“Maybe Rhodes is just pulling another trick to get us out of here,” Ken suggested. “Couldn’t we defy him and stick?”
“Our supplies are nearly gone,” Mr. Livingston reminded him. “Once the mine closes, the camp likely will be looted by hill bandits or the dismissed miners.”
“Carlos might show up here,” Jack suggested. “If so, we might make a deal with him, or pry out of him what became of Mr. Corning.”
“I’d like to stay,” Mr. Livingston answered, “but it seems too risky.”
“It’s sure funny that Rhodes would get word back so fast from Bogota,” Ken muttered. “We haven’t heard anything, and our boys were to have chartered a plane.”
“I think Rhodes is lying,” Jack stated flatly. “Oh, he may close the mine as he threatens, but I can’t believe that emerald we sent to Bogota was worthless.”
“Maybe he’s just scared and intends to pull out,” Ken speculated. “That strikes me as more likely.”
The discussion continued for some little time. It ended by Mr. Livingston advising the Scouts to pack up their belongings and equipment.
“Let’s be ready for an early start from here in the morning,” he advised. “We don’t have to go, if we change our minds. But we’ll be set, and Rhodes will assume that we intend to leave.”
Jack began to pack the items which would not be needed that night. The task finished, he set off to fill the canteens with fresh water from a nearby spring.