room
was luxuriously and lavishly fitted up with a handsome mahogany desk,
easy chairs, fine paintings upon the walls and costly rugs upon the
floor.

Motioning to them to be seated with a sweep of his hand, upon which
glittered a serpent ring of peculiar design with ruby eyes which seemed
to glow as if alive, the lawyer eyed them coldly for a moment through
half closed eyes.

"You wished to see me upon business connected with the Senor de
Cordova," he said, without any preliminary greeting.

"Yes," replied Jim quietly, "I have been referred to you as being in
charge of his affairs."

"By whom?"

"The clerk at the Palace Hotel."

"Ah, indeed. What is the nature of your business with him?"

"That I will communicate with him personally," answered Jim, who had
conceived an instant distrust of the man. "What I wish to know is his
present address."

The lawyer leaned back in his chair and softly whistled for a moment
with a sort of hissing sound.

"He's concocting some sort of a scheme now," thought Jim, who was
regarding him critically.

"I cannot inform you of his exact whereabouts," remarked the lawyer,
"but he is somewhere in the northern part of the State. He was called
away on some important business."

"Was it in connection with the abduction of his daughter?" asked Jim,
rising to his feet and standing beside the desk looking directly into
the eyes of the lawyer.

"Eh, what is that?" asked the lawyer, hastily shuffling the papers on
his desk, but not before Jim had caught sight of the words "San Mat--"
in a familiar handwriting.

"I said, has his journey any connection with the abduction of his
daughter?" repeated Jim.

"What do you know about the abduction of the Senorita de Cordova?" asked
the lawyer, sharply. "Perhaps you had something to do with it."

"I haven't anything to do with it," answered Jim