CHAPTER XIX A DARING PLAN
In spite of all Jo Ann's efforts to slow their progress down the trail,she met with little success. Every time she slowed her horse the bosswould ride up close behind and strike her horse with his quirt.
When the first faint rays of dawn were tingeing the eastern sky, the bosssuddenly ordered them to stop. Pointing down into a dark ravine, heindicated by signs that they were to leave the trail and ride into it.Involuntarily Jo Ann gasped. The steepness of the sharp descent terrifiedher. Even more alarming was the thought that this was the place where hehad planned to leave them as he had the peon back in the cave.
If Dr. Blackwell or Jose should come along this trail they never wouldthink of hunting down there for them. "Unless I leave some clue up hereon the trail," she told herself.
When both Jo Ann and Florence kept repeating, "No _sabe_--no _sabe_," toall of his commands, the boss, with an angry, "Follow me, _pronto_,"started his horse down into the ravine. He glanced over his shoulder tosee if they were following.
In the short interval in which he was not looking at them, Jo Ann jerkedoff her belt and tossed it back on the trail. "If Jose or Dr. Blackwellsees that, they'll search all around here," she thought.
Slipping and sliding over sharp rocks and scrubby mesquite bushes theyfinally succeeded in reaching the bottom of the ravine.
After they had ridden some distance out of sight of the trail, the bossleaped off his horse and ordered them to follow his example.
For an instant it seemed to Jo Ann that her heart had stopped beating;then it began pounding away so rapidly that she had difficulty inbreathing.
Was this to be the end? Was this silent dark ravine the spot whereFlorence and Carlitos and she were to be left to die?
As soon as they had all dismounted, the boss gestured to them to take thesaddles off their horses.
"No _sabe_--no _sabe_," Jo Ann began repeating.
The next instant the boss growled and raised his quirt threateningly.
Without another protest she pulled the saddle off and then helpedCarlitos remove his.
"_Mas pronto_," the boss kept commanding.
As soon as they had removed the saddles, he indicated some bushes near byunder which they were to hide them; that done, he had all three tie theirhorses a little farther down the ravine.
"He's trying to cover up all trace of us," Jo Ann thought, shaking. "Hemust be going to make away with us now. Poor Florence! Poor Carlitos!What can I do? Isn't there something I can do?"
To her amazement just then the boss gestured to them to climb back up onthe trail. What was he going to do with them now? Where was he takingthem?
On reaching the trail he urged them on forward as fast as they couldwalk. Not long afterward they came to a little rise in the trail fromwhich they could see in the valley below a huge white stone houseoutlined against the dark gray background of the mountains. Involuntarilythe girls stopped to stare down at it in surprise.
"Who'd ever think of seeing such a palace as that way out here!" Jo Annexclaimed.
For once the boss forgot to urge them on. He pointed down proudly to thehouse. "My _casa_. It cost me _mucho dinero_," he bragged, then gesturedto some tiny shacks on the mountain side. "I no live like the peons."
"No wonder he can have such a fine house," Jo Ann thought. "He stole themine from Carlitos' father in the first place and makes the peons live inlittle old shacks."
By this time the boss had leaped off his horse and had tied it to anear-by bush. He turned back to the girls and Carlitos. "Move along._Pronto!_" he ordered, gesturing up to a narrow path cut into the steepmountain side.
Jo Ann intuitively realized that this path led to the mine. A feeling ofterror swept over her again. This must be the end! He was taking them upto the mine to make away with them there so no one would know what hadbecome of them. That was why he was hurrying them so fast--so he'd getrid of them before it was daylight and the men came to work. What wouldhe do with them? If he left them bound as he had the peon in the cave,some of the workmen would be sure to find them.
A sudden thought flashed into her mind that left her panic-stricken. Innearly all mines, she'd heard, there were old, deep unused shafts. Was itpossible that he was going to leave them in one of those old shafts? Ifhe did, no one in the world would ever find a trace of them. She mustfight to the very last. There must be something she could do. Dr.Blackwell--where was he? He had said he would get here ahead of them. Hemight be down there in the valley waiting for them this very minute, shetold herself.
By this time they had reached a spot in the path directly above thehouse. "One could almost throw a stone down into the patio of that housefrom here," she thought. "If I could only attract the attention ofsomeone down there. He seems to be trying so hard to get us up herewithout anyone's seeing us."
A daring plan darted into her mind. She'd risk the boss's anger. Nomatter what he did, it could not be as bad as what awaited them at themine. The next instant she began to put this plan into action.
She stumbled and with a piercing shriek fell prostrate, pushing severallarge stones over the edge of the trail. As they rolled down the mountainside, loosening other stones on their way, they made a terrific crashingnoise.
"Oh, my foot! My foot!" she groaned, grabbing her ankle.
