Captain Cornell shook his head pityingly. “You’ve been out in this sun too long, old man,” he said.
While this semi-humorous conversation had been going on, the Mexican boy had withdrawn a short distance and stood with his hands thrust into his pockets and his eyes bent toward the ground in thoughtful contemplation. Now he looked up and glancing toward Bob said:
“The Americano might like to know that there is something strange about that house. I found it out by accident one day. On that street beyond”—pointing toward the lane on which the two Americans had abandoned their commandeered car—“there is a deserted house. It is only a poor sort of place of ’dobe. But one day I saw a man come out of it, carefully, looking around as if to make sure he was not observed. So, then, I happened to pass that house later and, seeing that it was a time when nobody was in sight, I tried the door. It was open, and I went in. There, senor, I found a trap door which I opened. Beneath it were steps. I even went down them and found at the foot a tunnel. Senor, it was really none of my business, so I did not investigate farther. But that tunnel leads to the house of the Japanese.”
“Hey? How do you know?” barked Captain Cornell.
Conscious that he held their interest, the boy regarded the flyer with a superior air. Then he unbent. What good was it to possess a secret, if you couldn’t share it?
“Oh, senor, that is not difficult,” he said. “The man who came out of the door of the little house was a man I had seen entering the house of the Japanese. He is of my race, and he has a crooked nose and a limp of the right leg. I could not be mistaken.”
“Ramirez,” ejaculated Bob, and Captain Cornell nodded.
“You know this man?” asked the boy quickly.
“Yes,” said Bob hastily, “we know of him. He is a rascal.”
As for Captain Cornell, he appeared to be lost in thought. After a long moment he turned to Bob. “Well, we’re on the track of something, that’s sure. Let’s walk up to the corner and see if the car we followed is still there. Then we can talk it over. Guess, we’ve learned all we can from this kid.”