Lately I've been canal-digging on the Isthmus; but the other day I got a notification from some men in Boston and New York to come out here on a secret mission." "Secret, Mr.Freeman ?" "Yes: you will understand directly.

These men had heard enough about the desert valleys of this region to lead them to think that it might be reclaimed and so be made very valuable.

Such lands can be bought now for next to nothing; but, if the theories that control these capitalists are correct, they could afterwards be sold at a profit of thousands per cent.

So it's indispensable that the object of my being here should remain unknown; otherwise, other persons might step in and anticipate the designs of this company." "If those are your orders, why do you speak to me ?" "There's a reason for doing it that outweighs the reasons against it.

I trust you with the secret: yet I don't mean to bind you to secrecy.