SUNGER GOES LAME
Jack was on the alert, ready to follow, but there was no need. Mr. Argent came back with a grim smile on his bronzed face.
"I thought I heard a movement there, as if some one were listening," he said, "but it was a false alarm."
"Are they trailing you as closely as that?"
"Yes, and more so," was the answer. "There's a big fight on to get this mine away from me and my friends, but we're going to beat our enemies. They'd give anything to get the information that is to come to me through the mail, and that's why I'm always on the lookout, fearing some one may overhear what I say."
"But I thought you knew where the mine is," said Jack.
"So I do, and I'm one of the very few men who do know the exact location."
"Then why are you expecting information through the mail that will disclose the place where it is?"
"You don't exactly understand," was the reply. "You see, after the man who first located the mine came back with some rich samples of gold from it, he died, and the place where he had made the strike was lost for some time. Then the documents giving the location were found by those entitled to share the wealth, and I came in on the deal.
"Now, in order to have everything perfectly legal it was necessary, in this particular case, to send to the authorities to have our titles made good. To do that we had to describe exactly where the mine was located. We had to send this information to the government officials in San Francisco. But of course our secret is safe with them.