"I see that now," agreed George, "and the first thing the fellow would do would be to try to discover what we were doing here."
"Yes," continued Will, "and that would be sufficient motive for him to attack the bearer of the code despatch."
"I guess we've got it all doped out now," laughed George. "All we've got to do is to find this man Garman, take the original plans away from him, mail them back to Chicago, and go on about our business."
"And the lawyers in Chicago will do the rest!" grinned Sandy.
"It looks easy, doesn't it?" suggested Will.
"Why, if this miner doesn't know anything about what we're here for, we can tell him any story we're a mind to. We can tell him we're here on a vacation and have money to invest in a mine, if he can find the right kind of a mine for us," laughed George. "In twenty-four hours after we get hold of him, we can have him eating corn out of our hands, like a billy goat."
"You say it well!" laughed Sandy.
"That's all very well," Will agreed, "provided Garman isn't the man who took the code despatch from Bert Calkins."
"And provided, too," George declared, "that Garman didn't force the boy to translate the despatch for his benefit."
"And provided, also," Sandy cut in, "that the code despatch doesn't give away the whole snap to the miner. If he sees the machine plans referred to in any way, he'll think we want to get them away from him, because they are the stolen plans, and then it will be all off for us!"