"Beyond a doubt," smiled Don Luis, "and it will give me great pleasure. But I, myself own many mines, and I am seeking to locate more. If you are suited with my employment, and if we agree, I shall be able, undoubtedly, to keep you both engaged for many years to come. Indeed, if you display sufficient resourcefulness in handling mines I do not believe it will be long ere I shall be able to pay you each fifty thousand dollars a year. I have plenty of money, and I pay generously when I am pleased and well served."
"The scoundrel is fishing for something," thought Tom Reade, swiftly.
"I must not let him beat me in craft."
So he exclaimed, aloud:
"Fifty thousand dollars a year, Don Luis? You are jesting!"
"I beg to assure you that I am not," replied Montez, smiling and bowing.
"But fifty thousand a year is princely pay!" cried Reade.
"Such pay goes, of course, only to the most satisfactory of employes," declared Don Luis.
"At such pay," Tom said, "Harry and I ought to be satisfied to remain in Mexico all our lives."
"We shall see," nodded Montez. "But the sunlight is growing too strong for my eyes. Suppose, caballeros, that we move into the office?"
The others now rose and followed Don Luis.