Show WI BLACK i r I ck SOMBRERO II q 1 bj CLIFFORD KNIGHT 5 its o a some ome property rgaret Jl r nt III tenancy pith Cb I It g sty Ily died It n cant to her ber U Ue e s tua Jon to her ber friend explains Flea had bad been d s I at Aunt h 1 Sty S 5 leath b t Is ho bo t tyrannical aunt t treed from Imposed n any restrict ons Huntoon I detective asks bat Lunt s a or ere died ot of and J is 1 told ld an n o orphine The detective n cots Reed Reede e D and U e matter of K tty and Elsa lIe suspected th l I was murdered although police hold bold to the opinion that It There were no sits pt pi her own OD oa the re e she Ibe used CHAPTER III IIII I But Bul KItty talked Lord how she ed Sam thank God as a hu sort however he Just laughed her bee and went on loving his lus wife d then Elsa s mother to Kitty s sat t at relief passed rom from the scene I think although it s rd d to remember everything Sam SamI I remarry however 1 alter after set sel hImself up again agam in MeXIco then It was to Berta the n a Berta was the last straw to tott totty tty tt Chatfield Berta of course is 18 II right I like her Its tune time Margaret was getting Sam Chatfield and his lus wife Berta are coming too tooey ey re up from for a few he be sa dIm d I m hungry How taut you two I could eat now Huntoon Rag Rog RogIs Is 11 sa d d Perhaps it IS clearer now about h b Will Barry said sald Dwight set hag back in his lus chair once more When Aunt K tty cut her niece off nib only a year s income rom from the state knowing quite well ell that Elsa Ilsa spend all of It which she It ld-It was a deliberate thrust at a ital 1 spot so she thought Aunt I Kitty tty never looked upon sa sa as a Chatfield Elsa resembled cry ery much her mother What s score lOre core to the po nt she was not awed IJ the ant qu ty of the Cha lie ie refused to v to the great oil od Family Which of course did pt t endear her to Aunt Kitty To hard d the last as bitter a hatred ex exIled d bets bet een those two as you could imagine Elsa of course was wast t to blame for It KItty Chatfield Yu older her neck was stiff stif Is that enough to make the thesa sa hate each other the way they I asked There ere was the baby Who was the child s father m in med ad ed Rogers That has never been d boy came ou out upon the veranda Inform us that Margaret and the theer er ers had arrn arri ed sight NIchols has a kIndly face Ight IS not yet forty but his lus IS face of a benevolent philosopher philosophers s 1 brown eyes are benign soft lost st feminine in 10 their compassIOn his Ius fello v man There IS a qUIet A smile constantly about IDS his I II x I h s whole countenance in 10 fact lovable and s HIS IS a face dely known for It has been seen 10 In the press press-a face of charm riling to confidence winning eudly endly at s why the devIlish caricature the shop v window struck so force upon my on It was the thee e that d d the trick the st had provided him with an eye g sly wicked It made over overe e whole countenance of Dy Dwight Ight chili It made a rascal of him R yeas teas he IS an man a who has wrItten many ks of Me life afield and a man ex fond of his wife e and me lee med leed d heavens I there was myself de DWight my own phYsIOgnomy I blushed as I there on the Sidewalk to the afternoon crowd that armed along the boulevard Was Wasch Wasch ch cha a vIlla n as that Was I so sod d heavens again agam Beside me methe methe the window overwhelmingly so soe soe e and coarse that at first I had seen leen It was Jimmy the Cheese other shop windows up the evard that mild April afternoon countered still more caricatures the same clever hand band There one of Huntoon Rogers ludicrous the extreme the thinning haIr I top of his lus head was all but gone ears stood out like flapping il go and his nose was twice its eady generous sIZe t me see that thing in the win winI I requested of the clerk For ot of mounting spirits I had rp ro led ed to t the tha first window out ot of ath thoroughly reckless now I led to my own likeness The Was hesitant I want to look It I Iv Ia v a ant to make sure who It It It Its I me Don t you see e lOOked startled for a moment it If he were trying to divine or not nol I to sue him then the caricature tram from the window 11 laid 1 it on the counter Eagerly canned It for a signature and ande e modestly in the lower right righter beenIe er was the word I had not been le Ie to see from the sidewalk It ItI ItI