reeted her guests wi

a guilty feeling. "Blazes, but it's going to c

f these days. I have much money, but I crave more, and it is all for you, chiquita. It is my wish to see you, one of these days, a very queen of wealth, as you are already a queen of goodness and tenderness. S

girl. "Ah! That word frig

tly. "Now, place your chair close beside mine, and look over this ledger

eet of paper, as though to make the matters more clear to his daughter. She made a very pretty picture, trying to

immensity of the wealth already produced from El Sombrero. Tom and H

our first excursion into the realm of finance. This morning we will have no more f

r, Don Luis drew from a

for an instant. "The report is written in English, as I desired it written so. But I will read the most interesti

be," murmured Francesca,

, one of the finest parts of your fortune. We have been planning, these caballeros and I, that they shall remain in my employ indefinitely,

my father is generous when he i

Reade has written. It cannot h

became clear to him. "Don Luis is trading upon our sympathie

e dwelt eagerly, however, on the paragraphs of the report that asserted such vast wealth to exist in El Sombrero. Francesca listened with rising color. Once

the girl cried, clapping her han

his breath. "It is romance-pure fict

cesca, turning to Tom Reade. "A wonderful talent to be able

one which I must not claim. This is your father's report, not mine. He had written it in English, and all I did wa

nt. Then his brow cleared, and one of

ad him to believe, chiquita. But this is an engineer's report, and, as such, it is not complete until it i

ather, turned, and, with a fascinating smi

fered it to Tom, who accepted it. Surely, he could not embarrass the girl, nor could he seem to refuse to add to her fortune by an

-possessed as well. While he held the pen in his hand be

o a report is his written word of honor that every word in the report is true, to his own knowledge. As I merely transcribed this report from your own, and have not yet had

s shoulders. "You do not need to draw the line so sharply with a man of honor. I assure you th

ed, placing the pen back on the stand. "It will be some weeks, Don Luis, before Hazelton and I c

m her father's very insistent manner, and from Tom's equally firm refusal to sign, that some point of honor was in disp

given you too long a lesson in business. Besides, Senor Reade is not yet

rancesca rose an

had closed Don Luis

I permitted you to live longer. Senor Reade, whether or not your American ideas of courtesy enable you to understand it, you have grievously insulted me

the pen freshly in ink, and

port!" ordere

his feet.

feel very certain that I must have made it very clear to you yesterday that I could not possibly sign any such re

that r

n't d

esponse by tossing th

elligence an injustice. I refuse to sign this report until I have gained the knowledge for myself that every word in it is true. Further, I don't believe that I would sign it after I had

" cried the Me

t I saw with my own

once!" quivered Don Luis Montez, a

that I shall never s

e, too," put in

," Tom went on. "I therefore ask you to consider our engagement at an end. If you are disin

, my good Carlos?" laug

rently replied Dr. Tisco, fr

ith transportation fro

height. "You Gringo fools! Do you think you can defy me-that here, on m

face," Tom rejoined, dryly. "All I wish and

that report. If you do not, then you shall never leave these mountains! Your lives are in my hands.