| Show 0 0 G W inai am taie IL conqueror eran ph ari 0 0 0 peter B U M liae copyright by hiiter P cyns vy N U service CHAPTER VI continued now how dare you presume to address fin me e I 1 I 1 roberta cut in icily 1 I am not aware that I 1 have the dubious honor or of your acquaintance sir although I 1 belleve believe you are my uncles slayer jim higgins biggins lie ile stared at her without rancor nor did the pleasant t smile that had crinkled his undeniably good looking countenance fade the slightest roberta made swift appraisal of him ile he w wis wg is about six feet tall strongly built bithe and graceful ills complexion was a reddish brown a most agreeable color scheme when taken in conjunction with crinkly jet black hair and large black snappy eyes black irish roberta reflected noting his thick almost nose the broad upper lip and the square jowls the very worst kind of irish 1 yes I 1 am jim higgins don jaime admitted without a particle of shame 0 or r embarrassment and from the inflection of his voice from a certain faint clipped manner of slurring his consonants roberta knew that spanish was this mans tongue it was my misfortune to be the instrument of an inscrutable fate that wafted wafred your delectable uncle to his mansion in the skies lias has anybody ever told you what a cool scoundrel you are mr air illg gins do you enjoy killing men oh ob nol no not even in n self defense roberta had a feeling that she was not going to make much progress in the face of the mans debonair indifference what do you mean by trying to shoot my foreman why its the open season on sheep herders gerders her ders were allowed one a day and old dingle bell Is the first ive flushed in a week hell be the last hush flush in many years it if there Is such a thing as law and justice in texas oh ob were very law abiding indeed I 1 very few of us on this side of the rio grande kill for pleasure or profit youre going to have me arrested I 1 presume 1 I certainly am well when the warrant la Is issued the sheriff will telephone roe me about it and tell me to come in and talk it over by the way what are you doing around here anyway Is it your intention tp to camp all night on this platform or were you expecting somebody to call for you la Is it possible that in a moment of exuberance I 1 frightened dingle dell away und and thus deprived you of your transportation no ill excuse you of leaving us stranded air dingle would have departed in a 11 little tile while hut but not so precipitately I 1 do not mind telling you that we tire ore waiting for don jaime miguel to send a car or over for us do you yop know don jaime ive known him nil all my life what sort of man la Is lie we ell average id call him just n fair sample of a greaser folks ln in this country dont seem to mind h having 0 V him around are you certain don jaime knew you were due here today why I 1 wrote him a week ago well the hair must have slipped somewhere or hed have had bud a car here to meet you yes and n light motor truck for your baggage one thing prides himself on Is his punctuality and hospitality im ver very Y much afraid alces I 1 mean miss antrim that unless I 1 get word to don jaime that youre here the lie station how dare you presume to address me roberta cut in icily master will have to take you in and I 1 know he equipped for com pany robertas troubled gaze met the young mans with just a hint of tolerance row pow 1 I suppose you have your humane moments sir mr higgins R remember r however I 1 nm am certainly going to prosecute you for the attempted murder of mr air dingle do bo dont ann tangle ie yourself up in rash promises to render first old aid you may send word to senor benor tf it you rop wish tint but all it will avail you Is my thanks you may mav pien aven omit the thanks he replied brightly 1 I am dellah lod to have ca an opportunity to withdraw from your peppery presence so with your permission senorita I 1 shall ride swiftly to the humble abode of this fellow and tell him to beat it over here like the devil with his car again his hat swept the platform before he climbed down and limped to his horse spoke a few words to the boy who was waiting there tor for him and set off down the road at a smart gallop en hop there goes the handsomest moat cultured most interesting ruffian any woman will ever meet roberta declared 1 I do hope his lameness will not be permanent lies hes marvelous ma nelous gorgeous breathed mignon 1 I wonder why he go in the movies mr higgins ought to get along beautifully in that profession roberta sighed ile he certainly has admirable In control of his temper I 1 seem to insult him in about an hour a handsome sedan appeared accompanied by a speed wagon both were driven by youths of undoubted aztec ancestry without a word they hey fell upon robertas baggage and stowed it in the speed wagon whereupon the driver of the