The Radio Boys on the Mexican Border | Page 8

him threshing around just
as I came up to the top of the bank. Then you fell and held on tight and
the coat was pulled from him."
"Yes, I guess that's the way it happened," assented Bob. "Well, I'd
rather have had the fellow. This isn't any good to me." And he tossed
the coat away contemptuously.
"Not so fast, Bob," said Frank, stooping to pick up the garment. "Let's
see what's in the pockets. There may be a clue as to the man's identity."
"That's right, Frank," said Mr. Temple. "Search it well. And, Bob, did
you notice the license number of the car? We can telephone and have it
intercepted."
"No," confessed Bob. "I was too busy to get that."
Frank interrupted the conversation with a shout of delight. "Look at
this," he cried, holding up a long strip of paper. "Return trip ticket to
Ransome, New Mexico. And a wallet with a big bunch of bills in it.
And here, what's this?" he added, holding up a thick, legal-looking
envelope. "Why, Mr. Hampton's name is written on it."

"Let me have that, Frank," said Mr. Temple, extending his hand. Frank
passed him the envelope. Mr. Temple noted the seal had been broken,
and opening it he pulled out a thick document down which he ran his
glance hurriedly. Then his face became grave.
"Boys," he said, "Mr. Hampton has many things of value in his home,
but this was the most valuable of all." Briefly he explained the paper
contained a list of names of "independents" in the oil field, together
with other information, which would give the Octopus a very great
advantage in the business war between the Oil Trust and the
"independents" if the document fell into its hands.
"This is pretty serious business, boys," Mr. Temple continued. "Bob,
you were very rash, but you did a good stroke of business that time.
Come," he added, "we'll go back to the house, and call up the police.
Maybe that car can be stopped and its occupants arrested."
As they turned through the woods, another thought occurred to Mr.
Temple, and he asked Frank what was the name of the man to whom
the railroad ticket had been issued.
"Jose Morales," read Frank. "This is the portion for the return trip from
New York. Evidently the man came from--why, Mr. Temple, he came
here from Ransome, New Mexico. That's the nearest station on the
railroad to the Hampton's camp."
"You're right, my boy," said Mr. Temple gravely. "There is some
mystery here."
Frank thwacked Bob gleefully on the back. "Say, Bob," he declared,
"old Jack isn't having all the fun after all, is he?"
CHAPTER IV
SHOTS AT THE STATION
"Boys," said Mr. Temple, when the Temple home, a short distance
from the Hampton place, was reached, "come into the library with me. I

want to have a serious talk with you."
Obediently, Bob and Frank filed into the room and sat down in deep
leather armchairs, while Mr. Temple sat back in a swinging chair by his
broad, flat-topped desk. Selecting a cigar from the humidor at his
elbow, he lighted it and puffed thoughtfully several moments before
addressing the chums.
"First of all," he said at the conclusion of this period of silence, "I've
decided that we will not notify the police of this affair."
"Why not, Dad?" demanded Bob in surprise.
"We want to keep this matter to ourselves until we can see more clearly
what it means," explained Mr. Temple. "We recovered what was stolen,
anyhow. But more than that, I begin to suspect there is something more
behind all this than mere business rivalry between the independent oil
operators and the Trust."
"What do you mean, Uncle George?" asked Frank, puzzled.
"Well, boys, I'll tell you," said Mr. Temple, speaking deliberately and
thoughtfully. "In the first place I know the men at the head of the
so-called Octopus. They are keen business men and quick to seize
every legitimate advantage. But they are above such unscrupulous
tactics as this.
"I know the signs point to them as the instigator of our troubles at Mr.
Hampton's camp and then here today. But those signs point to
something else, too. If you will recall, Jack said the fellows who raided
the Hamptons today, or rather tried to do so but failed, were Mexicans.
And this man who entered the Hampton house today was a Mexican,
too. What was his name, Frank?"
"Morales. Jose Morales," said Frank, promptly.
"Yes, Jose Morales," said Mr. Temple. "Well, I believe that certain
Mexicans are responsible for our troubles, and not our business rivals,

at all."
"What in the world?" said Bob, puzzled.
"But why, Uncle George?" demanded Frank.
"In order to make trouble between the United States and Mexico,"