They started and looked up, and there was Mr. Mainwaring himself looking down at them.
“We have changed the Chagres from a dangerous enemy into an excellent friend,” he said, “but, as Rob pointed out, the Gatun is unavoidably the spot at which an enemy who wished to harm us could do almost irretrievable damage at the expenditure of a few dollars’ worth of dynamite, if,” he paused for an instant, “if he knew just where to place it.”
“Does anyone possess such knowledge?” asked Rob.
“Yes, anyone possessing a duplicate of my plans would know just how to set about dealing the canal a fearful blow,” was the slow response.
Rob’s pulses beat fast and thick. He caught his breath. Jared had such duplicate plans, and was in the hands of men who could work on his weak nature to give them up. He glanced up at Mr. Mainwaring, expecting to see signs of anxiety on his face. But the engineer was perfectly calm.
“After all that ‘dry history,’ as Tubby called it,” said he, with a smile, “let’s go and play shuffle board. Fred is waiting for us.”
CHAPTER XVII.
AT OLD PANAMA.
The week following the conversation recorded in the last chapter found the travelers located at the Hotel Grand Central, in Panama City. Colon, although the Americans have done much to clean it up and make it more presentable than in former days, does not hold much of interest. Besides, Mr. Mainwaring’s offices were at Panama, which made his presence there a necessity.
The boys had passed a busy time sight-seeing in the old city. They had climbed the Cathedral towers, gazing out over the glittering bay dotted with small but beautiful islands, where the wealthy Panamans spent the heated months. They had explored nooks and corners and inspected the oldest church on the continent.
On the particular day on which this chapter opens they had planned an expedition to Old Panama city, which lies about five miles from the present town. Mr. Mainwaring was busy, but Fred had obtained leave to accompany the boys, his duties as his father’s secretary not being very onerous. They set out in high spirits along the road leading to the ruins of the golden city sacked by Morgan and his buccaneers.