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Show ' ,?ORANVILLE CHURCH (JM t,0n . to FAB: Jeff Curtis and !S at already 00 thelr wy hash t.hB Jeff receives a note Ll rnlnI them BOt to khaki utMrBback'0 ' U Lee. who was op. fornl to to only after Jeff !ans 5er tl the b 01 chlcl Lud 1 , newly organized fruit itartl im chance of a lifetime. I i tlern More to find Zora'. twJ i in a conversation with t u learns that Mitch- 'W J.Ur and that there I. 1 lte going on. Jeff and Stabll "IT go for Senor MonUya, Soldi ""J in spite of the fad I rtitliaUon of the company quatf luaf. Je " ""Pclous- I x0K WITH THE STORT )ert : , - CHAPTER HI sDoved o.l for Puerto So- .j,. His launch was built not speed, and bucking ! Ma ; M the coast would slow ! further. Is n ' jock it took the combined sth Lee and Curt to keep ,iof mischief. 1 1 downriver boat snug- s berth with the ease of nC II gave a pair of toots, , French railway train's, ugplank was wheeled to k ji side and the job of ; $npeled. .'ataya was unmistakable lnf a of bearing, very clearly If de pelo. the gente prin- n :ese countries. He wore liites, a crisp panama on i hair. Straight from the i little group he came. :cere apologies, Mr. Cur- Curtis," were his first 3e spoke with very little ioufih the timbre of his rayed his Spanish origin, i deep bow to Lee, held id to Curt "I have been a busy since ah, Mr. i unfortunate happening, (discovered by now the teed a new Chief Engi- , i the boys in hand, hold-L hold-L Merest with the selection :fic, gaudy straw hat for f am, from stock piled a ion a vendor's head, while :.:aya led Curt on a quick ; the docks and facilities ihcds, two items Instantly i eve two boxes forty feet l ride, and quite thin for 1 tensions. Curt cocked a tan. reel i said briefly, "Spare it J k have two planes. One oi tas tied up for weeks once B -aged wing, so now we m :ei on hand." oij i you've had considerable ? I your planes." Djg vas the monosyllabic re- ryi aake are they?" I i conversational question. 4 have made no difference Senor Montaya preened himself. 8ood site, no? The whole year there are winds that sweep across this face of the mountains in late afternoon and evening, but never does the wind come up from the old swampland. The result? We are happy to have no malaria here where we live. This makes the senora more comfortable, no?" He pointed as the car rounded a curve and the town came into fuller view. "You see that long, low building? Our hospital. Larger than we need, perhaps, but it is more better to be prepared. Across the plaza is our clubhouse. That building of two stories sto-ries which looks out over the valley from between, it is our administration administra-tion building. The ground floor is commissary where the senora can get anything she needs. We are very proud of San Alejo." "Reason to be," grunted Curt. "Good layout." "So we think, too. There is nothing noth-ing to break our view. In back of the club we have the swimming pool, the tennis courts, also the schools three of them. For the different dif-ferent ages of the children, no?" And now the car took another curve that brought into sight the farther down-slope of Mt. San Alejo. Below, about a kilometer from the town, was an exceptionally long, cleared field, with a broad well-worn strip down its length. A branch of the railroad led to it around the base of the mountain. "Good sized field," Curt commented. comment-ed. "You've several buildings besides be-sides hangars." "Yes." Just the one word. "But is that a fence I see around the field?" "Your eyes are sharp, Mr. Curtis. Yes, the field does have a fence. Our chief pilot nearly lost his life during his first month here because of a native's mania for souvenirs. We had not thought to properly protect pro-tect the planes. It is a serious thing to risk one's life in the air, Mr. Curtis, Cur-tis, so I felt I should put a fence around the field." Curt saw a flash behind the living-quarters. "Swimming pool?" "Yes, a small one. I do all I can to keep the men contented. It Is much worth the cost, it pays well." At the far end of the field was a sizeable copse of trees, and Curt wondered that they should be left standing within the field. Before he could see more, however, another switch-back of the climbing railroad lost the field to view. The motorcar, laboring up the grade, came out onto a level stretch, picked up speed, and at once they were in the heart of the small town. "It Is late," Montaya was saying. "You have yet to unpack and get settled. I will take you to your house now. I trust, Senora, that the cook and house servant we furnish you will prove satisfactory." Lee made a vague sound in reply. "In the morning," Montaya turned Senor Montaya eyed Curt a moment. mo-ment. "I am quite sure we shall gel along, Mr. Curtis." They took a rapid look-see in the port office, Montaya introducing Curt casually, then returned to Lee and the children, seated on their pile of luggage. The boys' leashes were on them again, much to their audible disgust. A pair of quick toots now came from the river steamer that had been loading all morning, even as the Pisces docked. The baggage was hauled aboard, the little party .followed. As they headed slowly upstream, Senor Montaya made his guests comfortable under a deck awning. Iced coffee was served as the children, chil-dren, exhausted from heat and excitement, ex-citement, slept on a sarape spread on the deck, each jealously clutching his new hat, big as himself. To Montaya Jeff said casually, "I suppose there's no reason why you shouldn't say who recommended me to you?" "No, none," admitted his host. "It was Mr. Mitchell." "Mitchell!" "Yes, himself. Though perhaps unknowingly. I explain. Many times I had to warn him about his attitude toward the men under him. Of course, I what do you say? ah, yes, I hounded him to get the work done, for we have much to do before the rainy season, and it has not gone too l Iff another what Montaya , I yet the question brought j I quick glance from eyes jj I beady black here in the lithe big receiving shed I lad vagueness in reply. "I i of the bodega