"Did you notice, boys, that this house backs right up against Santiago's?"
CHAPTER XXIV.
DON ESTEBAN'S STRANGE LOSS.
"Before I explain to you the mission I wish you to undertake," said Don Esteban, "I must narrate briefly a story that has been handed down from the days of Montezuma. It is to the effect that when the Spanish conqueror, Cortez, was about to capture the City of Mexico, most of the treasure of the Aztecs was sunk in the lake, which at that time covered a portion of the Mexican plateau.
"A part of this treasure is said to have been recovered, but the mine from which the gold of Montezuma was taken has never been discovered, although search has been made for upward of five hundred years. Some have supposed that the mine was adjacent to the City of Mexico and that it was flooded at the time the treasure was sunk in the lake. Others have thought it was located in the state of Michoacan, while still others have believed it located in the vicinity of Mt. Orizaba.
"My reason for telling you this is that some years ago a strange appearing man came to our bank and made a large deposit of money, all in gold. He did not deposit it all at once, but brought it in a few thousand dollars at a time until it amounted to more than a million dollars. Then he disappeared and we have never seen him since."
"And has he never called for any of the money?" asked Billie.
"Not in person, although he has drawn upon it at frequent intervals. The name under which it was deposited is James Moon."
"An American?" asked Donald.