Show BURST 0 C I 1 dt 11 GRANVILLE CHURCH y THE STORY SO FAR jeff curtis and his wife lee are already on their way tolT totlee lerm libre when he receives a note from zora mitchell lieU warning them not to come when they arrive in tierra libre they find and both zora and her husband lead dead tt it Is heUs job as chief engineer for a fruit company that jeff has been called to fill later jeffs friend bill henderson Is also killed and jeff suspects I 1 i his employer senor Alon taya of murdering hirry him and the blitch heUs ells because they had bad found a clue cine to the strange ti lings going on at the plantation r other sinister figures are the company pan T chemist dr and the flyers eri ny denand and lannestock A V S army plane forced Is down but senor does not appear alarmed by the presence of the ari nymen leff jeff and lee discover that their housemaid Is spying anian on them now jeff Is fallang to a man named collins collies NOW CONTINUE WITH THE STORY CHAPTER XIII the mans eyes veiled suddenly Curt flared well make up your mind whether to trust truit me or not I 1 cant manage age abete a tete very often youre from the canal zone and you drink about as much as I 1 do your general appearance needs to be explained pla ined curt dared a little guesswork you came in through soledad on the destroyer that called therea week ago monday A rigidity in the other convinced curt he was right he went 0 on youve built yourself into a trai tramp lip by sleeping in old clothes and not shaving for ten days your skin used to a beard it itches you keep keel scratching your face but you resist the comforts of a clean body you got those bleary eyes from going without sleep and that hungry look from doing without food for about two days huh three days the whole things a buildup build up why collins gave in 1 I needed argood a good background me mc Innis says I 1 can trust you I 1 ti think drik so too first judgment its along a long story and I 1 cant even give it to you all ali of it anyway anyway im asking you as a fellow american he emphasized the th e words to give me a job I 1 want to get established here steps mounted hurriedly to the door in the outer room the door snapped open curt picked up the application blank collins had been working on and was studying it as emilio entered black everything is ready the native announced hardily curt looked up okay well have faveto to hold it a few minutes all ali right collins he snapped at the ragged man it so happens I 1 do need men ill give you a tryout try out but you better be as good as you say youage you are you can go up to camp withee now he looked the man over with distaste first go to the next room and take off those rags get under the shower and ill find you some clean clothes theres a razor in the bathroom get those whiskers off and hustle it up scarcely a word passed on the chugging trip to the levee camp esteban the launch boy sat at his controls control sand and stared straight ahead emillo emilio sulked As for collins after a few minutes of that stare he simply turned his back on emilio and gazed at the rivers river edge slip slipping by collins was a fay stretch from the tramp of an hour ago in spare shirt and breeches curt kept on hand in his quarters collins showed up a tall tangy athletic person monahans Mon ahans shift was coming off duty ae as the lau launch made the levee camps campp landing curt took collins ashore under emilios watchful eye and while th the camai camp cook was replenishing the lunch basket he turned the man over to monahan put him on a drag this afternoon slats you can tell one way or another about him by the time I 1 get back this evening luck collins curt left his musette bag in camp went briefly into the few questions accumulated since he was here two days ago then took off upriver again there were three of them this time curt emilio and the launch boy they reached without incident a spot above the C A T holdings past the point where the rio negro levee made an elbow to join the first arm of the quebrado quebrada Qu ebrado range here curt had the indian pull the launch in to the south shore then he put on his carefully prepared act he appeared to deliberate very well emilio he said at last heres our program I 1 want you to pace off the shore line and plant these flags every forty steps de sure they can be easily seen from across the river this wont be hard to do with the river now at a low mark though you may have to use your machete on small brush when you reach that bend up ahead wait for us there meanwhile esteban will set me down at that hill opposite ill climb to the high highest cst point get some pictures for further study and come down the other side The the launch will pick me up then well cross and get you Is that cleara emilio fumbled with the flags but bat senor montya jave gave me strict orders 94 0 of f course course of course curt in lie he told me too for where there could be danger of attack such as came to mr mitchell there can be no danger here come well have to get going if were to get back to camp by dark he hustled hustle emilio dEmilio still protesting and blackly reluctant off along the shore line jumped back into the launch and was set down on the other shore As the launch boy headed upstream for the rendezvous curt took one look behind him he could see emilio was watching him curt was now I 1 in somewhat familiar territory on this bank rose a considerable hill thickly covered I 1 11 2 I 1 he could see ee emil emilio io was watching him with a jungle of trees lianas bianas undergrowth der growth because of the hill finca urana the Associate ds farm touch the river at this spot curt plunged into a path used by the women of the farm laborers when they came to the river to wash clothes he picked up a mule trail at the edge of the