er of vacation
and pleasure. In truth, they are awaiting the arrival of Albert Clodis
on the 'Constant.' When he had arrived, with the papers from me
showing where and how to locate the diamond field, they were to have
moved quickly, spending plenty of money, and filing a patent to the
fields. Under the law the Brazilian Government would be entitled to a
large share of the find in precious stones, but even at that our share
would have been enormous. Once the patent to the diamond field was
filed, the President and the whole National Government of that country
could be depended upon to protect the owner's rights, even against the
greed and treachery of Terrero. So all that appeared to be left to do
was to get to my friends of the syndicate the two sets of papers that
would enable them to locate the unknown diamond field. Neither set of
papers is worth anything by itself, but with the two sets the field
can be promptly located.

"My first thought was to send the two sets of papers by two different
men. Yet, strange as it may appear to you boys, I could not decide
upon two men whom I felt I could fully trust under all circumstances.
You have no idea how I have been watched, the last year, by agents of
Terrero. Dalton, though an American, is one of the worst of these
secret agents of the governor of Vahia. _I_ knew how thoroughly I was
being watched, and I, in turn, have had others watching Anson Dalton
as effectively as it could be done in a free country like the United
States.

"Well, to make this long story short, when I had all else in readiness
I decided upon Bert Clodis as the one man I could fully trust to
deliver the two sets of papers to the members of the syndicate at Rio
Janeiro. I believed, too, at the time, though I could not be sure,
that my relations with Bert Clodis were unknown to Anson Dalton.

"Yet, not for a moment did I trust too thoroughly to that belief. I
had Dalton watched. If he engaged passage aboard the 'Constant,' my
suspicions would be at once aroused. We now know that he secured
passage, by mail, under the name of Arthur Hilton. Beyond the
slightest doubt Dalton, that infernal spy, had succeeded in
discovering that I was sending Clodis with the papers. Yet Dalton, or
Hilton, as he chose to call himself, did not go aboard the 'Constant'
openly at New York. I can only guess that he boarded from the tug that
took off the pilot when the liner had reached open sea.

"I had impressed upon Bert