, and the
last part of the tunnel had only to be dug through sand-stone and soft
dirt, an easy undertaking.

So the big bore was finished on time--ahead of time in fact, and Titus
Brothers received from Senor Belasdo, the Peruvian representative, a
large bonus of money, in which Tom Swift shared.

"So our rivals didn't balk us after all," said Walter Titus, "though
they tried mighty hard."

The big tunnel was finished--at least Tom Swift's work on it. All that
remained to do was to clear away the debris and lay the connecting
rails. Tom and Mr. Damon prepared to go back home. The latter's work
was done. As for Professor Bumper, nothing could take him from Pelone.
He said he was going to live there, and, practically, he did.

Tom, Koku and Mr. Damon returned to Lima, thence to go to Callao to
take the steamer for San Francisco. One day the manager of the hotel
spoke to them.

"You are Americans, are you not?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Tom. "Why?"

"Because there is another American here. He is friendless and alone,
and he is dying. He has no friends, he says. Perhaps--"

"Of course we'll do what we can for him," said Tom, impulsively. "Where
is he?"

With Mr. Damon he entered the room where the dying man lay. He had
caught a fever, the hotel manager said, and could not recover. Tom,
catching sight of the sufferer, cried:

"The bearded man! Waddington!"

He had recognized the mysterious person who had been on the Bellaconda,
and the man whose face had stared at him through the secret shaft of
the tunnel.

"Yes, the 'bearded man' now," said the sufferer in a hoarse voice, "and
some one else too. You are right. I am Waddington!"

And so it proved. He had grown a beard to disguise himself so he might
better follow Tom Swift and Mr. Titus. And he had followed them,
seeking to prevent the completion of the tunnel. But he had not been
successful.

Waddington it was who had thrown the bomb, though he declared he only
hoped to disable Tom and Mr. Titus, and not to injure them. He was
fighting for delay. And it was Waddington, working in conjunction with
the rascally foreman Serato, who had induced the tunnel workers to
desert so mysteriously, hoping to scare the other Indians away. He
nearly succeeded too, had it not been for the gratitude of the woman
whose baby Tom had saved from the condor.

Waddington had been an actor before he became involved with the rival
contractors. He was smooth shaven when first