Show Z C CARIBBEAN allwn s I 1 k I 1 bli arenda CONRAD THE STORY SO rani fan anne heywood Ilcy wood beautiful daughter ol of a wealthy new naw york newspaper paper I 1 bubus publisher her toca goes on an assigns ot to puerto rico I 1 where bar P pete wilcox a reporter on OB her bar father 1 paper a li Is st tinned as ai a U t 9 arm army 1 1 intelligence telli gence officer on th the 0 b boat ai she meets meed a young puerto rican miguel valera and ao an engineer named richard taussig lt lg ol of whom ahe he ls ll immediately suspicious in spite of 0 th the e fact that he be looks cooki like uk a typical tica I 1 t tourist she does not know that he li is L i act a german agent ordered to destroy puerto ricos water supply pets pete meets meed the boat but does not tell anne that he be too has hai reason to be suspicious of 19 although his commanding in officer so 10 tar far refuses to act CHAPTER III anne closed the door of room behind her and stood for or a moment 11 listening under the open transom the door ol 01 room EL a few steps down from hers had been slightly ajar and without knowing why or how she had felt that somebody was standing behind it waiting she heard it ca close ose quietly and listened for steps along the waxed floor but there were none after a moment she went ar across the room to the window st and n d looked down into the sunlit patio where she and pete had been th the lie windows of opened onto the pit patio tio too she turned and went over to her baggage stacked in the corner on the other sidle side of the window again without knowing exactly why she opened the flat case lying on top of her steamer trunk and looked inside it was just as she had bad packed it and yet somehow it the flat rubber band around the batch of letters of introduction lying on top of her dressing gown was twisted as if it had been slipped back h hurriedly she had put it carefully flat so ao that it mar the edges of one of the envelopes that was broader than the rest she looked back at the door then reached to the table and took her compact out of her handbag she open opened edit it and struck the powdered feather puff sharply on the pol dished brass face of her suitcase lock anne the girl detective she thought as she blew the powder off themay the way a police inspector had showed her once in new york on the brass oblong werf were three clearly defined thumb prints the most dis was pio probably bably her own the oth ers were larger she began to unpack her things humming softly to herself is As she was almost through she heard the sharp quick click of high heels out in the hall and a light double knock on her door she crossed the room and opened it armel annet my dearl dear how simply wonderfully wonder full the girl standing there in a blue checked ginch gingham am dress a blue bow in her fuzzy taffy colored hair her baby blue eyes sparkling with joy wd beld out her hands bands you dont remember mel why annel its sue porter sue merl inert the sixth form of miss oakless Oak leys fashionable I 1 school for young ladles ladies flashed back into annes mind suet of all people what are you doing here of all places anne cried of course I 1 remember you you changed a day only wheres chereb your uniform you still look sixteen sue laughed 1 I well im not im twenty three and mrs russell porter and the mother of two hulking infants aged four and two and a half that all flait flashed ted back too spoiled wilful curly headed sue who got letters frombois from boys when the rest of miss oakless Oak leys young ladies were gangly and lank haired and hopeless everywhere except on on the hockey field but what are you doing down here heie anne demanded sue sat cat on the bed and crossed herb her feet under her hera oh ob darling russells firm sent him down she said with a groan it was more money and I 1 thought it would be a wonderful chance for him to get ahead I 1 thought it would be romantic you know the tropics I 1 heard about cockroaches and termites I 1 simply hate it were trying to get transferred she brightened expectantly i i did you meet a mr taussig op on the boat armi anne nodded why because I 1 want you to help us with him cousee Yo you see hes awfully important to russell hes one of the worlds leading sanitary engineers and MaCs what russell is sh she ecung ag her bare brown legs off the qed d and went over to the i window i e russell down there with t h nim now 11 she guyed ed back her blue eyes ap pealing bealin si a ch childs ildi you see annei I 1 have hake to do everything I 1 can because well it wa was 9 my fault russell eu aln it finish M L I 1 T he was going backbun back but the baby came and so I 1 you ou see dey anne nd nodded d looking over sue 9 shoulder should cr down at a table by the fountain mr richard taussig in a white linen suit and brown and white oxfords ox fords his fingertips finger tips together in a contemplative arch looking enuch more civilized than he be had in his curious getup get up aboard ship was listening 6 to the young man beside hlin him a lik like it here ie asked the corners of sues red mouth drooped she looked like an unhappy six y year old id yes he likes it all right she admitted hall half heartedly its really me that wants him to get away why im having mr taus alg to dinner tomorrow night so he can can talk to russell come wont you and be awfully nice to him please anno anne will you she looked out the window bussells ae Us leaving so ill have to go now remember eight russell will come for or you oh look theres diego bongaro Gon garo A tall heavyset heavy set man of about fitly fifty with iron gray hair the pock marks on his face ace visible from where they stood was sitting at one of the small tables at the corner of the terrace absorbed in his newspaper and cup of coffee he had a short clipped mustache and shaggy eyebrows and an air definitely an air anne thought who Is he she asked hes your friend miguel maguel valeras valera uncle but hes not like the valeras valera he mixes with the americans oi of course hes spanish hes not puerto rican and my dear she lowered her voice to a whisper his he has a mistress you know its quite customary down here its perfectly above board except their wives pretend they dont know it well ive got to go its perfectly swell having you down ill see you tomorrow anne nodded she turned back to the window As she looked down she saw diego bongaro get up and make his way casually through the arcade into the hotel almost immediately richard taussig got up too even more 11 WU att she lowered her voice to is a whisper 11 