Get me out by a mountain camp-fire,
old fellow, and I'll be game for anything."
There was a short silence, and then the boy went on.
"I don't understand exactly why you are heading for Mexico, but
one country is as good as another just now. The police over
there are said to be in close touch with those here, and to
be brutal in their handling of prisoners. However, let us
make up our minds that we will have nothing to do with the police."
"We are going to Mexico for three reasons," Nestor said, in a
moment. "I can't tell you all about the three now, but one is
to get you out of the way until the real criminal is discovered.
The other two will show in time, and are likely to bring out a
great deal of excitement."
"I have been wondering all the way down here," Fremont said,
"why you copied one of the papers in the Tolford estate packet.
I know now. There is in that sheaf of papers a description of
a lost Mexican mine--a very valuable mine which has been lost
for any number of years. I remember of hearing Mr. Cameron
discuss the matter with one of the heirs. The lost mine seems
to be the most valuable item in the estate schedule," the boy
went on. "At any rate, there has been a lot of quarreling over
it. That paper contains the only description in existence, and
all the heirs want it."
"So you think I'm going after the lost mine?" laughed Nestor.
"If you are not, why did you copy the description?"
"How do you know that I copied the description?"
"You copied something.
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