CHAPTER XXI.

AN UNSUCCESSFUL PURSUIT.

Oliver Bright, as may be imagined, was astonished when Mr. Whyland discovered the very man they were looking for, standing calmly on the rear end of a passing cable-car.

For an instant he doubted the evidence of his own eyesight, but a second look told him that in truth it was the colonel.

For a moment he stood still. Then he started forward to stop the car.

But those in charge did not see him and the cable-car went bounding on its way with Oliver after it.

Mr. Whyland and Gus started to run also, but soon gave up the chase.

“I am getting too old for that sort of thing,” gasped the former, as he leaned against a building, all out of breath.

“And I get winded too easily,” groaned the stout youth. “Oliver must catch the fellow alone.”

“I hope he will succeed. We may not get another such chance.” And then they both started on a walk in the direction in which the car had gone.

Meanwhile the car kept moving at a rapid rate, with the boy nearly a block behind it. Sometimes Oliver would get nearer, but then he would lose time at some crossing and the distance would be increased.

Finally, at the end of eight or ten blocks, he managed to come up to the car, and as it stopped, he sprang on board.

He gave a hasty look around. Colonel Mendix had disappeared.

Oliver was deeply chagrined. Was it possible that he had made a mistake in the car?

“It looks like the same car,” he thought; “but then they all look alike.”

Presently the conductor came to him, and Oliver asked him if a Spanish gentleman had been aboard.

“What kind of a looking man?”

Oliver described Colonel Mendix as best he could.

“Yes, he was on; got off two or three blocks back; maybe four,” was the conductor’s reply.

“Thank you,” replied Oliver; and he hopped off the car and started to retrace his steps.

“Too bad he couldn’t have remained on the car a minute longer,” he muttered to himself. “I suppose he has disappeared into some building or down some side street by this time. I’ll go back and take a look around.”

He had proceeded about three blocks when he came face to face with the others.

“What luck?” cried Mr. Whyland.

Oliver told him.

“Too bad, after such a splendid chance.”

“I’d keep a sharp lookout for him along here,” put in Gus; “he can’t be far off.”

“I have a plan,” returned Oliver. “Let us separate, and each watch several squares. By doing that we can cover nearly all the ground necessary.”

“A good idea,” cried Mr. Whyland. “We will carry it out at once.”

“And where shall we meet again?” asked Gus.

“In front of this large building,” said Oliver, “at one o’clock.”

They immediately separated, and each proceeded to watch in his own way. Oliver peered into every store and office, and down every street, but without success. At the end of the time appointed he went back to the designated meeting-place.

Mr. Whyland was already there.

Neither had had any luck.

In five minutes Gus arrived.

“I thought I saw him,” he said. “I tried to follow, but at the end of the block I found I was mistaken.”

“So we are now no further ahead than we ever were,” remarked Oliver, somewhat bitterly.

“Never mind; we won’t despair,” replied Mr. Whyland. “Remember, we have not been a whole day at the hunt.”

“I’m not despairing; but the sooner we find this man the better.”

All three were now, not only tired out, but tremendously hungry. Mr. Whyland led the way to a neighboring restaurant, and here they indulged in a substantial dinner.

“Now, what next?” asked Gus.

“I’m going around to that hotel, and then the mining board again,” said Oliver. “I shall look for him by appearance, not by name now.”

In this quest Oliver decided to go alone. If the three were together they might excite suspicion.

“Then I’ll go back to the hotel where we left our baggage,” said Mr. Whyland.

“And I’ll go and send a telegram to my father,” put in Gus. “I suppose he’ll be awfully anxious about me until he hears that I am safe.”

This was agreed to, and in a moment more Oliver was on his way to Montgomery Street.

“You say the man you are looking for is a tall, dark Spaniard?” inquired one of the gentleman to whom he applied.

“Yes, sir. I thought his name was Mendix.” And Oliver described the colonel as fully as was possible.

“I think you mean Colonel Guerotaz,” said the man in charge of the office. “He is interested in several mining schemes, I believe, all up the Mokelumne River.”

“And where can I find this Colonel Guerotaz?” asked the boy with deep interest.

“I do not know. He was in here several times during the earlier part of the week. I believe he is getting ready to go up the country just as soon as he can get some machinery shipped.”

This last statement made Oliver feel certain that the two colonels were the same person. Colonel Mendix had asked Ezra Dodge where he could purchase the machinery he wanted, and that person had informed him he could get it in San Francisco.

“And you do not know anything of the Aurora mine?” went on Oliver.

“I do not. There was an Aurora mine somewhere up the Sacramento River, and another elsewhere; but both of them were abandoned years ago.”

Oliver’s heart sank for a moment.

“You do not know where the Aurora mine was situated?” he faltered.

“I don’t remember exactly. But I am quite sure it was not up the Mokelumne.”

“Then neither of them can be the one I am looking for,” returned the boy, with something of a sigh of relief.

“Are you interested in the mine?” asked the man kindly.

“My father is. Do you know the names of the mines that this Colonel Guerotaz is interested in?”

“The Excelsior is the principal one, I believe. Then there is the Cortez; but I do not know much about that, nor does any one else.”

“And they are both up the Mokelumne River?”

“Yes; you’ll find them on the mining-map.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Oliver quitted the office in deep thought. Of one thing he was certain,――Colonel Mendix and Colonel Guerotaz were one and the same person. Now, could it be possible that the Cortez and the Aurora were one and the same mine?

“It seems to me,” he thought, “about the only way he could commit such a piece of villainy would be to change the name of the mine. If he didn’t do that any one could easily visit the place and find out its value. I begin to understand how poor, trusting father was duped.”

While Oliver had been in the office on Montgomery Street he had not noticed a tall, lank fellow lounging about the door. This man had been deeply interested in the boy’s inquiries, and when Oliver left the place the man was not slow to follow.

At the corner he stepped up and tapped Oliver on the shoulder.

“Excuse me,” he said in a low voice; “but I would like to have a few words with you on the quiet.”

Oliver surveyed the man from head to foot.

“What is it you want?” he asked rather shortly, for he had never seen the fellow before.

“Didn’t I hear you say something about the Aurora mine?” asked the man.

“You did,” replied Oliver with sudden interest. “What of it?”

“I know all about that mine,” was the slow reply.

“You do?” cried the boy. “Who are you?”

“My name is Felix Cottle. I used to be a mining boss. I worked for Colonel Guerotaz for two years. Then we had a terrible row, and he kicked me out; but I know a good many of his secrets.”

“Then, perhaps you are just the man I want to see,” replied Oliver.

“And you are just the party I want to meet,” said Felix Cottle. “By your manner, I take it you have it in for this Spaniard, and I would do ’most anything to get square with him. What do you want to know, and what is it worth to you?”