"Who is it?" Bud asked. From where he stood he was unable to see. "Don't know yet. Looks familiar, though. Here he comes." "It's Joe Hawkins!" exclaimed Bud, as the horseman rode into view. "Hi, Joe--Mr. Hawkins, I mean." "Joe'll do, son," the deputy said with a smile as he dismounted. "Looks like you was havin' a convention here." "Just thinking things over," the Kid, who had walked up, explained. "Glad you came, Mr. Hawkins." "Thought that was you," Billee Dobb said, rising to his feet and removing the pipe from his mouth. "Seen you way off, and says to myself, bet that's Joe Hawkins." "You got good eyes," laughed the deputy. "Oh, it wasn't exactly my eyes. I had a hunch." "Billee Dobb is our official detective," Bud said with a grin. "Tell him about the hand-bill you copped, Billee." Explanations were in order, and with continuous interruptions the deputy finally heard the story of the cyclone and what followed. He questioned the boys as to the appearance and talk of Delton, and at last confessed that he must be the man wanted. "Though I didn't think they knew just who he was," Hawkins added. "All I knew was that the reward of two thousand was for the head of the smuggling system. So they got him spotted, have they? That means we won't have to work in the dark. It's a wonder the central office wouldn't give a man the whole story when they're about it, instead of lettin' it trickle through. Well, boys, it's time you knew what this smuggling is all about, hey?" CHAPTER XII THE STORY OF SMUGGLING "Between this country and Mexico," began the deputy, "there's a strip of land called the border--on one side U. S., and on the other Greaser-land. You know all about that. Across this border run several roads--passages into and from Mexico. And each of these roads is patroled by United States officers. "These men are placed there for a purpose, and one purpose among others is to prevent the illegal sending into the States of Chinamen. You see only so many foreigners from each nation are allowed to settle in the United States each year, and once that quota is reached, no more will be admitted. Naturally there are always men who want to come to the "Land of Plenty" and make their fortunes, but unless these men are within the quota for that year, they are forbidden to enter. All Chinese are forbidden entry and have been for several years. "But there are ways and means of getting around that situation. Suppose a Chinaman wants to become rich. The first thing he thinks about is America. All he has to do in America, he thinks, is to bend over and pick up the gold pieces that are lying in heaps all over the streets.