So he exclaimed, aloud:

"Fifty thousand dollars a year, Don Luis? You are jesting!"

"I beg to assure you that I am not," replied Montez, smiling and
bowing.

"But fifty thousand a year is princely pay!" cried Reade.

"Such pay goes, of course, only to the most satisfactory of employes,"
declared Don Luis.

"At such pay," Tom said, "Harry and I ought to be satisfied to
remain in Mexico all our lives."

"We shall see," nodded Montez. "But the sunlight is growing too
strong for my eyes. Suppose, _caballeros_, that we move into
the office?"

The others now rose and followed Don Luis.

"What on earth is Tom driving at?" Harry wondered. "He's stringing
Don Luis, of course, but to what end?"

Montez stood at the door of his office, indicating that the young
engineers pass in ahead of him. The instant they had done so
Montez turned to his secretary, whispering:

"Send my daughter here."