CHAPTER XX

THE NEW HOPE MINE

Everything had happened so quickly that Florence and Carlitos were still standing motionless by the wall.

While José and the peon held the boss, Jo Ann cautiously led Florence and Carlitos past him. So fiercely was he roaring that shivers ran down their spines.

Jo Ann scarcely drew a long breath till all three of them were out of his reach. Even then she was terrified for José and the peon. Would they be able to get him down that narrow trail without danger to themselves?

A few moments later, as the three rounded a curve, they saw Dr. Blackwell running up the trail toward them.

“Oh, Daddy! Daddy!” Florence cried.

The next moment she was in her father’s arms.

“How thankful I am that I’ve found you girls and Carlitos alive!” he exclaimed, hugging her tightly. “I was frantic when I got here and didn’t find you.”

Now that she realized that Dr. Blackwell was here and they were all safe, Jo Ann felt such a surge of weakness creep over her that she leaned against the wall for support. Now she could relax—all the responsibility was the doctor’s from now on.

Just then two other men came running up the trail, one of them wearing the uniform of a _rurale_.

“Tell the officer to go up and help José and the peon,” Florence told her father. “They have the mean boss tied, but——”

“He’s so terrible—so savage, he’s liable to escape yet,” Jo Ann put in. “Tell him to hurry.”

The _rurale_ hurriedly slipped past them and rushed on up the narrow trail.

Dr. Blackwell now turned to the tall thin man who had been standing quietly behind him. “Girls, this is Mr. Eldridge, Carlitos’ uncle. He reached the village about the same time I did.”

Florence turned and in rapid Spanish explained to Carlitos that this was his uncle.

Carlitos’ blue eyes widened in amazement. “My uncle!” he repeated, gazing past them to the tall man. Slowly then the boy edged around the girls toward his uncle.

Mr. Eldridge reached out and took Carlitos’ hand in his. “I’m so happy—happy that I’ve found you at last,” he said in English. “I’ve searched for years for you.”

Carlitos stared blankly, not understanding a single word. Florence turned to Carlitos and translated what his uncle had said.

Immediately Carlitos’ face began to brighten.

“It seems terrible that my own nephew can’t understand his native language,” Mr. Eldridge remarked.

“We’d better hurry on down off this narrow trail,” put in Dr. Blackwell. He turned around and led the way down, the others following in single file.

As soon as they neared the great white house, Dr. Blackwell explained that they had better go on inside and wait till the men brought the boss down. “Mr. Eldridge wants to question him about Carlitos’ father and mother. There are also several things about the mine he’d like to find out.”

When the girls saw the three men bringing the boss in, they slipped out into the patio.

“I’ve seen all I want to of that terrible creature,” declared Jo Ann. “I never want to lay eyes on him again.”

“Neither do I,” agreed Florence.

“Aren’t you thrilled over Carlitos’ finding his uncle and his prospect of getting the mine back? Just think how his life’ll be changed now! From poverty to comfort. And now he’ll have his uncle to look after him and see that he has all the advantages he should.”

“I’m just as happy as can be over his good fortune. And José’s and his family’s, too, because I’m sure Mr. Eldridge’ll help them for taking care of Carlitos and saving his life.”

While they were waiting, Jo Ann began to gaze about, noticing the number of rooms, each opening onto the patio. “Isn’t this a strange place? And this is Carlitos’ house now. Some contrast with the cave he’s been living in, isn’t it? Let’s take a look around.”

The two girls walked down the corridor to the first open door and peered in.

“My stars!” gasped Jo Ann. “A grand piano! What do you know about that! And look what’s tied to one of the legs—a fighting rooster!”

“Oh yes, that man’d be sure to have some fighting roosters. Cock fighting’s one of the principal amusements down here. That’s a strange place to keep the rooster, though.”

They wandered on down to the next open door, and to Jo Ann’s utter amazement there was another piano with a rooster tied to one of the legs.

“Am I seeing double?” she exclaimed.

“That’s typical of the peon. They’re very fond of music and of cock fighting.”

After going to three more rooms and finding three more pianos and each with a rooster tied to it, Jo Ann exclaimed, amazed, “Is that man crazy? That’s the funniest thing I ever heard of in all my life.”

Florence was not nearly as surprised. “It’s just his idea of wealth,” she explained. “Those are his most valued possessions.”

Just then Dr. Blackwell stepped out in the corridor and called to them to come to the office. “Mr. Eldridge wants to talk to you girls,” he said.

“I hope we won’t see that mean boss again,” Jo Ann remarked as she and Florence started to the office.

On entering they glanced hurriedly about to see if he were there.

Dr. Blackwell spoke up quickly. “The men have gone with their prisoner. They’re taking him on to the city to turn him over to the authorities there.”

“Did you find out anything about what happened to Carlitos’ father before he left?” Jo Ann asked the doctor.

“Yes, the peon told us that he knew that the boss had made away with him by pushing him down into a deep unused shaft.”

“That’s awful!” Jo Ann exclaimed, a look of horror in her eyes. “And that’s what he was going to do with us, too.”

“That’s where we might be right now if you hadn’t come to our rescue, Dad,” Florence added. “But let’s don’t talk about it any more. I can’t bear to think of it.”

Jo Ann caught her by the hand and led her over to Carlitos’ side. “Tell him how happy we are that his uncle has found him at last.”

As soon as Florence had translated these words to Carlitos, Mr. Eldridge moved over closer to the three. “If it had not been for you girls, I never would have found my boy,” he said patting Carlitos’ shoulder affectionately. “You risked your lives for him, and I’ll never cease to be grateful to you. Since, with your help, we’ve got the mine back for Carlitos, we want you to have a share in it. As soon as I get back to the city I’m going to send each of you several shares of the stock.”

“Oh, thank you!” Jo Ann cried. “But we really don’t deserve it.”

“That’s so good of you and Carlitos,” Florence added. She turned to Carlitos then and told him how glad she and Jo Ann were to be partners with him in his mine. “We want always to be your friends,” she ended.

“Don’t forget the other señorita,” Carlitos said, shining eyed. “I want her to be a partner in my mine, too. Tell my uncle that.”

Florence turned and repeated this to Mr. Eldridge.

He smiled back at her, then at Dr. Blackwell. “We have already arranged for her to have some shares also. I’m going to see that José and his family are well taken care of the rest of their lives, too. They have been so good to my boy.”

“That’ll be fine!” exclaimed both girls together.

Jo Ann pressed Florence’s hand. “I’m so glad! They deserve to, after all they’ve been through.”

Jo Ann squeezed Florence’s hand tightly, her eyes like twin stars. “Didn’t you say that Esperanza means hope? It’ll mean new hope now for Carlitos and José and his family—and for us too. Let’s call it the New Hope Mine from now on.”

“A grand idea!”

Transcriber’s Notes

--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.

--Added a list of the Mexican Mystery Series.

--Added a Table of Contents.

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.