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face crimson. He could not believe he
had made an error, even though he was
forced to confess to himself that he had
paid very little attention to Matthew
orman while aboard ship.
Gre whife-bearded old man glared at
yer~his gold-bowed spectacles,
then shh sek his shoulders and resemed
the perusal*of his pap
The more Con thought ‘his matter over,
the more troubled he
‘ “I’m not a fool,” he came near mutter-
ing aloud, “That man is the same one I
saw on the ship—I know it! He cant
fool me. But what’s the matter witn him
—why does he refuse to acknowledge his
name? Why should he say he doesn’t
understand English?. I saw him speak to
the captain of the Bolivia once, and I
was near enough to understand his words,
iI know he spoke good English then, Per-
aps he forgot how as soon as he reached
Jani
: Co: n imagined, he was no fool, and
it was not long before he noticed the old
gentleman was uneasy.’ He did not look
at the boy, but he seemed conscious Con
was watching him, and he shifted his
position several times.
“I'll bet you have been doing some-
thing crooked,” was the sudden thought
that flashed through the lad’s active
brain, “That explains the whole thing!
‘You are skipping out, and it’s ten to one
your name isn’t Matthew Norman at all.
You_probably shipped ° ihe Bolivia un-
der a’ fictitious are ouldn’t wonder
if you aresa defau
ahis thought swiftly grew to a convic-
nee
}
|
‘After a time, the gray-bearded gentle-
man arose, took ‘up his light mackintosh
and leather grip, and sauntered into the
next car.
‘e couldn’t stand it, and so he made a
foe han Soe teanlatnneed ons beni
oe Ge
E
P
m fell to watching the
‘For. 2 time it had some in-
terest, but its sameness soon made it
monotonous. The huts to be oceasionally
seen were mostly of sun-dried brick, and
the peones, many of whom were mounted’
on fine horses, all looked alike. Herds
of cattle were often seen.
The scenes at wayside stations were
rather enlivening. Various kinds of peo-
ple were to be seen, and the boy observed
that the Indian women were almost ine
variably smoking cigarettes.
After passing Junin,. the ‘yailroad ran
straight across * the’: great, desolate
Pampa. The interminable pastures were
dotted with cattle and w
ee nre ean bane rome ane Pe
jn
wn
i a ‘
4
_ @ucks were. plentiful, and black clouds of
’ crows could be seen. Once in awhile
vulture or eagle could be espied high up
é in the air, soaring gracefully along, on
, the lookout for a feast from the carcass
; of some unfortunate creature.
When he grew hungry, Con ordered
something of the waiter and had it
brought to him.
Toward night the plain grew more
* desolate and barren. Instead of fertile
ge pastures, they were in the midst o
a . desert, broken only by tufts of bunch-
$ grass and low dunes of yellow earth. The
| sun was still hot, and é pilinding, chok-
ing dust arose from th
‘kness came dcwn ‘at ieveth, but the
: train still oe onward across the wil
i and barren Pam:
: Con could not ‘afford the luxury ofa
berth in the sleeping-car, so he drowsed
away the night in his hard seat, troubled
by the most unpleasant dreams, through
5 all of which the white-bearded gentle-
2 man of the gold-bowed spectacles figured
prominently,
It seemed to Con that the old gentle-
- man had committed a terrible crime, and
was fleeing from justice. The dreaming
boy fancied he knew what the crime was,
and that the old gentleman became aware
of the fact that he knew it. Then Con’s
life was in the greatest danger, for the
criminal was determined to kill him.
These dreams made such a vivid im-
pression on the boy that he could not
shake off the effect of them when he
awoke and found it was early morning,
and they were in Villa Mercedes, where a
stop was to be made.
