The Radio Boys Under the Sea

promise, and listened with breathless at

untry, and to my mind a God-forsaken place, whose chief products are tarantulas, spiders, centipedes and scorpions. Most of the people are blacks or half-breeds, and of course revolutions are happening there every

oliceman to keep those little West Indian countries in order when they get a little too gay and frisky. At any rate, we've had a

There were plenty of these, and we had to watch our step, for they were bloodthirsty rascals and if any of our boys happened to fall into their hands it was all up with him

to and his skill in

ld Spaniard. He lived alone there, and somehow the idea had got out that he had money concealed about the place. The outlaws had felt so confident that they had everything their own way that they hadn't set any watch and we took them by surprise. T

sent the other fellows to report, and I stayed to nurse the old fellow. I didn't think he'd last out the next twenty-four hours, but he had surprising vital

as delirious. It seemed that he had never married and that he had no relative that he knew of in the world. He had lived there for years, doing a little farming on his gard

told me that he was going to give me something that would make me rich. I thought his mind was wandering again, but he pointed out a place under the flooring of the cabin and

terest at the package of papers tha

capital and he never had one dollar that he could lay on another. And he had been afraid to trust his secret to anyone else for fear that he would be either cheated or perhaps killed by those he might choose as partners. And so the years had dragged on and

isaging the scene of that forlorn old life coming to so

to the old man's revelations. I'd have thought the whole thing was simply a sick man's ravings if it hadn't been for the papers. They at least were real, something t

k to the nearest post. I was kept pretty busy for some

the mere routine duty called for. One day when I was off duty and time was hanging a little heavy on my hands, I thou

those countries I had picked up a good deal of the lingo, enough to get by with in ordinary conversation. But that didn

st, a fellow named Ramirez. He happened to be passing through the barracks just then on an erra

a while, and then I began to sit up and take notice. Believe me that by this time he was taking notice too. His hands were trembling, h

back my quarter and do it for nothing. But by that time I was wise to the mistake I had made and told him

church in which I had burned the candle. He was delighted at my sudden interest in what he called his 'beautiful mother tongue,' and did all he could to help me along. So in the course of

them I began to count the days before my present term should expire. I had made up my mind that I was going to take a chance. I might fail, but if I did

ced at the faces of his spellbound auditors, "that about brings me up

laces. I got tired of it at last and told him to keep out of my way or he'd be sorry for it. One night when we were camping out,

e and showed a deep sc

ok for the papers. Luckily they were at the bottom of my kit and the thief hadn't got to them when I woke up. Another thing that makes me think it was Ramirez is that the rascal disappeared from his us

nued, drawing his chair closer to the table,