nedham’s pulque drinking had completely shattered his nerves and the effects of the liquor combined with the revelation of josé cerro had well nigh made a physical wreck of the assistant engineer. indeed, as he stood in the center of the room in mr. ryder’s cottage, where he had been brought by lyman and captain alvarez, he swayed backward and forward, and if jack had not brought him a chair in all probability he would have collapsed completely.
he looked at his inquisitors with staring bloodshot eyes, and his fingers worked nervously at the buttons on the front of his shirt. his condition was pitiable and jack and mr. ryder both felt sincerely sorry for him.
“nedham, where are those plans you stole[217] from my desk! you are the thief, aren’t you?” demanded mr. ryder.
“plans?” said nedham, trying his best to feign ignorance. “what plans? i—i—know—”
“stop,” roared the engineer, “don’t lie, we know you are the guilty man.”
“i tell you—i—i—oh, god, yes, yes, i did it! it’s true.” nedham could control his shattered nerves no longer. he broke down completely. “i stole the plans! i stole them! they are under the mattress of my bed! they’ve been haunting me ever since i took them! curse the things! if i had had the courage i’d have burned them long ago! i did the rest too! i crippled the generators! i smashed the searchlight! i offered the three thousand pesos for your capture! i did it all—all—and now, thank goodness, i’ve confessed! it’s all over! the strain! the strain! it was horrible! i had to get drunk—beastly drunk.”
thus he raved until he was almost completely exhausted, and his physical self, unable to bear the strain any longer, caved in completely.[218] his head dropped forward on his chest and his hands fell helplessly over the arms of the chair. he was unconscious for nearly a quarter of an hour and it was only by administering violent restoratives that jack and the engineer managed to make the man himself once more.
for some time the four sat staring at the helpless engineer. finally mr. ryder spoke.
“why did you do this deviltry, nedham?” he asked with a trace of disappointment in his voice.
“i—i—well i was ambitious—and—i guess a little jealous of you too,” said nedham weakly. “you know you only beat me out by two points in the competition for chief engineer and—well—i couldn’t help feeling bitter toward you. i wanted your job, and i wanted it badly, and from the time you appointed me your assistant i started to scheme ways of getting you out.”
“but what good would all your plant-wrecking have done? why did you put sand in the generators and disrupt the place in general?” queried the engineer.
[219]
“well, first off i hoped to frighten you into resigning. i—i—thought perhaps when you found you had traitors among the men at the plant you might fear for your own safety and resign, but when i learned how angry huerta grew with each new occurrence and how often he called you on the telephone and raised the devil with you i saw a new way of getting your job. i concluded that if the trouble was kept up long enough the president would dismiss you entirely as an incompetent manager and put me in charge. the day they called you down to mexico city and had you up before the directors i felt mighty confident that you would not last long.
“you brought this youngster back with you and from then on my plans began to go wrong. i saw you two pass the office the first night jack was here. i followed you into the generating room and hid behind one of the machines. i saw you sprinkle the cement dust and i knew you were setting a trap. but as i watched it suddenly occurred to me that you were unconsciously giving me a capital opportunity of throwing you off the trail entirely.[220] thereafter i decided to work with my feet bared so that you would think a peon was doing the damage. i forgot completely about the scar on my heel until it was too late.”
“but the plans; the drawings of the lightning arrester. how did you even know of their existence? i kept my work on that appliance very secret indeed,” interrupted mr. ryder.
“well, after i watched you set your trap i followed you back to the cottage for i was curious to hear what you might have to say about the situation. i saw the bundle of drawings drop from your shirt. also i saw where you put them. and although i did not have the slightest idea what the plans were about i decided that so long as i had gone that far i might just as well take a look at your private papers too. i thought perhaps they were orders or instructions you had received from huerta that day.
