"Well, we'll look into this later on," said the officer. "Just now we've got to travel down this hill and see what Ned Nestor is about."The officer talked with his men in whispers for some moments, and Jimmie saw that they were all anxious about something. Finally, directing two of his men to remain under arms at the tents, he set off down the mountain with the other four. As they disappeared Jimmie beckoned the drummer aside.
"What do they want of Ned Nestor?" he asked.
"They want some information he has," was the reply. "They were sent here to confer with him. Did you think they were Greasers because they wore the ragged clothes over their good ones? Huh! They had to do that, and talk Spanish, too, in order to get in here. The insurrectos think they're new recruits.""Who are they? asked Jimmie. "What do they want to see Nestor for?""They are United States secret service men," was the reply. "They are here on a clue provided by Nestor, and they want to confer with him, as I said before.""Jere!" cried Jimmie. "I didn't know that Ned was in partnership with the United States army. What is it all about?""You'll have to ask Ned," was the unsatisfactory reply. "He has been keeping the wires to Washington hot ever since he left New York, and these men were sent here at his request. There's something doing here, but I don't know what it is.""I thought they were here to arrest Fremont," said Jimmie. "If I had known who they were, I wouldn't have lied about the boy. I said his name was Smith.""Oh, it is George Fremont, is it?" asked the drummer. "That is the boy wanted for robbery and attempted murder in New York. Did Nestor bring him here?""Yes," was the reply. "He wanted to keep him away from the officers until the truth is known. Now he's gone and left us, and Fremont has been captured.""Perhaps United States officers captured him," suggested the drummer.
"If so, he is now on his way back to New York. I'm sorry.""I don't believe civil officers got in here," said Jimmie. "When the secret service men come back, I'm goin' to ask them to help find him.
I recon, now, that the Greasers caught him. I hope so, that is, Iwould rather they would have him than the others. We may get him away from the Greasers, but we couldn't get him away from officers."A new view of the incident was now presented by one of the secret service men, who began questioning Jimmie about the boy he had called Smith. The boy thought best to tell him the truth, and did so.
It may be all right," the secret service man said, after hearing the story. It strikes me that the Greasers mistook Fremont for Nestor. In that case, they may release him as soon as they discover their mistake.""Don't you ever think that," the other man cut in. "They are more likely to stand him up against a wall and shoot him. When the lieutenant comes back we'll see what can be done about it.""But why should the Greasers want to capture Ned Nestor?" demanded Jimmie. "You said they might have mistaken Fremont for Ned.""I can imagine that the man responsible for this gathering is interested in papers Nestor has," was the reply.