11 he e has a mi mistress casually he strolled over to the table diego bongaro had left and picked up the folded newspaper he came back to his chair and gat eat down again anne watched him unfold the paper moving back instinctively a little behind the long chintz curtains she could leivery see very clearly the piece of letter paper inside it mr taussig glanced around him glanced up ather at her window looked down at the paper in front of him a moment and slipped it unobtrusively into his pocket he put the newspaper down on the table got up and strolled into the hotel the officers club CIO nt at el morro was inside the gate overlooking the golf course the graveyard and the atlantic ocean it was part of the old spanish barracks when the waiter had gone anne said look pete do you know anything about a man named richard rd taussig he was on the ship sure pete said cheerfully he kept from looking at her 1 I know all about him hes an internationally tio nally known sanitary engineer hes heg dining with the general on friday and the governor saturday he has the blessing of washington why 1 I just wondered do you suppose he can do anything about the water supply at the granada 1 I wish hed bed start here if he can but you dont have to worry about mr taussig he cant cadt help his bis face het hes okay he poured the rest of his bis beer into his glass any other information hubut relations is sort of my job then do you happen to know russell porter anne asked my dear I 1 know everything pete said blandly russell porter is the local representative of consolidated soli dated hes in charge of a big job got he looked at his bis watch the officers had thinned out leaving the women sitting around ill see you tonight what about dinner anne shook her head bead im din ilig with somebody else not miguel valera she rolled why nott dont tell me youre like sue porter he looked at her soberly look annie you havet fallen alien in love with that guy have you her gaze wandered out across the rolling green lawn to the ocean she had asked herself that all the way from the granada the note shed found in her mail box you havea caller so I 1 wont disturb you but ill be around at six and if you arent engaged may I 1 take you to dinn dinners ertl had set her heart dancing and her eydi eyes sparkling as she stuffed it into her bag and ran out to the taxi maybe that was what it was she been in love often enough to be very sure about it it but it was wag something something new and different miguel valera waited tor for anne to 8 sit it down it occurred to her that mat they have dinner alone or that she could be suddenly dashed as she was when she stepped out of odthe the elevator and saw his uncle diego dongaro and his cousin graciela Gra clela there in the lobby with him 1 I understand you are a newspaper writer miss heywood don diego said his smile was quick and worm warm i anne ae was instantly aware of two things the first alist was that he thought it amusing that such an attractive young woman should be anything ot of the sort cort the second was that it was odd he be should have known it she had carefully concealed it from miguel pete wilcox was the only other person on the island who knew it unless she thought about the letters letter in her suitcases there was one to the correspondent of 0 the press syndicate her fathers papers used in puerto rico and that meant that diego go bongaro angaro ngaro must have talked to richer richard taussig during the afternoon and that talked about her it was all very curious ive worked on my fathers paper it if what you mean she said 1 I much good 1 I am pleased to bear that senorita we believe a woman has a higher h place in society she should let her husband take care of her but if she a husband anne said that surely be difficult tor for you miss heywood Gra graciela clela put her cock tan tall on the table her cheeks were flushed bushed at no time would anne ever have believed that the appearance of mr richard taussig could effect anything but distaste just then she was waa distinctly relieved she actually found herself smiling and saying good evening with the utmost cordiality to the man iman she objected to more than any other man she knew good evening miss heywood mr taussig said he turned to miguel you must be lighted delighted to be back home again its so perfect here anne found herself blinking a little mr taussig dressed in immaculate white linen was as courteous as don diego himself this is my uncle mr bongaro Gon garo mr Taus miguel said they shook hands this is a great pleasure mr bongaro Gon garo mr taussig said there was nothing to indicate that they had ever teen seen or heard of each other before it was the same when they all went into dinner together only once did she have the quick sense of fear that shed had the afternoon in the ships library that was when mr taussig started to put his green guide book on the floor beside his chair she held out her hand not no because she wanted to see it but because it was something they could talk about that perhaps graciela could talk about too she said a word since he came anne tried to analyze what had happened lust just then than what he said laid was now now miss heywood this to la my book it was bland and playful but there had been something else in it mr taussig put the book down on the other side of his chair ot of course when the bases here are finished I 1 imagine your unemployment problem will be bad he said 1 I understand the live hundred ac acre re law win will work an additional hardship on your economy does it affect your father mr valera my father Is not a corporation fortunately miguel valera said laid it was the longest meal anne ever sat through it if her own voice had been a record and her smile on a motion picture screen across the room they have been more detached from her it seemed hours before the coconut sherbet t served in polished halt half coconut shells came and went and they had bad coffee at least she thought althey as they finally got up to go she was wa sure mire of bf a number of things she been sure of before one was that miguel had asked her to dinner just because he be was latin and polite to visiting firemen another was wa that Gra graciela clela was wa not bright enough to realize thal thai or to realize that her open resentment of anne was pid or maybe it maybe gatins liked their women to be jealous but chiefly she knew that she was either stark raving mad or the that t richard taussig was something profoundly different from what they all thought he was TO 10 BE CONTINUED |