banana planta tion broke into a trot banana farms are laid out evenly the bits planted twenty feet or so apart the plants grow rapidly shooting up suckers of which the strongest are allowed to remain and each single plant eventually be omes a ring of plants like a bed of gigantic carmas cannas their long broad leaves meet twenty to thirty feet overhead allowing only scattered rays of sunshine to reach the earth A banana plantation is a lovely peaceful spot if one has the t time line to enjoy it it was along such a lane hot the air still that curt trotted if all went well he could get to the farmhouse of urana and back to the river in thirty to forty minutes he would have to explain this lapse of time but hed worry about that later out of breath and sweating heavily he reached the farmhouse his khaki shirt was dark with perspiration there was only a native timekeeper in the farm office which was the ground floor of the two story house while another mozo was raking the corral he looked up amazed at the stranger who appeared out of nowhere but curt gave him n no chance to put his curiosity into words he took the initiative donde esta hoy boy el senor creo que fue al tigre senor curt went to the old wall phone and turned the handle sharply the bell in the box tinkled the thick soft voice of the exchange operator answered ring finca tigre he waited senor mcinnis there how long would it take inake to bring him to the phone oh lie he thought a moment all right thanks wont wait he hung up he risk hall half an h hour our his eye f fell ell on a typewriter seizing a piece of paper he rolled it into the machine and began to punch outa note jerry youve heard of zora zor a mitchell and bill henderson without withof t a doubt convinced of danger here but dont know what it is ol dm moo moore re has confidential file on everyone 1 I 1 of consequence in tierra libre hates to give out but I 1 must know all I 1 can about malce make him spill to you and meet me at river bendabout nine saturday night hiring collins no chance to talk to him yet C 11 he cast about for an envelope found one sealed and addressed his message the native t timekeeper ime keeper had been staring at him throughout all this half in amazement half in re resentment sent curt asked his name rafael diaz senor bueno rafael said curt tell no one about this see that senor mcinnis gets this as soon as possible phone him to come here put it in his hands yourself understand As curt made off at a trot across the clearing to disappear under the banana plants the timekeeper note in in one hand money in the other shrugged his shoulders muttering locos todos locos americanos siempre tienen bienen prisa these crazy americans always in a hurry on his w way ay back to the river curt thought of his sweat sodden shirt he ripped it off as he trotted and let the breeze he created nearly dry it by the time he reached the hill when he put it on again it would still show wet but that could be accounted for by his exertions along the river he saw a brilliant orchid in bloom an epiphyte fastened to a slender dead tree atiee limb within reach it was one of the butterfly orchids lee led wanted and had two threefoot three foot candelabra branches covered with dozens of small bright yellow blooms like butterflies alighted here was his excuse for lost time I 1 curt put on the rest of his act with deliberation he studied the opposite shore the rising hills behind put away his field glasses took his pictures then fought his way through the undergrowth down the hill to meet the launch it was some time you were gone from view said emilio when at last picked dup up the man was jittery 1 I worried you had difficulty some admitted curt but this is what lost me many minutes my wife wants an orchid collection she had one when we lived here before curt exhibited the plant with such real pride that it appeared to satisfy emilio and the man fell into narrow eyed sullenness well im through here said curt tapping the camera lets go they picked up the flags emilio had planted in his pictures they would mark foot intervals though this was n no more essential to curt than the pictures but the ruse had worked during this process curt also minted hunted a couple more orchids to bolster his excuse for the delay across the river then they proceeded to eat lunch in the boat in the lengthening afternoon shade of a stand of mangroves man groves roots of these trees sprouting from branches in midair had taken hold in in the river bottom making a natural awning against the sun perched on a branch not far from the launch a noisy kiskaden kis kadee jawed incessantly esteban the called it a heet gee gee at first it was merely annoying but before the meal was finished the bird had become a d definite nuisance curt pulled his pistol took aim fired his brows shot up in astonishment ish ment there had been no kick when he squeezed the trigger and the bullet expelled without force made a curious arc and plopped harmlessly into the water he tried another shot but with the same result then he removed the clip and examined the remaining bullets they seemed to be all right the brass shell case from the first shot had ejected over the side but the second had fallen into the boat curt picked it up and exar examined nied it undoubtedly it was from diio same lot as the rest of the clip suddenly he noted that emilios sia sullenness had disappeared that the native was eyeing the proceedings with a deadpan dead pan countenance and com completely plemely indifferent eyes the bird meanwhile had merely hopped a couple of steps at each shot and was still jabbering its raucous notes curt snapped home the clip tried a third shot another dull thud so he shrugged dehol estered the automatic and said huh bad lot of ammunition bothin nothing 9 mere TO DE CONTINUED |