I Elsa Let me take this for a little littlee e I requested The clerk wayt ayt his shoulders in a y way ay t said no Here I pulled out billfold and dropped some money the be counter I know the g rl ho d d tl ti at I want to borro v it itI long enough to take It over and I raise heck with her What rf If yoU don t come corne back TI en keep the money It s more than the darned th rig ng Is worth All right he saId I rolled the thing I my exit and bent my steps to yard U tI e a apartment on the he above the boulevard onI I Elsa ws wis not at tome ome but I found Reed Barton on her doorstep lie Ie was knocking loudly like a desperate man upon the panel ot of the door as asI asI I ascended the last Right of stairs and left off of only when I poked my head within t few lew He was carrying flowers WhICh few men I 1 ke to be seen doing however much they may esteem the intended recipient there thereof thereof of He sought at first to hide them rom from me hence it was not difficult to see that his lus case was urgent She s not at home he an announced announced with an air aIX that md ind Gated Elsa s absence amounted almost to toa a personal affront I thought sure i she d be here Barry Just leave the flowers on her doorstep I n 11 tell her you called the i next time I see her I said sald He Hey y 47 a G jI ilk ilka a L Ll l Look at that Look at that laughed and brought the fib 60 vers around into v ew drew a fat green pencIl from hIS pocket scribbled ng upon the hIte paper and snapped the flowers to the doorknob wIth a rubber band She s the most exasperating per person perI I son I know Barry he said sald But hat s she done to you For the first time he real zed I had reason I Ifor for being there The I 1 was dim but I unrolled the canca caricature tute and presented It ItHe itHe He took the caricature from me and placing It aga the wall scrib scribbled bled on the edge Dear Liar Bar Barry Barry ry IS a wild man about this I think It s rotten too Reed He chuckled proceed rig ng to fasten It in 10 the door doorJamb lamb Jamb Tell her when you see her Barry that I called to tell her good goodbye goodbye bye It s rather sudden you know The Chief d do t let me know until yesterday I m o obi my way thIS eve even even n rig ng Come on I ye ve got to go over overto overto to my hangout now There s not much time left I We went down the stairs and set setoff setoff off on foot for It was not far Where are you going and why I inquired as we reached the boule boulevard yard vard and Jostled along through the crowd MexIco Because the Chief says to go Why that s incredibly removed rom from the Hollywood scene Yes I know But what for tor The Chief says I m In to report at atthe atthe the office for permanent work Take charge of things down there We swung on up the boulevard As we passed the shop window we weI halted to gaze in 10 at the caricatures of Dwight and Chesebro and again agam farther up the boulevard at still oth other er caricatures Near HIghland the sidewalk became Impassable We endeavored to worm our way through fop fos Reed s hotel was Just beyond the corner The first that It was more than a mere congestIOn of pedestrIans came with the sound of a man s voice voice-a reedy husky voice shouting Look at that Look at that We pressed our way into the crowd and beheld at the center ot of I Ithe the throng a hatless figure red of face and vociferous to the point of apoplexy Is It me he demand demanded demanded ed plaintively of the gapIng crowd crowdIs crowdIs Is It me He pointed at a shop window wherein I could make out a group of caricatures the or gm gin of which was qu to te apparent I recognIzed recognized the fello v a m nor corned an he y was as a b t player er ho was cast castin m in an anal onal p I don t know why a second figure on the s dewalk should catch my eye ee at the n II unless t were that I the ent monitor within me I ao 30 again d rotted my eyes into the them them m sty pool of future t I me to tint that terrify nl ng exper ence at l the mn min as an utter stranger He was Inactive stand ng Idly by not greatly greally mosed mo by the indigo ty that had been done hun him The man was ng a Ira tray ed Cl ci cigar gar He was hatless dressed in an ble sports coat bro bra Yn slacks and a p ok and white check sh rt that would have a affronted the esthetIC is IC sense of a moron moronI I won t stand for tor It hello bello ved the comedian I won t V G ye