With one accord, the boys moved to the door and peered through. In a far corner was a table. There, a man was going through a stack of papers that he evidently had taken from a suitcase which was lying on the bed, for he was putting the papers back into it as fast as he weeded out the few he wanted.

The sunlight was still strong at the window near the table. Biff and Mike noticed that the man was wearing a costume identical with those of the musicians who had pa.s.sed by on the street below.

Moments later, the strum of guitars floated through the window. It was music typical of mariachis, and the man at the desk took it as a signal. He tossed the remaining papers into the suitcase, glancing at the last few as he did.

Except for that, the boys would have been none the wiser. As it was, the man turned his face into the sunlight before removing his heavy-rimmed reading gla.s.ses.

They gave his face a solemn, owlish expression that could not be mistaken. The intruder in Kirby's hotel room, this man who posed as a strolling musician, was Judge Arista's secretary, Jose Ramonez!

CHAPTER X.

Mike to the Rescue IF RAMONEZ had headed directly toward the door, he would have caught Biff and Mike flat-footed. Instead, he moved quickly to the back of the room, brushed aside a curtain that looked like the entrance to a closet, and opened a door at the back. The boys promptly realized what had happened, for they caught a glimpse of the door as Ramonez closed it behind him.

Outside, the guitars were thrumming louder. There was a pipe of a flute and a beat of a drum, indicating that more musicians had joined the group. That was the way with the mariachis. But this time, it was something out of the ordinary.

"Kirby must be coming back," Biff told Mike. "That was the signal to Ramonez."

85.

86 .

"Come on then!" Mike gestured toward the stairway. "Let's get out while we have a chance."

"The back way is better," said Biff, moving toward the curtained closet. "Then we may be able to follow Ramonez."

Mike hesitated, then offered a quick compromise.

"You go that way," he told Biff. "I'll go out through the front. If I can't make it, I'll double back here."

"Good enough."

Biff reached the closet, drew the curtain shut, all but the very edge. He waited, knowing that the next minute would tell the tale. Biff found the k.n.o.b of the door at the back of the closet, ready for a quick exit if Mike came scurrying back, as Biff half expected that he would.

Soon, heavy footsteps sounded in the hall. Past the curtain's edge, Biff saw the bulky figure of Justin Kirby entering the door, followed by a stocky Mexican who was also in a ranchero's costume.

Biff knew then that Mike must have reached the front door safely. He felt safe enough himself, for the moment, here behind this curtain, with the hidden door so handy. Since Kirby was talking to his companion, Biff decided to wait and hear what they had to say.

"Somebody left the door unlocked," Kirby was grumbling, "but there's nothing to steal here anyway. Nothing except some no good mining stock and a lot MIKE TO THE RESCUE 87.

of letters. But I still don't like it. You understand, *Pablo?"

Kirby was speaking in English, but Pablo apparently understood, for he responded, "Si, Senor." Then, with a short laugh, Kirby added: "The one thing they won't find is money. I paid all I had to those mule drivers of yours, and they still want more. They'll get it later, but meanwhile you've got to keep them happy."

"Si, Senor Kirby. Yo lo entiendo. I understand."

The sunlight was lessening, but Biff could still see Kirby's figure plainly outlined against the window, where the big man had suddenly found his suitcase open on the bed. Angrily, Kirby began pawing through the papers. Then he stopped and strode to the hallway, where he bellowed: "Alvaro! Suba usted!"

He was calling for someone named Alvaro to come up, and while Biff watched tensely, the innkeeper appeared from the hallway. By then, Kirby was back at the suitcase, sorting its contents. As soon as he saw Alvaro, he stormed: "Somebody has stolen some of my papers. Who has been up here?"

Biff decided this was the time to ease out. Kirby's attention was focussed on Alvaro, who was trying to stammer a reply. So Biff gave the door a gentle shove with his shoulder. At first it didn't budge, so he 88 .

made sure he had turned the k.n.o.b to the full extent. Biff pushed again, but the door seemed stuck, so even at the risk of a slight noise, he drove his full weight forcibly against it.

Again, it refused to budge. That hidden door was more than stuck. In sudden horror, Biff realized that it was solidly bolted from the other side. Ramonez had been smart enough to cut off any pursuit through this little-used exit. His foresight had turned the closet into a trap for Biff!

Grimly, Biff wondered what to do next. The answer was simple: Nothing. He could only wait here, hoping that Kirby would go out again, leaving the way clear to the hallway door, or to the window, if Kirby locked that door behind him. The window had bars, to prevent people from climbing through it from outside; but Biff felt that from the inside, he might squeeze out, if he tried long enough.

