| Show 4 44 adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 X 04 behind the curtain aou OU know boys and girls old lady adventure has some 1 I 1 funny ways of sneaking up on a guy sometimes she just comes up behind your back and sometimes she drops on yo you u li from above and there are times too when she comes balki walking 9 right up to you from the front and you dont try to get out of in her er 4 way because she is in disguise and you dont recognize her the way it was with john hoven new york city Y you 0 u know john started his adventuring career as a sailor before the mast and every sailor has half a dozen or more adventures he can tell you about but the one john remembers best is his first one a thrill he got in 1894 and still remembers it happened when johns ship called at the port of san lucar spain to take on a cargo of lead it was the of november when they arrived there but the weather was still warm and balmy in the evening most of the crew went ashore to see the sights of the town john went too and when 01 old lady adventure walked up and grabbed him you know I 1 said that the old girl with the thrill bag sneaked up on john in disguise she did she came in the clothes customarily worn by another lady known to the world as little rosie romance and john never knew the difference until it was too late on their way into town iowa the sailors from the ship stopped to watch a group of spanish senoritas seno ritas and senors dancing their native dances john says he thinks the dance they were doing was the fandango anyway it was the sort of dance in which a senorita who wants a new partner just throws her shawl around the neck of some bird on the sidelines who looks good to her john was standing pretty close to the platform where the dancing was going on and the first thing you know a shawl was looped around his neck john adds fandango to his accomplishments now john says he never was much of a dancer and fandangos fan dangos were way out of his class but this girl was a beauty and one look from her big round rolund eyes had john feeling that hed dance in a barrel of red hot nails if it would please her any 1 I got away with the dance on that bed lay a dead man his bis throat slashed and blood dripping all over the floor somehow he says and then she left the platform and motioned me to come along sloe led meto me to a little cafe a two story building with a lot of tables and chairs out in the open and a big canopy sloping down the tha side of the wall there was a big bay window above this canopy and a small side entrance led to the room above the girl led john into that side entrance he followed her up the stairs and into a big boom room on the second floor she spoke to me in in spanish john says but I 1 understand a word however I 1 said si si to everything she said she smiled and so did I 1 then she opened a cupboard brought out some wine glasses and an empty bottle and made a motion meaning that she was going to take the bottle and have it filled then she left the room john could hardly believe his luck when the girl was gone he be began to look around the room there was an alcove at one end with poitiers por tiers drawn across it lie ile walked over and peeped through those curtains and right there here john got the shock of his life in the alcove was a bed and on that bed lay a dead man his throat slashed and blood dripping all over the floor 1 I felt a chill run up my spine he be says and for a minute I 1 was so stiff I 1 move I 1 turned away from the grisly sight in the alcove and ran toward the door I 1 turned the knob but the door give it was locked john ran to the window and what he saw there made the hair stand straight up on his head down below in the street was the girl coming back and with her were two big husky spanish policemen john says that hat thousands of thoughts ran through his head then but the principal one was the realization that he be was the victim of a frame up that girl had killed a man and was going to put the blame on him says he 1 I knew my only chance lay in getting out of that room the girl and the policemen were almost to the door now I 1 wai waited ed until they were all in the hallway and then I 1 threw open the wind window w they would be opening the door of the room at any moment and I 1 had to hurry swiftly climbing through the window I 1 slid down the canopy below it john finds dagger in coat pocket it was only a drop of about ten feet to the ground and the minute I 1 felt earth under my feet I 1 ran like a deer for the waterfront I 1 reached it all out of breath for I 1 had never stopped running the entire distance istance di of almost a mile I 1 went aboard ship and sneaked below once in the forecastle I 1 stopped to catch my breath again I 1 was still shaking like a leaf I 1 started to remove my coat and felt something in the pocket I 1 took it out it was a double edged dagger about eight inches long with a hollow groove in the middle just another link in the chain of evidence against john the girl had planted that knife in his pocket to make the case against him all the stronger lie ile hid the thing under his mattress and tried to calm his jumpy nerves and just then one of johns shipmates came into the forecastle say the matter with you he wanted to know you look pale as a ghost and I 1 saw you running well sir john says he knew he could trust this pal of his so he blurted out the whole story and his shipmate laughed why he said you just fell for an old swindle I 1 thought it had been played playe dout out long ago in these parts that was only a dummy you saw in the ro room am and the blood was probably catsup or something the police were takers and all they wanted to do was make you give them all your money to keep them quiet dont play around with any of those spanish senoritas seno ritas youre playing with fire if you do released by western newspaper union anlon |