ve me a brick somebody Where s a brick I don t know where the brick came from I suspected but With no rea reason reason son whatever that the man wIth the frayed e c gar was guilty You kno v laughed Reed Bar Barton Barton ton as we rolled down town to the union station I wish I could stay and see how this comes out outI I Il tell you how It comes out when I see you at I Isaid Isaid said I ye ve arranged to go with Dwight and Margaret on their theIX cru se Leaving in 10 a week neck or so There IS more than a fine talent here saId DWIght his voice having havinga a judicial sound in 10 the qUiet of the ShIP s lounge on the Orizaba The thin smoke of his c garette ascend ascended ascended ed through the lighted area made by bythe the green shaded 1 He rustled II the papers on the table looking at first one reproductIon of Elsa s cart cari and then at another There I was a full page spread of Elsa s caricatures m in the rotogravure sec sect sect t on besides others In the news sec i bon Elsa had made a hit she was being hailed as a find I inI Oh hello Chesebro Come in DWight looking past me into the passage yay vay beyond the open door of I the lounge suddenly called out I turned to behold Jimmy the Cheese on the threshold We shook hands I all around and D waved Chese Chesebro Chesebro I bro to a chair We were lust Just talk talking talking ing about Elsa he explained when we had settled About her mugs as she calls them themA themA I A VOIce broke In upon us as we sat there in the lounge a strange vOice sl blurred in ItS tone and smacking of New York In Its inflections It If you re speaking ot of Elsa I brought her out Just now We were yes DWight rose quest to h s feet and made as if to move to yard vard the door yay vay hence came the vo ce cc ceDon Don t bother to get up sa d the voice heart heartily y Elsa Ilsa and I Just got gal gothere here a few minutes ago The stew steward and ard helped us on board and I saw you fellows m in here so 50 I came on in That s qUIte right DWIght as assured assured the man I m glad you d d My name s N chols Glad to meet you Nichols My name s Rumble George Rumble This IS Mr Chesebro and Mr Mad son Glad to meet you both said Mr Rumble shaking hands swiftly w th Chesebro and then wIth me meDon meDon Don t belIeve I ye ve ever heard of you two before He helped him himself sell self unasked to cIgarettes and sat down on the corner of the table Nice little boat you ye ve got here Nichols Looks like a Swell well traveler of the ocean blue blueYes blueYes Yes thank you I m glad you 1 could come down doyn and be With us tonight Thanks I always get a kick out ot of going away part es especIally when It s on a boat Understand you re starting to MexIco ton Yes We re sailing about mid midnight night At the moment I was speechless I observed D endeavor rig ng to adJust the newcomer to his sur surroundings and us to h m It was pla pIa n that he was totally unexpected ed H s statement ho never vever that he had come with Elsa made him bun authentIc But as I say I was de- de devo devo vo d ot of speech For I recognized the man He was minus the frayed cigar he d had when he so calmly looked on at the frantic act ons ot of the outraged comedian His black curly hair was oiled down to his head and he was now smokIng one of DWight s cigarettes Otherwise he was the same How did you come down DWIght was asking Come down repeated Rumble dislodging a fragment of tobacco rom from hIS tongue with a sharp noise of at hIs lips We carne came m in Elsa scar s car She Shea s got a good car now and a chauffeur I helped her pick out the car And I know the chauffeur s okeh He s a boy Cousin ot of a friend of mme mine I got hIm the job That s interesting saId DWIght Chesebro had shrunk into himself at the advent ot of Mr Rumble he sat like a huge reddish brown silent malIgnant oyster I m sure that it if it were the gentlemanly thing to do dohe dohe he would have b Mr Rumble What s your line Ime Chesebro de- de demanded demanded Mr Rumble turning upon Jimmy the Cheese For a moment there was no reply I could fancy he was rig ng With himself then he hel l hissed Mining Investments Investments Oh yes I never had ng to invest myself but buttI tI flats at s a good line lipe I guess Me l iii m- m But s hates hate er It was that he was in had to wa Iva t for the moment for S l called to us from the thresh thresh- threshold threshold old tTo eTO BE CONTINUED |