Yawning and stretching, Con wandered
out of the car. A’ chill
hen he reached the platform, for, in the.
duskish light of breaking day, he saw
the white-bearded gentleman standing a
short distance away, regarding Bim
close
The moment this mysterious man per-
ceived the boy had noticed him, he turned
away, assuming a nonchalant and pre-
occupied air; he was wearing the light
mackdatosh, and his leather grip was in
his
“rit “pot that old fellow thinks I a
after him,” Con mentally observed, “He
probably imagines I am a spy set to
watch his movements,
The boy found there was to be a long
*
POA
foc Tet
ran over him ©
GOLDEN
a
wait in Villa Mercedes, and so he started
out to stretch his limbs and see the
place.
It was too early for much stirring in
e town, which was laid out wit
straight streets and blocks ot uniform
dimensions, with a large plaza in the
centre,
‘on saw an occasional peone, on ‘foot®
or mounted, all of whom eyed him curi-
usly, some calling out a formal saluta-
tion. iw a.milkman, who was
mounted on a horse, with his huge cans
mounted'on either side; but the hour
was not favorable for the purpose of see-
ing the place.
Some way, as soon as he left the rail-
way station, Con fancied his footsteps
were dogged. This gave him an unpleas-
ant feeling, and he occasionally, cast..
hasty glances over his shoulder. Al-
though he saw nothing to confirm his
the feeling grew upon him
thrust his hand into the side
pocket of his coat and gripped the butt
of. ee revolver he car
ould hate to be. attacked here,”
he murmured, looking about and finding
imself in a desolate portion of the town.
“I reckon I have wandered into a bad
quarter. I'll turn back.
He wheeled sharply around. As be ala
80, €@ man came hastily around a ¢ T,
as if following him, and halt-halted * when
he saw the boy had turned.
The man wore a poncho, which con-
cealed a great deal of his figure, but it
immediately seemed to Con e
looked familiar, The lad stared at him
keenly, but the fellow turned his dark
face arey and pushed past, as if in a
great hur /
Something caused Con to halt and turn
is the wearer of the poncho passed, for
one of the man’s hands was concealed
beneath the gaudy blanket, and the boy
felt as if the hidden fingers grasped the
haft of a stilett
“Con had no desire to get the Jength of
a faite between his shoulders,
But the man did not halt or turn,
quickly vanishing beyond another corner.
rennet Scott!” said Con, speaking
(How much he seemed like Fel-
fpet But then, those ponchos make the
dark-faced tellows 1ook all alike,”
CHAPTER XX.
AN AMAZING DISCOVERY.
, HEN Con returned to the railway
W station he was amazed by the
fhange that had taken place in
urs. The place had ap-
peared atonal and deserted eee he left
it, but now it was overflowing with life.
A train had just come in from Villa
Maria, and the station was crowded.
The throng was strangely mixed. There
were gauchos, or native herdsmen, labor-
ers and farmers, ladies who wore very
Frenchy costumes, and men whose cra-
vats were made of the most gaudy and
showy material. Like the peones, the
Indian women were smoking cigarettes
everywhere, and no one but Con seemed
to think anything of it.
I @ restaurant a large number of
travelers were eating and drinking. The
room was very large, and at the farther
end from the main entrance was an as-
sortment of bottled ee and liquors that
astonished the boy, who not ex-
pected to see such things in the heart of
the Argentine Confederation.
Con immediately realized he was hun-
gry, and he sought and obtained a very
ood lunch, much better, he confessed to
himself, than could be found at most
railway restaurants in the United States.
These evidences of civilization and
comfort impressed the young traveler
greatly, for they had not been antici-
pated.
At length the hour for leaving Villa
Mercedes came, and Con was careful to
secure seat on the train. With a
strange thrill he noticed the car was
manufactured at Wilmington, Delaware,
and that knowledge made him feel more
at home in the rather uncomfortable
ea
* the scenery beyond Villa Mercedes
proved more variable and of greater in-
terest than it had been the day before.
The bare Pampa was broken by wild
hills, covered with timber, and beyond
the yellow Rio Quinto River, that was
sed by a suspension-bridge, the rail-
road, climbed a steep and steady grade,
which retarded the speed of the train for
jon
Finally the pleasant and hilly region
known as the Sierra de San Luis broke
upon the view.
t was then’ mid-day, and all the long
afternoon Con enjoyed the pleasant and
Pycturesaue views to be obtained from
window by which he sat.
tS engaged was hd with the prospect,
colored hue of a perfect summer
“daw!
