CHAPTER XXI
TRUJILLO IDENTIFIED
When Trujillo announced that he was indeed the lad portrayed in the painting, now grown, Betsy Clossen was overjoyed that she had unraveled the mystery as she had so desired. Notwithstanding the fact that the Spanish youth closely resembled the portrait of the boy in the picture hanging directly above his head, not one of the other young people had observed this.
“Oh, I am so glad!” Babs joyfully exclaimed. “Now you will take all this furniture away, won’t you? Because it really belongs to your family, you know. Mrs. Dartley said that Don Carlos Spinoza asked permission to leave this room furnished, promising to remove everything in it at his first opportunity. That being so long ago we feared no one was ever coming to claim it.”
Before the Spanish lad could reply, Peyton asked: “Trujillo, why did you not tell me at once who you were?”
“Merely because I did not know that I had reached the ranch which had formerly belonged to my grandfather. I believed it to be miles north of here. But, let me begin at the beginning of my story. When we left this place years ago with my grandfather, Don Carlos Spinoza, we all went to Spain, where we remained until recently. The sudden death of my grandfather followed by a financial crash left my mother, sister and me almost penniless. It was then that mother told me that I, as the only living grandson, was really the owner of a large estate in Mexico, which had been a gift to my ancestors from the king of Spain and that this land grant could not be confiscated nor sold except with the signed consent of the heir thereto.
“When I inquired why they had left this rich heritage, for the estate is in Sonora and the mines are of great value, mother told me, for the first time, that we had been political exiles from Mexico. However, she believed that the government had been completely changed and that we might now return with safety and take possession of the land of our fathers. Soon after this we set sail for America, and my mother and sister are now in Mexico awaiting my return.”
“But Trujillo, even yet I do not understand the reason for your sojourn here as my overseer,” Peyton said.
The Spanish youth smiled. “No, but you will as I continue my story. When we reached Mexico City we were welcomed by old friends of the family, who informed us that soon after our flight our estate had been confiscated and occupied by the political enemies of my grandfather. On looking into the matter I found that this family had papers proving, (or so it would seem), that the land grant had really belonged to their ancestors and had been usurped by my great grandfather.
“It was evident that we could not disprove their claim, as we had no papers whatever to show. Then it was that my mother recalled her father’s futile effort on the day that he died to tell her of the location of some very important papers. So overcome had she been with grief that she had been unable to heed even the little he could say, and so, when later she tried to recall what my grandfather had endeavored to tell her, she could not.
“It was then that I determined to ride across the desert, finding, if I could, the ranch to which my grandfather had fled when he became a political exile. I doubt if I would ever have found my way here had it not been that I was driven far from the trail I was following by the wild blizzard which you will recall. I at once accepted your offer, partly because I needed money to send to my mother, and also because I thought I might learn something which would enable me to locate the ranch formerly belonging to my grandfather. When you told me that you had recently come from the East and had obtained the ranch from the Dartleys, in whose family it had been for many years, I did not question you more, not dreaming that this was the place for which I was searching.
“The letter which Pinez was concealing was from my mother telling me that she had suddenly recalled what her father had said in his last hour. ‘The land grant—Three Cross.’
“Of course I had often heard you speak of this place as The Three Cross Ranch and now, when I enter this room for the first time and find myself surrounded with portraits of my family, I realize that this is where the lost papers are to be found.”
“Trujillo, why was Pinez searching for those papers?” It was Margaret who spoke. The Spanish youth turned toward her as he replied: “I believe his plan was to find them and then hold them until I offered him a large reward.” Then smiling directly at Betsy, he added: “Senorita, since you so cleverly discovered my identity, will you not also discover for me the hiding place of my land grant?”
The little would-be detective felt greatly honored to be chosen as aide to the handsome Spanish youth, and she determined to make every effort to find the hidden papers.