"No danger of that," replied Jim.
Again a match was lit and this time Berwick held the flame close to the dead man's face. They saw that he was not over forty years of age, with a heavy square jaw, a full straw colored mustache, and hazel eyes. He wore a light gray fedora hat and his suit was also of gray, loosely worn. He was squarely built, and slightly below the middle height. There was absolutely nothing to indicate his business, or his station in life. Whatever possessions he may have had on him had been taken.
"What was the reason for this, John?" questioned Jim, as he gently laid the dead man back against the rock.
"Robbery?" suggested Berwick.
"They are none too good," replied Jim, "as I can testify from personal experience. But I reckon that there is more back of this than that.
"Now I may be mistaken, but in my opinion this man was a United States detective and he was hot on the trail of this gang of pirates and smugglers. I used to know a number of these fellows in New York and there is something about them that marks them to my mind."
"I bet you have hit it right," said Jim, "but why did they not hide the body?"
"Possibly they are so safe in this section that they don't take the trouble to cover up their crime," remarked the engineer tentatively.
"Or they may be intending to come back to-night and dispose of the body," said Jim.
"That's more apt to be it," agreed the engineer.