Page:The Campaign of the Jungle.djvu/343

Rh out a white flag, eyed him suspiciously. "How do you know that Señor Lupez is here?" he questioned slowly.

"I know it, and I want to see him at once," returned Ben, sharply.

"He is—is not here—he—he went away this morning," came with much hesitation.

"Don't ye believe him, captain," put in Dan Casey, who was in the detachment.

"I will search the house," said Ben, quietly.

The keeper of the boarding-place protested, but his protest was of no avail. The house was searched from top to bottom, and in a back wing they found Benedicto Lupez in bed, suffering from a badly injured leg, the result of trying to ride a half-broken horse which the insurgents had captured from the Americans. He greeted the visitors with a villanous scowl.

At first he tried to deny his identity, but the Americans had been furnished with his photograph, and a wart on his forehead proved a clew that was conclusive. At once his effects were searched, and under his pillow was found a leather bag containing fifty thousand dollars in gold and in American bank bills.