- clouds,
HOURS
that he did not notice the white-bearded
old gentleman of e gold-bowed spec-
tacles when he passed through the car,
peering sharply about, as if looking for
,8ome one, until his eyes rested on Con.
This strange man went on into the
next car, where he sat down and lighted
® fragrant cigar, on which was the brand
a New York manufacturer.
* nother night came on, and again Cen
passed the uncomfortable hours in his
seat.
It was five o‘clock in the morning when
he was awakened ay the guard crying out
something in Span:
stretched his cramped limbs,
s ey, out on the rear plat-
L
fom ott the
ment new life seemed to leap
through | his veins. The country around
was most delightful, the barren plains
having been left far, far behind, dine \
s and wil
brooks, while rich vineyards and raed
expanses of tall corn were walled off
with erections of sun-dried earth,
The train was running directly to the
west, and, looking backward, the boy
could see the long, straight line of track
dwindling to a mere thread that seemed
to reach, almost to the very horizon,
which was now glowing with the rose-
's day
he stepped down on the lower
part of the platform, clinging to the
hand-rails and leaning out a bit to look
ab
A ery broke from his lips.
He had his first view of the Ande:
Those mountain monarens thrust “thete
heads, hoary-white, above the very
The snow-capped peaks and up-
per spurs were gilded with the golden
rays of the sun, while the lower ridges
slept in purple-blue semi-obscurity. Then
the awe-struck boy w the sun had
already risen for the mountain-tops, al-
though it was still invisible from the
valleys at their feet. Never in all his
life had he witnessed such a. beautiful,
grand and impressive spectacle as the
sight of those mighty mountains in the
first flush of golden dawn.
A short time later, Mendoza, lying at
the very feet was
had come to
the terminus of his journey by rail.
Only the mountains lay between him
and the land he sought—the land where
he hoped to find his father.
Strangely enough, it had never: oc-
curred to the brave lad that he might
find his father and wa be unable to cope
with their powerful f
As he stepped from “the train he fairly
brushed ‘against the mysterious old man
of the snowy beard.
Con drew back. a creepy feeling going
over him, but the other did not seem to
note his presence at all, pushing on
through the thick crowd gathered on the
platform, and soon being lost to the lad’s
“There,” thought Con, “I ao hope that
is the last I'll ever see of y
But it was not to be the “Nast, by any ~~
means. man was destined to
eling to.the boy like an evil genius,
© boy hurried out into the town, re-
solved to obtain breakfast and immedi-
‘ately seek for a caravan bound across the
mountains. The only thing he feared
was that he would find no train bound in
the direction he must pursue, and that
he would have to wait in Mendoza for
lays or even weeks. He was certain to
strike a caravan in time, but he could
not bear to think of unnecessary delay,
Like other towns he had seen since
getting into South America, Mendoza was
laid off into regular streets and checker-
board blocks; but, instead of one plaza,
he found half a dozen scattered about.
The streets were lined with poplar- ere
and everything looked green and brig!
It-was almost a city of“gardens, Tans
ning water was to be seen in every gut-
ter, and, in places, an open canal ran
beneath the sidewalk, which. was built
of planking.
In looking about, Con found himself on
the Calle San Martin, which, at that
hour, although the heat was already be- |
ginning to be intense, presented a rather
lively aspect. He beheld bullock-carts,
on which were being hauled bales of
pressed hay, wagons to which three
mules were harnessed abreast, and t:
horse cabs whirling wildly along the
street, raising clouds of
The people to be seen were interesting,
Mountain guides and mule-drivers were
athered in groups, and gauchos were
riding up and down, seeming proud of
their enormous spurs and the gaudy
mountings of silver and gold on their
stirrups and saddles. .All wore ponchos,
which were of various brilliant colors,
giving «the horsemen a gorgeous appear-
ovthe women on the sidewalks were mar-
,
15
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