Show r BO Bj ONCE CHURCH f W N V U SERVICe gT so F FR FIR R Jett Jea Curtis and andre ande re e are already on a e r Wa evay to ro rora tore he receives a note re ra hen M lebell warn II g tI em not nol to ro toen arrive In Tierra L t bre en they both zora and hu her husband chief engl engi M s Job as p that Jeff Jea has bas fruit company pruit d to ro Later Laler Jeff Jel s non Is also killed and Jeff Jea Jeas employer Senor s and the be bet bey nil pg him bad found a clue to ro the t y the plantation at DS D'S going on ter Iter figures are the ny r and the fi flyers ers T 1 Jeff Jea and Lee tat lat their housemaid I is spying man named Collins rives arrives anal jinai Zone to 10 see sec Mitchell and him wilho t arousing Mon pion Jea Jet finds his cart carte e been tampered with UE NUE mTH Tilt THE STORY CHAP ER JY going to bed Curt talked than about Collm bake a good man Slats A little awkward at first S 10 D and I d say saye e makings Ie y Collins had raised spec spee speer Iy Monahan too for Slats r who dons s asking que a But Curt didn t know EmilIo rs h and same tent with him now ad shared With It t VISit to thIs camp matter of Collins t tAs tAs As Curt called at Mon Man ManI Mance I Ice ce on h s return to San following noon Dark L Lily y frowning rhe r-rhe pad ad humor The Spaniard be point without his usual t approach to a sub ft ed a man named Col he commenced bluntly forb this especial but It must not be re e on arises to hire I must first inter erson and decide for my red unbelieving then r words you don t trust nt Or IS It me you don t ts s vOice became icy ot of the quest on If I had your Judgment I would fired ired you Th Tb s Mr Cur HI a Cura ironclad rule I will not He paused then add U know th s man mangy ut I had a man I do doun un out Monahan tells t I need such and my hiring him my InY hands He s not un ct ger showed m in his face sent ent on to an equally irk ITh ct et but m in a milder tone toneto toneto to forestall an on onI ons s I another thing Emilio li II liu u were separated on the ired tic red G 1 feared t I would censure about It He rii order to protect him I told you d milio is to accompany s too much for Curt He oUy otly Senor rf If ger I want to know it it a athe the danger is fist Stand ng ngy y d over me hampers my myo o not wish to alarm you u are m in no danger per long as Emilio t in a rage when he left uch a rage t pt tat he home and face Lee at qUick to read him was Id he want to go to his present state So he Collins at the club bar barr r With the second drink d himself to the point of pipe sad headed for found that Lee and the there there re at the swimming pool clubhouse had been beeny y been fuming to himself yards a away ay The rook limb into a hammock the house for her mid called the es was off of duty in the thee e a from daY eleven to toe toe e house was empty well Curt thought for ii im a chance to inspect cartrIdges The mcl inci evening before was still mind to the in the thee e tall two door ward Id his things and Lee s sp sp p shelf he took down aper box that held the II lot of bullets it over in ills his hands bel bet spilled the contents e ad He examined the they ther r y one but could detect ong With them eta ets he d shot simply charges Then S d be faulty too Wh h lc Ie over In his mind his far Ir pushing the bullets ab abIles II Iles es of six the number ll I 1 p III s knit He counted the Yes SIX In each and four pIes p les But here bullets left over overt eta ets on the bedspread t back He hadn t shot ce about a year ago done some target prat see ree full cl cI eighteen pi-eighteen e 4 shells from a fresh box boc A fourth load ng of s x from the s ime box had been in his gun ever s nee land landing ing here Each boa held fifty E and sic and twenty seven arc fifty one Ti ere 51 Auld have been but fifty Someone had replaced h s supply of cartridges and those loaded in h s gun gun- cleverly forged under undercharged charged shells Ha but they d made a m stake in counting his good bullets and had left one too many in their place Th s must be bethe the of those duds he d shot No v who could have done th s Who had access to the Ines of course Her name leaped to m nd knowing as he did that she sp ed on him in h s lam ly life Lee took the ch dren to the pool each day the g rl 1 ad plenty of ty Thoughtfully Curt went vent to a av v trunk in a corner of the room unlocked it and took from one of the dra hers a fresh bo c of cartridges Th s he broke open to load his cl p with shells he knew to tobe be good He ilso loaded two spare clips which he sI into his pocket The t vo ti see yard shot els or ordered dered before Curt took over would arrive on tomorrow Saturday So had sand Curt wanted to tobe be on hand at Cabeza de Negro when the ship docked This meant he would have to go down river on the first boat at daylight all of wh ch gave him an excuse to spend the night at and thus avoid the questions he knew Lee would have for h when m-when she caught his c r i f f Someone had replaced his supply of cartridges present mood He packed his musette bag With fresh cloth ng a note for forLee forLee Lee and left The afternoon he spent at his of office flee fice cleaning up deta I 1 work then pulled out for There too he plunged into paper work for an hour then at seven had supper at atthe atthe the mess hall Em ho of course clung like a leech Senor will be here ear early early ly on Sunday Curt told his shad shadow shadow ow He wants ants to talk with Collins Get word ord to camp by the supply launch in III the morning for Collins to come to on Its return It ll 11 be the last chance to get hun hum here In time He got to bed early put in a good goodnight night s rest and after snatching breakfast in the cold gray of the false dawn made an une trip down river to Cabeza Em lie lio Var Vargas Vargas gas was silent w th early morning sulks Tv 0 sh ps were m in port One was the Japanese Kelto Keito Maru It had docked the day before The other was a Norwegian steamer chartered by U ti e a company for the New Or Orleans Orleans leans run This ship