was piled J Ibarrels bearing the stencil 4 pown chemical firm. Curt J rrfore them, looked them J h considerable interest. y I treat the soil before plant- tasked. "Over-acid, I sup-( sup-( h centuries of flooding." , h definitely stamped Mon- lead at this, but was im-i im-i I chased away by a smile I fti even, white teeth. I Mr. Curtis," the senor re- " l-3, "is a question that 1 p under the head of chem-' chem-' Feb. We have a chemical I I p. Toenjes, from Amster-1 Amster-1 1 ke likes you, he may be I P answer your questions. Fto't count on it," he said, tier flash of teeth. "Dr. V quite jealous of his the-T- I expect will produce j I better fruit than Associat- j ' f "is river." i F Was turning this over in I f senor Montaya pulled at f Hp a lip unusually red I iis swarthy skin. i f !t you to work along with fashion. You are responsi-sl responsi-sl engineering work as-'f as-'f you, just as Dr. Toenjes "fable as Agricultural Super- I Just as Mr. Lannestock is je for aviation and Mr. Ry-l-ansportation." Nek? Ryden?" r t our contract employees Pcans. These two are Swed-f3ught Swed-f3ught them here as pilots. 1 longer need two full-time Mr. Ryden proved him-l3le him-l3le in transportation mat-pgiven mat-pgiven him charge of that N a long-established habit ft with his pipe when mull-f mull-f ome point that needed I "e suddenly discovered J stuffing it during this po-Since po-Since the senor while been leading the way 3Pen, Curt now lit up, ex-' ex-' huge cloud of smoke be- mildly, with a smile: hich is by way of telling jy own business? Well, rtght. You've hired ma fineering end of your ven-,eat's ven-,eat's where my interest 't to curb my wandering to Curt, "if you wiu come 10 my oi-fice oi-fice at eight, I will spend the day with you. We shall how do you say it? ah, yes, buckle down to work." The sidewalks were not wide enough for the group abreast. Montaya Mon-taya walked ahead, carrying the two children whose shoes made smudges on his spotless coat. The boys were silent with this stranger. Lee wrinkled wrin-kled her nose in distaste at the se-nor's se-nor's faultlessly tailored back. "Ha!" she murmured. "Look at him, the dark lily!" "Sh." Curt tightened his hold on her arm. "He may have ears," he whispered. "Well, I don't care," she muttered resentfully. "Look how he carries the kids. He likes children? I laugh, ha-ha." Montaya deposited the boys carefully care-fully before a hedge of . hibiscus, opened the wire gate, smiled them through onto the neatly scythed lawn where a mango, a fast-growing tree, already offered some shade to lawn and house. He was about to turn away with a gallant lift of his hat, when Curt mentioned Mrs. Mitchell for the first time. "We were close friends with the Mitchells a few years ago. It must have been a terrible blow to her, he said. "I think we should express our regrets as soon as possible." "Ah." Senor Montaya; pulled at his lower Up. "It was a most terri-ble terri-ble shock to her, Mr. Curtis." He cast a glance at Lee. "I ah,, had not meant to speak of It before the senora, but to be sure she will have to know. Mrs. MitcheU-ah, committed com-mitted suicide only yesterday. From grieL This morning she was buried. A sad affair, yes. That was what delayed me." Cur managed a blank face to hide the disturbing shock, but Lee was frankly astonished. She reached for Curt's hand. Not until Montaya was out of hearing, however, did she exclaim: "She n6ver! Zora Mitchell commit com-mit suicide? Not Zora! She wasn't the type. Besides, she never cared that much for him." "She never seemed to," admitted Curt slowly. "They were a cool enough couple." He turned to the house. Absently he held Lee's hand as they climbed the steps. But his free hand, in his pocket, was crushing Zora Mitchell's note. Before going to bed that night. Curt held a lighted match to the note. But the words were burned into bit mind. (TO BE CONTINUED) Each jealously clutching his new j hat big as himself. well. But certainly I did not want him to antagonize the workers. "One can ah, drive some men, others not. It is a fine point to know how far one can go with workers. work-ers. When I saw the many enemies ene-mies Mr. Mitchell was making, I thought, 'But this is unfortunate.' I feared ah, an 'accident.' So it was happy for me that I led him into talk of competent engineers. You were one he mentioned above others. oth-ers. You see?" Two hours of fighting the current upriver, and they found at Tempujo another modern dock, with a long floating stage built to allow for the rise of the river in flood-time. Now, the river at low point, the wharf towered high above them. Their baggage was swung upward in a cargo net, a deckhand riding the hook to avoid the stairs, while Curt and the others climbed the long flight of steps from the floating stage to the landing above, j Spread before them, on the only i rise of land for miles along this side of the river, was a small town built arrowhead-fashion around a fan-shaped railroad terminus of storage tracks. Montaya pointed out a centrally located bungalow. "Your Tempujo office, Mr. Curtis. There is sleeping accommodation there for you. There will be nights when you are unable to get back to San Alejo." Montaya led the party to two motorcars, mo-torcars, automobiles with flanged wheels to operate on the narrow-gauge narrow-gauge railroad tracks. Side windows win-dows of the sedan bodies rolled completely into the framework, making all-weather cars for the variable va-riable climate. Montaya ordered the two motor boys ahead with the baggage, while he drove the Curtises in the second car. Off they sped across the flat, uninteresting un-interesting country. Far off on Curt's right was what appeared to be a tremendous salt field, but he knew It couldn't be that Lime, went his thoughts, laid by airplane before planting. San Alejo sat prettily on an out-Jutting out-Jutting hump of the range a full thousand feet above the flats, and the railroad took to sharp curves and steep grades in climbing to the town. Slanting down from a bowl of summits above was a pipe line, indicating a reservoir. |