Florence was at her side the next moment. "Oh, Jo Ann! Are you hurtbadly?"
Before Jo Ann could answer, the boss was standing over her, shaking hisquirt threateningly. "What you mean? You make too much noise. Moveon--_pronto_."
Jo Ann shook her head, crying again, "My foot!"
As he started to strike her with his quirt she turned over and begancrawling on hands and knees.
"Oh, if only Dr. Blackwell or someone heard those rocks and would come toour rescue," she thought. "My crawling this way will delay us some. Iwish, though, that I dared tell Florence that I'm not hurt. She's soworried because she thinks I've really sprained my ankle."
Every few moments she kept looking back toward the boss as an excuse toget a view of the valley.
"Surely, if Dr. Blackwell's down there and heard all that noise, he'dlook up here and see us," she thought. "If I don't see somebody soon,I'll risk knocking some more stones over." She slowed her crawling pace.
"_Mas pronto!_" came the growling command, then she felt a sharp lickacross her back. Only her thick sweater kept her from being cut by theboss's quirt.
In spite of this, she ventured to look around again a few moments later.To her unbounded relief she caught a glimpse of three men on horsesriding rapidly toward the foot of the trail. They were not dressed likeIndians, she noticed. The rider ahead looked as if he might be Dr.Blackwell. Oh, if only he were! If he could only get to them right away."That black hole up ahead on the path--that must be the opening to themine," she thought.
Just then Carlitos exclaimed in a frightened voice, "_La mina_ [Themine]!"
Terrified at the sight of this black yawning hole so close above them, JoAnn cried out frantically, "Florence, stop! Don't go any farther."
At her sharp command Florence halted, white-faced and trembling. The nextinstant she reached out to catch hold of Carlitos.
The boss burst forth in such a rapid flow of Spanish that neither one ofthe girls could understand a word. His face was so distorted with ragethat Florence and Carlitos huddled together against the rocky wall,frozen with fear.
As the boss raised his quirt to strike her, Jo Ann caught a glimpse of awhite-clothed man stealthily slipping along the trail close behind him.Instantly she recognized the man as Jose. "I must keep the boss fromknowing Jose is behind him," she thought quickly.
"No, I won't go on!" she cried, and jumped to her feet just in time tododge a blow from his quirt.
As he lurched forward to strike again, she saw a coil of rope sailthrough the air and fall over his head and shoulders. The next instanthis arms were pinioned to his sides.
Before
the boss could realize what had happened, Jose and the peon sprangforward and threw him down on the ground. With deft fingers they boundhim securely.
CHAPTER XX THE NEW HOPE MINE
Everything had happened so quickly that Florence and Carlitos were stillstanding motionless by the wall.
While Jose and the peon held the boss, Jo Ann cautiously led Florence andCarlitos past him. So fiercely was he roaring that shivers ran down theirspines.
Jo Ann scarcely drew a long breath till all three of them were out of hisreach. Even then she was terrified for Jose and the peon. Would they beable to get him down that narrow trail without danger to themselves?
A few moments later, as the three rounded a curve, they saw Dr. Blackwellrunning up the trail toward them.
"Oh, Daddy! Daddy!" Florence cried.
The next moment she was in her father's arms.
"How thankful I am that I've found you girls and Carlitos alive!" heexclaimed, hugging her tightly. "I was frantic when I got here and didn'tfind you."
Now that she realized that Dr. Blackwell was here and they were all safe,Jo Ann felt such a surge of weakness creep over her that she leanedagainst the wall for support. Now she could relax--all the responsibilitywas the doctor's from now on.
Just then two other men came running up the trail, one of them wearingthe uniform of a _rurale_.
"Tell the officer to go up and help Jose and the peon," Florence told herfather. "They have the mean boss tied, but----"
"He's so terrible--so savage, he's liable to escape yet," Jo Ann put in."Tell him to hurry."
The _rurale_ hurriedly slipped past them and rushed on up the narrowtrail.
Dr. Blackwell now turned to the tall thin man who had been standingquietly behind him. "Girls, this is Mr. Eldridge, Carlitos' uncle. Hereached the village about the same time I did."
Florence turned and in rapid Spanish explained to Carlitos that this washis uncle.
Carlitos' blue eyes widened in amazement. "My uncle!" he repeated, gazingpast them to the tall man. Slowly then the boy edged around the girlstoward his uncle.
Mr. Eldridge reached out and took Carlitos' hand in his. "I'm sohappy--happy that I've found you at last," he said in English. "I'vesearched for years for you."
Carlitos stared blankly, not understanding a single word. Florence turnedto Carlitos and translated what his uncle had said.
Immediately Carlitos' face began to brighten.