carried the two tractor shovels minus their thelT booms and dippers as a deck load was on hand and in a short humor He spoke m in grunts or mono mono- monosyllables monosyllables I syllables Curt trIed a pleasantry or two t and when hen these d do t work fell silent It w s ng by the time the tarpaulins had been removed and t re first shovel lowered over the thes s de to the dock Its own brakes released the big machine was hauled by the dock s baby tractor to the side of the river steamer then loading Curt s purpose in coming to Ca Cabeza Cabeza beza had bad been two told fold First was the natural anxiety to get at the new machines the child s reaction toward promised toys But specifically cally he d Intended trying to jolly Ry en into delivering them at the job jab uprIver instead of at In any case s present hu humar humor mar mor meant a definite refusal ot of Curt s plan together with possible unpleasantness perhaps even a quarrel qua so Curt remained silent puffing stead I ly at his pipe as he glumly looked on He stood on one foot the other planted firmly on a leg heg Em straddled another keg heg nearby Ry den came up bet bel ind the two and now offered his first voluntary re re- remark remark mark of the day dayAm Am I handling s so far There was no m staking the gut gut- guttural guttural tural voiced sarcasm Curt swung around le Ie surely looked at a moment and his lips framed a nat natural ural reply But determined not to quarrel with the man instead of answering ans insolence with insolence Curt md find Gated a huge square se c c ise then being ho sted by the thick rope cargo carr Garr ed to the deck of the rIV rIVer or er steamer The box hovered the open hatch then vly d sap red peered into the hold There was a tw n to the bo box on the dock a ItS turn Both cases were of heavy lum lumber lumber ber were marked from Hamburg vIa and the labeled m in SCrIpt on said they were generators ElectrIcal was of prIme interest to Curt who was as re ble for the electrIc plants at San Alejo and If not for the small plant at the a w th his p pe stem he asked mildly Those generators Are they for me men I d do t know of any on order The Swede stared through and through Curt At length he said thickly Ask Senor If you must know knO I know only my own Job Curt s temper had been bu build d ng up for a blo v off ever since his en encounter encounter counter With yesterday Still he d nursed himself along so far and noth ng was to be gamed gained by words With a Jerk of his head at Emil o a he strode angrily y from the dock Vat Vargas gas his features set m in incuriously cUrIously followed trotting to keep up Clubby chap what said Curt With a short laugh when he could trust ills his o 0 vOice To help cover his feelings he fumbled With his pipe knock ng out the ashes stuffing It again agam Then he simmered down do and added grudgingly Of course he s rIght rn In a way but area aren t we all work ng toward one end here I need a drink How about you He was about to turn into the can cantina tina he d vIsited the day of land ng here but EmilIo held back There s another bar down do the street he said hurriedly You may lIke It better Curt ho vever ever was m in a mood Man what s the d thiS one that one Come along He pushed Em Emil o 0 into the room and to the bar Fresh from the glaring sun his eyes d do t take In the scene Imme d He was half bl nd ad as he mounted a stool ordered a drink and md and Gated wIth a wave of the hand that Emil o 0 should order for himself Then his pup Is expanded In the mirror beh nd the bar he saw the Tierra Libre customs official and ills his I They were drinking and playing p poker ker d ce cc with a man whose face was vaguely familiar Curt had notIced on the dock that morning that there had been no customs official to inspect freight as asit asit it was unloaded He d given thiS no special thought at the t me meTo meTo To cover his thoughts but st still l frowning fro Curt pulled a notebook from his pocket sCrIbbled a few words rIpped out the page He I pushed the paper to toward ard EmilIo I need a hundred men at Tern Tem pUJO by one o 0 clock he growled Also the launch will have to make trIp to the levee camp to bring do VII vet Monahan Get this mes message message sage off of for me will you All the wh while e however he was racking his brain bram over the third man with Ith the customs officers He was wasa wasa a Nordic l certainly At last it came cameto cameto to him The man was one ot of the es cs who d been working at the CAT C A T a the day of ills his VISit there thereAs thereAs As they returned to the dock Emi Emilio lio Ho had the radio message sent off and by eleven they were on their way back to With the one machine this steamer could carry Reaching the rIver port by one thirty he found Collins and the rap rapIdly rapidly Idly gathering gang of men Mona Monahan Monahan han arrived by two o 0 clock and the rest of the day was spent In getting the two machines assembled serviced serviced iced and on their v ay to pick up their sectors of le levee leee ee work I This Job went smoothly however and it was just as well Curt was thinking that he hadn t made an IS ISsue issue I sue of his plan to unload on the rIV rIVer river er bank at the Job If things went as well tomorrow the two shovels would be at work Monday morning But It had been a strenuous tIT tn tog Ing Job After an early supper at atthe atthe the mess with hall Collins and Monahan occupying a table not far from Curt and Curt emilIo re returned returned turned to his rus bungalow He sw on the th lights flung his hat to the table by the door Emilio settled himself on the porch With magazines and his ever ready pack of native cigar llos lios Curt had his trIp across the river m in mind This was Saturday the night he d arranged to meet at t River Riverbend Riverbend bend He had to get rid of Vargas somehow I m going to bed he be told the theman theman man Need a good night s rest You d better get one oue too When you leave see that the night latch is on Good night Buenas noches Senor TO BE BC CONTINUED |