“i waited until you were both sound asleep, and slipped into the room and opened your desk. it did not take me long to learn that the papers were drawings of a lightning arrester[221] of a type i had never seen before. then it occurred to me that the appliance was one of your own invention. i looked for patent marks and could find none and on the impulse of the moment i slipped the yellow envelope into my pocket and went back to the plant. i figured that i had made a double coup, for if you were to build that lightning arrester and install it here you would win the favor of president huerta and consequently my efforts would all be wasted. also i was dishonest enough to think that perhaps i could easily secure a patent on the appliance in my own name when i finally got you out of the way.”
“nedham! i never would believe it of you,” said the engineer reproachfully.
“don’t, don’t, please don’t reproach me, heaven only knows where my manhood has gone to,” cried nedham in agony.
“and do you mean to say that you deliberately brought on battle and caused hundreds of lives to be sacrificed merely to get me out of my position?” asked mr. ryder incredulously.
“yes, yes, i did. i offered josé cerro three thousand pesos to get you out of the way. i[222] did not want you killed. no, no, i was not as base as that. i merely wanted you captured and kept a prisoner so long that when you were finally released i would be safely intrenched here and in the favor of the president to such an extent that you could never regain your position. josé cerro thought an attack the only way to get you, and i smashed the searchlight and did everything else to help him. oh, it was villainous work, i know. heaven forgive me, i must have been mad.”
the three americans present were utterly amazed at the man’s treachery, but captain alvarez did not understand fully, for his knowledge of english was so meager that he could not follow the strange recital in every detail. when the story was translated for his benefit, however, his fiery temper became aroused to such a pitch that the three americans could hardly restrain him from rushing at the helpless assistant engineer and beating him senseless with his fist.
“the dog! the traitor!” roared the mexican in spanish. “he should be killed! he should face the firing squad! come, drag him[223] out! we will shoot him! we will shoot him!”
“no! no!” shrieked nedham, a look of horror coming into his ashen face. “no! no! you cannot kill me! you cannot shoot me! i am an american citizen!”
“he is right,” said mr. ryder. “we cannot execute him without bringing on international complications that would be distasteful to president huerta. no, we can’t shoot him, even though he does deserve it. but we can expel him from the republic of mexico. put him in the guardhouse, captain alvarez, and this afternoon we will ship him to mexico city with the rest of our prisoners. we can turn him over to the authorities there and request that he be sent out of the country immediately.”
a look of relief spread over nedham’s face when he heard mr. ryder’s opinion.
“oh, never fear, i’m only too willing to be quit of this country. i can’t see how any man can keep straight in this hole of iniquity.”
“it was not a hole of iniquity until treacherous villains of your stamp came into it,” retorted[224] mr. ryder. then turning to captain alvarez he said, “call in your trooper and have him taken to the guardhouse. the train for mexico city will be made up as soon as possible. in the meantime you and lyman stay here and sample one of tom why’s excellent dinners. things have gone so far to the devil lately that i haven’t had time to enjoy a good dinner myself. after dinner i’ll accompany you to mexico city for i will have to make a report of this whole matter to our directors. i guess the plant will be safe enough in the hands of my new assistant, mr. lyman.”
the night operator’s face beamed when he heard, thus abruptly, of his promotion and he blushed like a schoolboy when jack and captain alvarez congratulated him.
“i envy you,” said jack straw heartily, “for there’s nothing i’d like more than to be connected with a huge generating station like this.”
“well, we’ve room for a boy here, and we could teach you a great deal about the electrical industry. why don’t you apply for a position,” said lyman meaningly, at the same[225] time glancing in the direction of mr. ryder.
“oh, no,” said the lad from vermont, “i’ve already been away from drueryville a month and i think it is about time i hurried back. in fact, i’ve decided to go in on the train this afternoon with mr. ryder. some day after i have acquired a real training at ‘sheff.’ or some other engineering school i may visit necaxa again. who knows?”
“well, if we are still here you can be certain of a welcome, my boy,” said mr. ryder heartily.
