“I remembered that back in Santa Marta she told us she disliked bananas,” Willie related with a chuckle. “I couldn’t figure out why she carried a sack of ’em with her when she left the mine. I tried to take one from the bunch, and she set up an awful yip. That started me to thinking. So, we mashed up the bananas and found the prize emerald!”
“She’d been carrying gems that way for quite a while without being caught,” War added. “We turned the good emerald over to company officials. It’s top grade.”
“What did you learn about Ferd Baronni?” Ken questioned.
“Oh, he’s hooked up with Rhodes,” War answered. “In checking the books, company auditors found a lot of discrepancies. So Baronni’s been fired.”
“We learned too, that it was Baronni who hired that sled-boat operator to try to delay our trip to the mine,” contributed Willie. “He figured a big dose of trouble would discourage us from going on.”
In due time, the Scouts met company officials and learned first hand that Rhodes and his wife were to be shipped out of the country. Company representatives, grateful to the Explorers, also told them that they were to enjoy a three weeks’ vacation at the firm’s expense.
Mr. Livingston and the Scouts were put up at Bogota’s best hotel. Sightseeing trips, deluxe food and luxurious rooms were theirs at no cost.
Unfortunately, Mr. Corning could not remain with the party. Uneasy about the mine, he obtained a posse and set off at once for Emerald Valley.
For more than a week, the Scouts received no word. Then by messenger they were informed that Carlos had been captured and the stolen emeralds recovered. Mr. Corning notified them that he had reopened the mine, and would resume operations at the new site across the river.
The Scouts did not expect to see him again during their stay in Colombia. Therefore, it came as a pleasant surprise, when, three days before their scheduled departure by plane for the States, the engineer suddenly appeared at their hotel.
“I couldn’t let you fly off without saying goodbye,” he told them. “Not after all you did for me! We’re going to pack a lot of excitement into your last few days here.”
The engineer more than kept his word. He took the Scouts everywhere and constantly delighted them with new and interesting sights.
“If this gay life keeps up much longer we’ll be softies,” Jack asserted one afternoon on their final day in Bogota. “It’s been swell here, but I’ve had enough.”
“Same here,” warbled Willie. “Emerald hunting is okay, but give me the USA.”
“You know I catch myself thinking about that nice quiet camping trip to Minnesota,” admitted War sheepishly. “The one we always plan to take, and never do.”
“We’ll make it yet,” promised Mr. Livingston. “Next summer maybe.”
“Sounds great!” approved Ken, stretching luxuriously on the hotel sofa. “There’s only one drawback.”
“What’s that?” asked Jack.
“A vacation without bandits might seem dull.”
“Different anyhow,” contributed War.
“Maybe so,” drawled Jack. “All the same, it will seem mighty good to open that old Post log book again—to start once more where we left off.”
Thinking of the reunion they would have with their friends and fellow Scouts, the Explorers all became silent. Two wonderful vacations in South America had conditioned them to high adventure! And even more was in store.
Transcriber’s Notes
- Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
- Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged
- Retained the original’s inconsistent italicization of Spanish words.
- In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
- This eBook, following the printed version, inconsistently italicizes Spanish words.