Show CAl 11 B 12 AN S NO conspiracy P ii I 1 EM 1 bit B BRENDA R ENDA THE STOUT STORY SO PAR FAR anne heywood beautiful daughter danch ter ol of a wealthy ne new k newspaper publisher goes to puerto rico oa an an assignment for or her I 1 ta a cheri paper alo on the island a r peta 0 wilcox a reporter on her fathers father paper no BOW a va army intelligence ameer elnel valera a puerto rican educate in ha be united states state whose orders order to report to an army Y emp were abruptly 74 chard cancell edt taussig lt an whose whole identity as a a german agent to li suspected inspected kut bug oot not yet proved and russell porter a young american en engineer a and 4 his wu wife sue bae who believes levei mr taussig can an help russell anoe anne lets taussig amow she ibe suspects him lie ile has gone eone to tee see vieto gontaro Goni aro valeras valera uncle CHAPTER VIII taussig put ills his green cap anthe ya the table and removed the dark lenses from his spectacles ave been wasting my time being cautious he said s wasting did you say 41 1 4 I 1 did im afraid its true he hesitated he did not want to offend the man who was supposed to be his chief lieutenant nevertheless dont you think bongaro Gon garo he said aid that perhaps you regard women too highly diego Gon garos face broke into a warm smile he raised his hands and shoulders in an eloquent gesture of amused denial oon on the contrary my friend it Is you 4 1 I think women charming but shall we say somewhat stupid they their are controlled by emotion not by intelligence intilli gence but the ar american girl tills taus tig sig said curtly is not controlled ly by any of you anne aime finished the last of the golden slip of papaya in front of her and pushed back her cup and saucer shed expected the coffee to tobe be wonderful but it was flat and tasteless as the worst of the common brews at home she picked up the pile of letters of introduction shed brought and looked them through for the time it was always a question whether the people they were addressed to would think it illman ill man tiered it if you present them or be delighted not to have to do anything about the transient daughter of a friend of a friend probably forgotten they had she finished dressing took her letters and started for the door As she opened it itji a bellboy came out of thi the e sia i stairway liway he smiled at her ber with an intent interest in his yes oyes that she understand senorita heywood he said don alvaro say you come down right iway away 11 it was so shockingly peremptory that anne felt a warm flush springing to her cheeks she wason was on the point of saying he could tell don alvaro valera to go to blazes when the boy said anxiously he say if you please senorita I 1 do not put in english the way he aid in spanish anne smiled of course thank you it was just that sort of difficulty in communication she thought that accounted for a lot of misunderstanding understanding don alvaro rose from his seat and bowed you give an old man a great deal of pleasure senorita thank you anne said she sat downs down wondering the waiter apparently parent ly wondered too she noticed that he almost stumbled into the fountain when he saw her sitting down 1 I havi have taken the liberty of ordering ering you the coffee from our finca th that th they make for me here don alvaro alvar 0 said aut put perhaps you prefer american coffee most of your people do it has very little appeal for us its wonderful anne said sniffing the full rich aroma it must have been american coffee shed had for or breakfast she tasted it it is wonder wonderful full t she cried don alvaro looked pleased national tastes differ of course he said aid 1 I know anne anna said quickly and language lanati age and customs and traditions he looked at her a little puzzled she smiled im just quoting your son don alvaro looked silently out cross across the ocean for a moment then lie he said gravely im happy that he remembers I 1 was afraid he had forgotten 6 this is why he asked me d own anne thought she felt her heart lighten it could only mean she dismissed that quickly don alvaro was looking at her with a kind of sadness and wisdom that at was disturbing in spite of the budden e n glow inside her do don n alvaro smiled faintly 1 I wanted to ask you if you would gi eive ve us the pleasure of dining with us in our home born some esome evening soon aliss heywood he said thank you id love to anne said aid simply and my brother iri in law says you to see a sugar mill don alvaro said would you cire care to go tomorrow it would be wonderful I 1 believe his friend Mr taussig 13 to go along also aiso if is agreeable to you kutck for lija a mon en anne hesitated A sf q alck sans ii b ru of fear fluttered on i acme inner rampart perfect fow iy ay she se 8 said d shall you go too im T afraid ad not hot don avaro alvaro re plied blied 1 I have many things sa to go 60 eatn over with u my 1 son my brother in law and his daughter will ny you anne stopped in the middle of the broad sunbaked sun baked plaza principal and looked around her in surprise five minutes before it had been crowd crowded edwith with people teeming with motor cars carts of all sorts fru fruit it venders benders and flower sellers now it was as empty as if an inaudible air raid warning had been sounded oun ded and life of every kind had taken t ken miraculously to invisible shelters it had happened so quickly that she could hardly believe it she looked at her watch it was ten minutes past twelve then she remembered the siesta whatever changes the amerlean american occupation had made it done away with that for the next two hours everything stopped in its tracks and nobody would venture out in the broiling midday sun nobody with any sense anyway she thought she looked around again As a matter of fact it particularly hot actually and the contrast of the sudden silence with all the movement and noise and blaring of horns was very pleasant she had set out to see the old city without realizing 7 r I 1 N ap X it hashed flashed through her mind that he be had been waiting there for her what time it was she realized and she might just as well do it it was not until she crossed the cobbled road in front of the cathedral and started down caleta san juan the steep lane that leads to the old gate that she began to wish she had not been so energetic it really was hot she stopped and looked back up at the cathedral As she turned around