skill of an old hand, taking every scrap of paper he could find, a few letters and a memorandum book; these he

quiet as a frozen mummy, leaning far into the berth and behind the curtain, as the conductor brushed past him. T

ng to work his hand into the pockets of the coat. He found a long flat letter; this was what he was told to get. Now his cupidity was a

y's body. Carefully he located it, and now the lust of theft as strong as that of the Italian for blood gripped him. He despised all risk

as though he had been quicksilver and when Jim who became entangled in the bed clothes got to the door of the sleeper it was lock

ined many of the jewels which he had brought from Mexico was a severe jolt. It would cripple him cruelly i

rousers and sweater and then he found the p

aking him by the shoulder; "I've

bout it," declared the porter surlil

t the conducto

his hyah car," r

er by the back of the neck in a grip that fairly made th

ch him sure," cried the terrified por

lained the situation. He looked hard at the porter, who began to protest his utter innocence with g

r a time back. You say you caught sight of t

of him. He was very short, with a hat pulled down, hiding most of his face, but I think that he had a

the negro a shove into the smoking-room, and slammed and locked the door. "That will hold h

rting back. "No, it can't b

the conductor. "Well if he is

anywhere else,

e conductor. "This is no country to jump

gers, but the Mexican was not found. However, a trace was discovered w

"I bet he hid here when I came through the train. Somethin

e time and the fellow might have passed through a number of the coaches and not been seen. One woman in the

ars. If he was inside the train, it seemed that he must have the trick of invisibility t

s crawled up on top

at," remarked the co

way," Jim declared. The trainm

aid the conductor;

op of the cars," put in the brak

rin, as a sudden thought struc

ying the fresh air on top of the cars," announced Jim; "there's

it Jim a clip o

e exclaimed, "I nev

by a couple of trainmen, between the swaying cars (this was long b

ot roosting up th

, he's a dead greaser,"

on't slide off at the next stati

under one of the cars, c

shook his head

that fellow mightn't do,"

il to help hi

under the train," decided the

searched every possible foothold, while Jim stood a short distance back so that he could see on either side of the train if a short, dark figure shoul

it up," said the conductor to Jim

," admitted

Broome, and harder still to lose his treasure that was to be the sinews of war in the campa

to start with, when he captured us in the canyon in the coas

confidence that Mr. Mexican was in the train all the time. Perhaps the ingenious reader has already solved the problem of

r him, he glided through several coaches, where the occupants were all soundly and some loudly asle

e long brass brackets above one of the rear seats, intended for bundles often heavier than he was; here he curled