sedan approached hat in hand and said the senor sends thees car and the compliments of heem to the senorita don jaime tell to me to say to the senorita he ees verl ver sorry he have make the bon bone chend liend play not to come before jus now don jaime Is ver vcr busy wash heem self and make the shave for deener roberta smiled at the nilve n youths report and entered the car with ft ath mignon 1 I wonder what davy crockett saw in texas she mused he died for it I 1 As the party reached the summit of a low range square mile after square mile of smiling green valley lay outspread before them evidently their chauffeur was aware aft are of the beauty and comfort of the scone scene for he stopped the car to give them opportunity to enjoy it all thees he said with a wave of his hand and a proprietary air be long to don jaime miguel abeso I 1 theena two hundred vou tou sand ban d acres in all alara senorita oo on the mesa you see the heeg beeg white ha ba clenda the red roof that Is the home of don jaime lie ile Is my good boss you are very fond of don jaime roberta barta queried 11 II 11 1 senorita I 1 dl die e for heem sly my illier ashes die for beekil lie enil roberta was impatient to see don jaime miguel for whom men lied so gladly she gazed across the lovely valley and thought all those poor simple people tire are sheltered under the mantle of his philanthropy ile he Is the master the gentle despot whose slightest wish Is their law ile he Is a feudal haron baron roberta youre trembling on the brink of it great adventure low how I 1 would enjoy having linvle g glenn blackett meet and know a man like don jaime ilig aenes V the car rolled across wooden bridges over irrigation canals and on the lie borders of a n distant held field roberta saw a long queue of teams drawing mowers dozens doyens of hay wagons were loading and stacking the new cut alfalfa hay hav perhaps a hundred men were raking and piling filling it the fragrance of the harvest came pleasantly to the girls senses and it occurred to tier her that this valley had once been try dry and barren until metamorphosed into a vast garden by men of vision courage and faith to her it seemed a big worthwhile worth avol th while thing to have anno something homeric there was drama in it poetry too she knew no little man had done one this and that none but a big man man could ca carry rry on in with it and tier her impatience to meet don jaime increased they swept up through the indian pueblo and were harked barked at and pursued by incalculable numbers of dogs of assorted breeds if glenn hackett were the 0 overlord v edlord here he would binish banish those curs roberta thought ard justify his act on the ground of clency and sanitation nut but these peones deones must have their dogs and doubtless don julme realizes 1 that 1 t let them have dogs millions of them what affair Is it of his I 1 dare say lie has dogs of hta his own assorted brown children in varying degrees of nudity stared find and shouted at them fat brown women seated on doorsteps door steps or hang hanging ing over re fences aces in homely gossip bowed or curtsied then they were through the pueblo and rushing up a penile gentle slope through an if o i 1 rs past great white barns and on to the ancestral home of don jaime miguel Higue higueres nes they halted under a red tiled porte cocheres and mrs ganby canby came out to welcome then them don jaime begged me to present his excuses for his failure to meet you miss antrim she explained lie has been working worl ing cattle with his men the past two days shipping from valle verde station and don jaime has only just gotten home and Is busy making himself pretty and this young lady with you Is my mald maid mignon mrs ganby canby you are fortunate to have brought her with you don jaime has dext can or indian balds maidli I 1 dont know which to carp care for the house but until I 1 came he had nobody to train them and everything has been at sixes and sevens ive I 1 vo been hero here about six weeks and am gradually getting order out of 0 chaos do you speak spanish miss antrim unfortunately no the servants understand nothing else I 1 am studying the language and am beginning to make myself under stood you have a modern both bath with hot and cold water dinner Is at six sit does don jaime dress for dinner he puts on his coat even when we haven t got company mrs ganby canby Inu laughed glied in this part of texas tetos men readily acquire the comfortable shirt sleeve habit what a lovely room I 1 roberta exclaimed as she entered it was a large room and furnished in an old world elegance in fact roberta who knew something about such things was satisfied that every article of fur alture in the room had come from spain and was at least three hundred years old the windows opened onto the patio and the scent of flowers filled the room A cluster of