"It seems terrible that my own nephew can't understand his nativelanguage," Mr. Eldridge remarked.
"We'd better hurry on down off this narrow trail," put in Dr. Blackwell.He turned around and led the way down, the others following in singlefile.
As soon as they neared the great white house, Dr. Blackwell explainedthat they had better go on inside and wait till the men brought the bossdown. "Mr. Eldridge wants to question him about Carlitos' father andmother. There are also several things about the mine he'd like to findout."
When the girls saw the three men bringing the boss in, they slipped outinto the patio.
"I've seen all I want to of that terrible creature," declared Jo Ann. "Inever want to lay eyes on him again."
"Neither do I," agreed Florence.
"Aren't you thrilled over Carlitos' finding his uncle and his prospect ofgetting the mine back? Just think how his life'll be changed now! Frompoverty to comfort. And now he'll have his uncle to look after him andsee that he has all the advantages he should."
"I'm just as happy as can be over his good fortune. And Jose's and hisfamily's, too, because I'm sure Mr. Eldridge'll help them for taking careof Carlitos and saving his life."
While they were waiting, Jo Ann began to gaze about, noticing the numberof rooms, each opening onto the patio. "Isn't this a strange place? Andthis is Carlitos' house now. Some contrast with the cave he's been livingin, isn't it? Let's take a look around."
The two girls walked down the corridor to the first open door and peeredin.
"My stars!" gasped Jo Ann. "A grand piano! What do you know about that!And look what's tied to one of the legs--a fighting rooster!"
"Oh yes, that man'd be sure to have some fighting roosters. Cockfighting's one of the principal amusements down here. That's a strangeplace to keep the rooster, though."
They wandered on down to the next open door, and to Jo Ann's utteramazement there was another piano with a rooster tied to one of the legs.
"Am I seeing double?" she exclaimed.
"That's typical of the peon. They're very fond of music and of cockfighting."
After going to three more rooms and finding three more pianos and eachwith a rooster tied to it, Jo Ann exclaimed, amazed, "Is that man crazy?That's the funniest thing I ever heard of in all my life."
Florence was not nearly as surprised. "It's just his idea of wealth," sheexplained. "Those are his most valued possessions."
Just then Dr. Blackwell stepped out in the corridor and called to them tocome to the office. "Mr. Eldridge wants to talk to you girls," he said.
"I hope we won't see that mean boss again," Jo Ann remarked as she andFlorence started to the office.
On entering they glanced hurriedly about to see if he were there.
Dr. Blackwell spoke up quickly. "The men have gone with their prisoner.They're taking him on to the city to turn him over to the authoritiesthere."
"Did you find out anything about what happened to Carlitos' father beforehe left?" Jo Ann asked the doctor.
"Yes, the peon told us that he knew that the boss had made away with himby pushing him down into a deep unused shaft."
"That's awful!" Jo Ann exclaimed, a look of horror in her eyes. "Andthat's what he was going to do with us, too."
"That's where we might be right now if you hadn't come to our rescue,Dad," Florence added. "But let's don't talk about it any more. I can'tbear to think of it."
Jo Ann caught her by the hand and led her over to Carlitos' side. "Tellhim how happy we are that his uncle has found him at last."
As soon as Florence had translated these words to Carlitos, Mr. Eldridgemoved over closer to the three. "If it had not been for you girls, Inever would have found my boy," he said patting Carlitos' shoulderaffectionately. "You risked your lives for him, and I'll never cease tobe grateful to you. Since, with your help, we've got the mine back forCarlitos, we want you to have a share in it. As soon as I get back to thecity I'm going to send each of you several shares of the stock."
"Oh, thank you!" Jo Ann cried. "But we really don't deserve it."
"That's so good of you and Carlitos," Florence added. She turned toCarlitos then and told him how glad she and Jo Ann were to be partnerswith him in his mine. "We want always to be your friends," she ended.
"Don't forget the other senorita," Carlitos said, shining eyed. "I wanther to be a partner in my mine, too. Tell my uncle that."
Florence turned and repeated this to Mr. Eldridge.
He smiled back at her, then at Dr. Blackwell. "We have already arrangedfor her to have some shares also. I'm going to see that Jose and hisfamily are well taken care of the rest of their lives, too. They havebeen so good to my boy."
"That'll be fine!" exclaimed both girls together.
Jo Ann pressed Florence's hand. "I'm so glad! They deserve to, after allthey've been through."
Jo Ann squeezed Florence's hand tightly, her eyes like twin stars."Didn't you say that Esperanza means hope? It'll mean new hope now forCarlitos and Jose and his family--and for us too. Let's call it the NewHope Mine from now on."
"A grand idea!"
Transcriber's Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original--this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
--Added a list of the Mexican Mystery Series.
--Added a Table of Contents.
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.
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