“Frank,” he said, after a long silence, “there has been some talk in this case about your father having an interest in an emerald mine down here. Have you any idea where that mine is?”
“Not the slightest,” was the reply. “All I know about it is that it is a paying proposition, and that foreigners are in the game with him.”
“You do not even know whether the mine is situated in the Province of Panama?”
“I rather think it is.”
“I have heard talk,” Ned went on, “about mines on the line of the canal. It may be that this one is.”
“I think it is not far from Colon,” was the reply.
“Do you know who these foreigners are?”
“Japanese, I think.”
Ned was silent for a time, as if studying some proposition over in his mind. The boys in the cottage were stirring in their sleep, and a shrill-voiced bird in the jungle was calling to its mate.
“What are you trying to get at?” Frank asked.