Unfortunately, he wasn't going to have that opportunity. Things were taking a real bad turn, right now.

Alvaro had remembered Kirby's most recent visitor.

"There was a young man who asked for you only a little while ago," Alvaro told Kirby. The innkeeper was speaking in Spanish, but slowly, to impress his words on Kirby. So they were plain enough to Biff, in fact, too plain.

"He asked for you, Senor Kirby," the innkeeper continued, "and I told him you would be back after MIKE TO THE RESCUE 89.

dinner. He wanted to know the number of your room, so I told him."

"And he came up here?"

"That I would not know for certain. All I can say was, I did not see him go out. I was sleepy, senor, because I had missed my siesta-"

"You are always sleepy!" snapped Kirby. "You were asleep when I came in just now."

"I am sorry, senor."

Biff realized that Mike must have managed to sneak upstairs without the innkeeper seeing him. Not only that, Mike had managed to slip by the drowsing man when he went down again. So far as Alvaro knew, Mike might still be up here.

"What did this young man look like?" demanded Kirby. "Did he have light hair? Was he an American -about sixteen or seventeen years old?"

"No, senor," replied Alvaro. "He had dark hair and he was Mexican, very well spoken. His age-maybe about what you have said."

The innkeeper was describing Mike, not Biff. But that did not help the situation. If anything, it stirred Kirby more.

"Whatever he looks like," the big man boomed, "if he came up here, he is still here. There's just one place he would be, in the closet behind that curtain."

Cold perspiration was forming on Biff's forehead. Despite the stuffy warmth of the closet, he felt chilled, 90 .

almost frozen as he pressed back against the locked door. There were some clothes hanging at the side of the closet, so Biff tried to edge behind them, only to realize that they would not help much if Kirby whisked away the curtain. Unquestionably, Biff would be discovered.

But Kirby had other ideas. He had shifted his position, for Biff could hear him speaking loudly, harshly, from near the hallway door.

"Come out of there!" Kirby ordered. "I have a gun here, and I'm going to let it blast if you don't show yourself. Come out-p.r.o.nto!"

Gripped by sudden hesitation, Biff waited too long. He heard what sounded like the click of a revolver hammer. He sensed that if he moved now, it would be too late; that Kirby would fire anyway. With a sinking feeling, Biff wished that the door behind him would open.

With that, the door gave. Biff did more than sink, he sprawled backward, down some short steps. There, his fall was stopped abruptly by another figure who came up to meet him halfway. In the gloom, Biff saw his rescuer.

"Mike!" gasped Biff. "Get that door shut-"

Mike didn't need the admonition. At that moment, Kirby, annoyed by the delay, cut loose with his gun. He fired one shot high, perhaps as a final warning. Its MIKE TO THE RESCUE 91.

bullet plowed through the top of the door as Mike was closing it. Then, crouched on the steps, Mike reached up and shoved a big bolt shut.

"This way!" Mike hissed, pointing to another door. "It will take us out the back!"

Kirby had fired another shot, this one a little lower. The boys could hear the m.u.f.fled report, with the splintering of wood above their heads. With that, Kirby must have rushed into the closet, hoping to find someone there, for they could hear him stamping about, shouting, "Es un tonto, muy loco!"

By then, Biff and Mike had reached the back alley, which was almost at the level of the second floor. Mike chuckled. "Kirby is calling the innkeeper a fool and a very crazy one."

"I guess that would apply to me, too," rejoined Biff ruefully. "What a sweatbox that place was-and here I am, shivering with chills!"

"Don't blame yourself," said Mike. "How were you to know that Ramonez had bolted the door behind him? I didn't guess it myself, until I got back here."

They had reached a narrow, cobbled pa.s.sage that ran between the hotel and the next building. Mike guided Biff down the steep grade to the front street. The pa.s.sage was almost dark, as the building cut off the fading sunlight.

"I ducked up through here," explained Mike, "in 92 .

order to avoid Kirby on the front street. Then I couldn't figure which way you'd gone, so I looked in the back door."

"And then," added Biff, "you found that I just hadn't gone anywhere."

The boys gazed cautiously along the front street when they reached it. The mariachis had gone; only the fruit seller was there, flanked by the big bunches of bananas. Nonchalantly, Biff and Mike walked pa.s.s the open doorway beneath the sign that depicted the charging red bull. All was quiet within, indicating that Kirby and the innkeeper were still arguing things out, up in room 24.

As the boys threaded their way through the narrow streets, they glimpsed occasional musicians, but none looked like Ramonez. One man was carrying a tall, cylindrical drum with a skin head, which he thumped rythmically as he stalked along to join his companions.