again a man came out of one of the doorways near the bottom of the street and took a 11 few steps up the hill or he had done that before she turned she thought suddenly because it was hardly an instant before he wheeled about quickly so quickly that he could not have been aware she had seen him and disappeared into a doorway anne stopped abruptly it was miguel valera she had not been sure as he turned but she was sure seeing his back in the three or four steps he took before he vanished but why had bad he vanished he must have recognized her er for a moment she hesitated about going on down and decided that would be silly As she got down there she was not quite sure which door doo r he had gone into they were close together all open all dark and dank inside with zigzag stairs going up narrow wells they were all seemingly deserted too she went on without looking into any of them if he wanted to av avoid old her that was his privilege but as i she passed one house she had a sharp feeling that she was being watched A pink cotton curtain stained brown with moisture blew out of a second story window and blew back again or half of it did the other half stopped because I 1 some one was standing behind it looking down watching waiting for her to pass she quickened her step to the bottom of the hill and hurried through the great gate set in the massive thickness of the ancient city wall she aror crossed sed the ramp to the domed sentry bo box beside the protecting battlement and turned around she mistaken it was miguel he and was going had bad come out again rapidly up the hill she could see him through the sya shadowed dowed r lar frame of the gate sile knew he walked the r EC ea of his the way ay head the movement of his bis shoulders they were as distinctive as the way his gray eyes smiled slowly be before f his lips did and the little habit he had of pulling down the cuff of his s right coat sleeve it was odd how many things she was aware of about him that shed ordinarily never notice in people im being crazy slip she said to herself there could be a dozen rea sons why he want to see her just then or be seen by her she added with a vague sense of uneasiness she glanced back at the door A man was coming now who looked rather more as it if he belonged there he was small and dark with a blue shirt open at the neck and cotton trousers and straw hat that had both seen better days he was coming down the hill anne moved out to the sentry box and wandered aimlessly along look ing up at the blackened time stained wall the man came through the gate and went down the ramp to the long pier stretching out into thee the shallow dirty water of the bay the pier was empty except for a man at the far end leaning over the barrier watching the harbor anne went back to the stone bat clement in front of the gate watching the two of them the man at the end of the pier had turned and was coming back stopping once to level his camera at the seawall with the gardens and white round towers ot of fortaleza shining above it anne leaned for ward it was mr richard taussig in his yachting cap with the breeze napping flapping his white linen trousers around his ankles the way it had on the promenade deck of the ship she stepped quickly down from the ledge and slipped into the sentry box through the narrow slit silt in its circular wall she could see taussig shade his eyes with his hand and look along the ramp the man from the house in caleta san juan stopped from time to time to look down into the muddy water in a minute or two they would pass pas s each other or would aliey they anne ann 1 waited the puerto rican stopped again mr Tat taussig issig was on the other side of the narrow pier taking another picture of la fortaleza then as casually as an ordinary tourist he crossed over within a couple of feet of the other man and to all intents and purposes devoted himself to taking snapshots of the unlovely expanse of beach and wall under the casa blanca anne alrine glanced at her watch eleven minutes dragged slowly by on its tiny face before either of the two men below her moved the tourist or the native it was a lc ic g time for anybody to stand in the broiling broglin g midday sun looking down into the mud then quite abruptly mr taussig moved away and was coming up from the pier anne slip slipped pied quickly out of the sentry box and through the gate the hill up under the wall to la fortaleza was shorter than theoph the other at the top in front of chepal the palace she glanced back mr taussig was crossing the street headed up toward the cathedral anne looked at her watch again and waited ostensibly ostensible interested in the simple elegance of the palace facade and the handsome field blue uni formed policeman on duty at the entrance it was less than three minutes before the puerto rican bame came slowly through the gate and digap feared up the hill you can come in and see the palace if you want to miss the poU policeman ciman said some othir other time she smiled and turned across the tiny plaza into fortaleza street richard taussig had certainly been waiting for the other man if there was nothing illicit in their meeting why had they gone to such elaborate trouble about it and what did miguel have to do with it she walked slowly along the narrow street at the corner as she waited to cross she felt a light touch on her elbow what are you doing out at this hour miss heywood her heart gave an excited little leap as she turned it was miguel valera it flashed through her mind that he had been waiting there for her to find out it if shed seen him maybe but that matter not really ive been seeing the city foot tour number one she answered 92 gaily ily 1 I like to do things the hard way what youre doing out it at this hour is more to the point he looked down at her smiling im taking you to lunch he said dont you know be I 1 ill il wandering around in the sun and not ea eating he answered her but that dian didn t matter either the s sun un had made her a little dizzy unless it was the light touch of his hh hand on her arm as he took it to guide her across the street im so glad im herel here she sh said impulsively ills his hand tightened for an instant then he dropped it aarup abruptly 1 im in glad I 1 came back home 1 now he said rather quietly it seemed to anne so that she looked up at him quickly you always of course ile he laughed lets go to the Mallor quina or of have you 1 been TO ro BE CONTINUED |