The Radio Boys on the Mexican Border Part 13

"What's this for, Pete?" Jack inquired.

"Oh, that's somethin' Mr. Rollins musta dropped out o' his pocket at breakfast. Found it on the floor beside his chair after he was gone.

Will you give it to him?"

"All right."

Jack returned to join his companions.

"Have we any right to open this?" he said, after explaining how he had obtained the envelope. "I for one believe that we should. It may contain valuable information to us."

"You're right, Jack," said Mr. Temple. "I'm a partner in this oil enterprise, and if one of our trusted employees is a scoundrel we are ent.i.tled to know it. Give me the envelope. I'll take the responsibility."

While the others looked on, Mr. Temple ran a knife along the edge and slit the envelope open. Inside was a ma.s.s of doc.u.ments and a letter.

Mr. Temple unfolded them, gave one look, then with an exclamation jumped to his feet.

"Great Scott, boys," he cried. "This is important. Luck is certainly with us."

CHAPTER XIV

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERY

"What is it?" cried Jack, pressing forward.

"Yes, tell us," demanded Bob and Frank as in one breath.

The three boys crowded around Mr. Temple, who in one hand held the ma.s.s of doc.u.ments and in the other the letter. He was reading the latter.

"Boys," said he, "this proves Rollins's complicity in a plot against us. But it makes matters more puzzling and complicated, too."

"How is that, sir?" Jack inquired.

"Well, first of all," said Mr. Temple, holding up the thick sheaf of papers, "this is Mr. Hampton's own original list of the leases secured by the group of independent oil operators to which I belong and which he represents here in the field."

"Is it a copy of the list I recovered from the thief who stole it from Mr. Hampton's house on Long Island?" asked Bob.

"No," smiled Mr. Temple. "It is the original. That was the copy. And this letter with it is one written by Rollins to a man in New York City who is one of the minor officials of the Oil Trust. It is too long to read to you. But from it I gather that Rollins is a spy in the employ of this official."

"Say, Dad," declared Bob, "this is too much for me. If the Octopus is responsible for our troubles, then where do the Mexicans come in? And vice versa?"

"That's what I had in mind, Bob, when I said this discovery complicated matters," said Mr. Temple.

"Sh," warned Jack, from the window toward which he was glancing at that moment. He sprang forward to see better. "Here comes Mr. Rollins now. And in a tearing hurry, too."

Rollins jumped from his horse and ran along the porch to his room.

They heard the door slam, and then sounds of a furious searching being carried on. The boys and Mr. Temple, gathered around the door and window, looked at each other significantly.

"Found he dropped his papers and came back for them," whispered Frank.

A moment later Rollins called for Gabby Pete from the door of his room. The cook hurried to him from the kitchen.

"Pete, did I drop an envelope--a long blue envelope--at breakfast?"

asked Rollins, making no attempt to conceal his anxiety.

Before Gabby Pete could reply, Jack stepped impulsively from the doorway.

"Yes, you did," said he. "Pete gave it to me to keep for you."

"Where is it?" Rollins brusquely demanded.

"Step into my room," said Jack.

Rollins complied. When he saw Mr. Temple, Bob and Frank, he recoiled as if to flee. But Jack barred the doorway. Rollins was speechless.

Mr. Temple advanced, holding out the doc.u.ment and the letter.

"Your duplicity is discovered, Rollins," he said. "I make no apology for having opened your sealed envelope, because last night Jack Hampton discovered you at the radio station with Remedios, and we knew you were faithless to your trust. Come, make a clean breast of it."

Rollins's face went white.

"You, you read the letter?" he gasped.

Mr. Temple merely nodded.

Rollins seemed to shrink and grow older before their eyes. Suddenly he sank into a chair. His shoulders sagged. Pressing his hands to his eyes, he bent forward and began to cry. Not the noisy crying of a child but great, dry, wrenching sobs.

"Come on, fellows," said Jack in a low voice. "Let's leave him to Mr.

Temple."

The older man nodded approval and the three boys filed out, closing the door behind them. Simultaneously each drew a long breath of relief. Bob was the first to speak.

"Dad'll get it out of him," he said

"I'm hungry," said Frank plaintively.

At that moment, Gabby Pete poked his head from the doorway of the kitchen. Seeing the boys, he called:

"Come an' git it."

The three started on the run for the dining room, their youthful spirits rebounding from the depressing scene in the room they had just quit in answer to the tang of a perfect day and the cook's breakfast call. Bob suddenly halted with an exclamation.

"How about Dad?"

"Oh, he's too busy to miss his breakfast," said Frank. "Anyhow, we can get the cook to put up something for him."

"Yes, I'll speak to Pete about it," said Jack. "Come on."