CHAPTER XXIII.
SOME UNEXPECTED ARRIVALS.
Nestor gazed into the pain-drawn face of the newcomer with a feeling akin to awe.

There seemed something uncanny in the fellow being there at all.

Had there come some new and unexpected development, in consequence of which he had been released by the secret service men?
Or had he managed to elude their vigilance?
If the latter, had Don Miguel and Felix also gained their freedom?
And how had the man succeeded in crossing the mountain in the weakened condition he was in?
He was now so weak and faint from loss of blood and long suffering that he dropped to the floor like a dead man.

Had he escaped, or been released soon after the departure of the party for San Jose, and spent the entire day among the crags and canyons?
The man on the floor seemed a trick of the imagination, or, at least, a case of mistaken identity.
Nestor did not believe that Lieutenant Gordon would release the fellow under any circumstances.

There was some mystery about his appearance there that could only be solved by the man himself, and so such restoratives as the Boy Scouts carried in their camping outfits were hastily brought forth.
There were bandages and a small flask of brandy which had formed a part of many an outfit and had never been uncorked, and these were soon on the floor by the side of the sufferer.