"Yes. Right at once." "The men are ready. From the mine we might almost be seen here. This delay--" "Coming, Rausch." * * * * * But he lingered a moment more. "Hans, my finder will show you what I do. Keep watch. When we come back, have all ready for flight. This Grant had an alarm-detector. Heaven only knows what eavesdropping and relaying he has done. And for sure there is hell now in Spawn's garden. The Nareda police are there, of course. They might track us up here." He paused before me. "I think I would not cause trouble, Grant." "I'm not a fool." "Perhaps not." He turned to Jetta. "No harm will come to you. Fear nothing." He wound his dark cloak about his giant figure and left the control room. In a moment, through the rounded observing pane beside me, I saw him outside on the moonlit rocks. His men gathered about him. There were forty of them, possibly, with ten or so left here aboard to guard the flyer. And in another moment the group of dark-cloaked figures outside crept off in single file like a slithering serpent, moving down the rock defile toward where in the cauldron pit the lights of the mine shone on its dark silent buildings. CHAPTER XII _The Attack on the Mine_ There was a moment when I had an opportunity to speak with Jetta. Gutierrez sat watchfully by the archway corridor entrance with a needle projector across his knees. The fellow Hans, a big, heavy-set half-breed Dutchman with a wide-collared leather jerkin and wide, knee-length pantaloons, laid his weapon carefully aside and busied himself with his image mirror. There would soon be images upon it, I knew: De Boer had the lens-finder on his forehead, and the scenes at the mine, as De Boer saw them would be flashed back to us here. This Gutierrez was very watchful. A move on my part and I knew he would fling a needle through me. My thoughts flew. Hanley had notified Porto Rico. The patrol-ship had almost enough time to get here by now. I felt Jetta plucking at me. She whispered: "They have gone to attack the mine." "Yes." "I heard it planned. Señor Perona--" Her hurried whispers told me further details of Perona's scheme. So this was a pseudo attack! Perona would take advantage of it and hide the quicksilver. De Boer would return presently and escape. And hold me for ransom. I chuckled grimly. Not so easy for a bandit, even one as clever as De Boer at hiding in the Lowland depths to arrange a ransom for an agent of the United States. Our entire Lowland patrol would be after him in a day. * * * * * Jetta's swift whispers made it all clear to me. It was Perona's scheme. She ended, "And my father--" Her voice broke; her eyes flooded suddenly with tears "Oh, Philip, he was good to me, my poor father." I saw that the mirror before Hans was glowing with its coming image. I pressed Jetta's hand. "Yes, Jetta."