“Huh.” The jehu shrugged. Then he straightened out of his slouch as his roving eye caught sight of something in the street, and he pointed. “Say. What d’ye know? Bringin’ him back.”
The boys gazed in the direction indicated. There rolling up behind them was the big car which had bumped them and which had been boarded by Captain Cornell. They turned to it eagerly, as it rolled to a halt at the curb. Then the biggest surprise of all greeted them, for out stepped first Captain Cornell and after him an even more familiar figure—at least to Jack. The latter could hardly believe his eyes. He halted a moment in astonishment, then sprang forward with a cry of:
“Don Ferdinand.”
“You know this hombre?” demanded Captain Cornell, eyes popping.
Don Ferdinand, for he it was, stared a moment, then threw himself at Jack. Throwing his arms about the big fellow, he clasped him with Latin exuberance, then backed off.
“If you are acquainted with this man, Senor Jack,” he said excitedly, pointing to Captain Cornell, “tell him I will pay for any damage, but he must let me go. It is necessary. Ah, alas, though,” he groaned, “I fear it is now too late. That devil has escaped again.”
Jack was bewildered. Finding Don Ferdinand here, in Nueva Laredo, when the last heard of him he had disappeared from his home! All he could do was to stare in astonishment. But Don Ferdinand who had spoken to Jack in Spanish was wringing his hands in despair. Jack could not understand why.
Bob and Frank, who had not seen the old Spanish aristocrat for a number of years, had been slow to recognize him. But the conversation and Jack’s use of the older man’s name brought back recollection. They crowded forward and greeted him. He seemed like a man in a daze.
Then understanding suddenly came to Jack. Don Ferdinand had declared “that devil has escaped again.” The light dawned. He had been chasing that fellow in pursuit of whom he had left home and gone to the mine. What was his name? Ramirez! Yes, Ramirez, that was it!
“Was it Ramirez, Don Ferdinand?” he demanded eagerly, elbowing Bob aside to face his friend.