"A huehuetl," said Mike. He p.r.o.nounced it "way-way-tel," and he was referring to the drum. "The mariachis use them in the villages around Mexico City. I wonder if those musicians were carrying one when they went past my uncle's house."

"Why?" inquired Biff, a bit puzzled.

"Because they could have stowed the Tizoc costume in it," declared Mike. "Mask, robe, knife and all-"

MIKE TO THE RESCUE 93.

They were turning a final corner as Mike spoke. Ahead were steep, narrow steps, leading up past an old adobe wall. The last gleam of the setting sun was focussed on that one spot, as Biff exclaimed: "Speaking of Tizoc-look there!"

Mike looked. Like Biff, he saw the brilliance of a golden robe, the sparkle of a jeweled mask above it, the glint of a gla.s.s knife blade poised in a gilt-gloved hand. Again, the menacing figure of Tizoc was prepared to strike!

CHAPTER XI.

Danger Below!

THIS time it was Biff who pulled Mike to a place of safety, returning the favor of half an hour earlier. The Tizoc of old was famous for his eagle eye, but whether he could have spied the two boys in the gathering dusk was still a question. The modern "Tizoc" most certainly did not see them, thanks to the speed with which Biff drew Mike into the last doorway along the steep street.

They waited, breathless, ready to dodge for other safety in case Tizoc came down the steps and invaded their chance shelter. Tizoc, armed with that crude but long-bladed knife, was far too dangerous for the boys to tackle, as they remembered from the fight that they had waged in the dark at Judge Arista's. Here, there was still enough light to give Tizoc all the advantage. 94 DANGER BELOW1 95.

But Tizoc did not come their way. When they looked again, the masked figure was gone from the top of the steps. Evidently, he had skirted the adobe wall to reach another street down to the village, if that happened to be his destination.

Biff and Mike took advantage of the break. They raced up the darkening steps, pausing long enough at the top to take a last look for Tizoc. There was no sign of him in the dusk, so they kept on up to the Hotel Pico. It was dark when they reached there, so suddenly had the sun dropped beyond the mountains. Below, El Cielo was a twinkle of lights as if welcoming Tizoc home.

Mr. Brewster was in the patio, going over the rough diagrams that Bortha had made and making calculations of his own. He listened as Biff and Mike excitedly related their recent adventures. The near-meeting with Tizoc particularly impressed him.

"I want Professor Bortha to hear about that," Mr. Brewster declared. "He is over at the excavation watching for Tizoc to return there. Instead, Tizoc must have decided to throw a scare into the village."

They were having a lavish dinner of mole de guajolote, an Aztec dish of turkey with a special piquant sauce, when Professor Bortha arrived and joined them at the table. When Mr. Brewster told him the news, Bortha's usually firm-set face showed marked annoyance.

96 .

"This Tizoc seems to be avoiding me," a.s.serted the professor. "I was still on the train coming into Mexico City, the night he appeared at Judge Arista's home. When I was dictating my notes here at the hotel, Tizoc was at the excavation, undermining Dr. La Vega's cabin. Then when I go over there to look for him, he shows up in El Cielo."

"He has certaintly given you the run-around," agreed Mr. Brewster. "But why?"

"You might better ask, 'But who?' He is probably someone who is afraid that I would recognize him if I met him face to face, mask or no mask."

"And you think that would be-"

"Justin Kirby," completed Bortha. "He's made trouble for Dr. La Vega and myself from the very start. He was in Mexico City when the Tizoc costume was stolen there. He was here in El Cielo when the cave-in occurred. Tizoc was seen this evening, and Kirby is still in town. That about settles it."

Mr. Brewster was not convinced on that point.

"The same applies to Jose Ramonez," he reminded the other man. "He was close by when the theft occurred at Judge Arista's. Now the boys say that he is here with the mariachis, which is doubly suspicious."

"Yes," agreed Bortha, "Ramonez could be turning the Kirby situation to his own advantage. He knew all about it from my reports. But whichever one is Tizoc, he may be fooling himself about the lost treas- DANGER BELOW! 97.

ure of the Aztecs. Dr. La Vega and I still have no positive proof that we are digging at the spot where it is buried, provided there is such treasure."

"Those tunnels must lead somewhere," insisted Mr. Brewster, "and I doubt that any gold or copper was found there. They were probably made to look like a worked-out mine, just so that anyone who found it would ignore it. I was telling that to Dr. La Vega when the cave-in came."

After dinner, Biff and Mike discussed the question between themselves.

"I'm more suspicous of Kirby," declared Biff. "Tizoc was tough when he came at me in the dark at your uncle's house, and Kirby was tough, too. Both times, I felt the same sort of shivers."