ecting that he,
Hayden, held visible proofs of the lost mine, had bribed his servant to
gain the desired information? But admitting this to be the case, and
Hayden did not believe it for a moment, why had Tatsu remained instead of
departing as prudence would seem to dictate?

That of course could be explained by assuming that prudence dictated
another line of policy, that he deemed it the best way of averting
suspicion. Perhaps! But the conclusion was not particularly satisfactory.
Every lead Robert had followed seemed to bring him to a blind wall. He
rose restlessly and walked up and down the room, and then sat down again,
drumming drearily on the arm of his chair. What now? What new line could
he follow? By eliminating the servants, Tatsu, and himself, what
remained? His guests. He felt a swift recoil at the bare suggestion, even
though a mental and hidden one, of implicating them in this matter, and
experienced a succeeding disgust and impulse to abandon his inquiry at
once.

Yet, there were the facts, the ugly, inexplicable facts staring him in
the face, and he knew that it would be impossible for him to abandon the
matter, mentally at least, until he had arrived at some sort of a
satisfactory solution. His guests, he ran them over. In every instance,
even if they were capable of such an act, the motive was lacking, save in
one case. Steadily as the needle veers to the pole, his suspicions
pointed to the Mariposa. There at least the motive was not lacking.

Ah, he reflected, falling into deeper gloom, if she had them, then he was
indeed lost. Even now, by this time, there would be a set of duplicate
photographs made, and careful copies of his charts and maps. In some
peculiar way he would probably find the photographs again on his table,
and all further communication with him on the subject of The Veiled
Mariposa would doubtless be declined by the owners of the property, their
voice being Mademoiselle Mariposa. Within the shortest possible time, one
of their prospectors on the property would discover the hidden trail, and
the owners would begin immediate operations, and he as much out of all
transactions as if he did not exist.

Suppose he put a detective on the case immediately; it was extremely
likely that before the man could take any steps in the matter or decide
on the line he meant to follow, the photographs would again be in
Hayden's possession.

No, he thought in bitter cynicism, he might as well await