roses mccu pled pied a vase on the dressing table don jaime plucked these and placed them liere here himself mrs gan by informed her ile he was in great distress at having you arrive a day earlier than we expected you I 1 fear you t figure your timetable time table cor miss bliss antrim yes this Is the nicest room in the house it was for merly beriy don jaimes mothers room dinner will be served shortly after you have hare tidied sidled yourself up a bit dont hurry burry roberta chose to wear that night the dress shoes and stockings which had precipitated unfortunate proposal on the part of glenn hackett and was BBS unusually critical of the manner in which mignon prepared her bobbed hair she wanted to look her best when she should meet don jaime miguel at last she was ft as ready and made her way down the corridor hall mrs canby led her into don jaimes balmes spacious living room at a small email sideboard his back toward her stood tier her host lie ile was arrayed in flannel trousers and white buckskin shoes a soft white silk shirt a black SIN bow tie and a blue serge coat roberta was impressed by the extreme youthfulness of his figure for she had anticipated a very much older man and for a reason she had no ground for entertaining she had expected him to be short and portly mrs ganby canby spoke don halmel 1 rie ile turned this young lady Is miss antrim don jaime don jaime bowed you are welcome to my poor house antrim he said evenly and advanced to take her hand jim 1 she cried furiously it if you insist upon applying the literal translation of my mon moniker monk leker ker james michael chael fliggins Is as correct as jaime miguel dear mo me cant you yoa seo see the map of erin on my mj face miss antrim her eyes blazed at him youre a positive devil she whispered as she reluctantly surrendered her hand to his why did you jou deceive me at the station to day dear antrim I 1 did not deceive you you fished asked me it if I 1 were jim ins and I 1 admitted it then you started to work on me and I 1 had a great curiosity to see how holy tar far you would go it if I 1 had find known you were vere balme miguel I 1 would have had dingle take me over to my lato late uncles ranch 1 I feared the son of a gun was planning to take you there you and your maid are the first women to get oft off at that station in a year ir and when from a distance I 1 observed you jou I 1 sus BUS peeled your identity suspected that for or some reason lenson you lad bad arrived aday a day earlier than that named it in your letter so I 1 started neross across to interview you and th Q I 1 saw dingle dell bell as I 1 I 1 call him and instantly I 1 was jealous so I 1 tried to kill dingle bell according to you although what I 1 really tried to do was to puncture his tire I 1 thought if I 1 could succeed in frightening him away before he had an opportunity port unity to tell you too much the things I 1 wanted to tell you myself I 1 would be proving myself a very smart young man well I 1 succeeded 1 I robertas face went scarlet im so terribly ashamed so embarrassed nonsense it was a grand lolee joke and I 1 assure you grand jokes are few and far between in this part of the world that rascal dingle had bad been talking to you and telling you things that so and I 1 saw at once that you were perfectly willing to believe the worst wor t of jim higgins while holding jaime higueres Higue nes in a measure of respect 1 I 1 I cant believe youre a bad man roberta faltered im not im a lovely young feller and your cussed uncle did give me a flat tire and make a southpaw south paw out of me for a while and I 1 did bust him good and plenty and have no regret for my action im forgiven am I 1 not roberta eyed her host coolly til rii think it over im sorry you deceived me even by such innocent and undoubtedly amusing deceit your tour letters were so delightfully neighborly it seemed quite all right to permit myself to be under obligation to you put but it if I 1 had known that jaime hig aenes and not jim higgins had killed my uncle I 1 should riot not now fand myself in the position of scolding my host of regretting my acceptance of his hospitality say on miss antrim I 1 would be the last man on earth to use his hospitality pita pit lity allty as a gag to free speech my uncle bill will think it very very strange of me to accept the hospitality pita lity of my uncle toms all ah remover how shall I 1 explain it to him dont don jaime suggested meekly ill do it give me uncle bills address and ill send him a wire N ire to night that will give him an opportunity to register his kick tomorrow if it seems to you then that you ought to leave valle verde my car will be at your disposal lie ile called sirs mrs canby and when she entered bobble was holding to her hand 1 I rode all the way home with ken jimmy he shouted arid and im not tired then he saw roberta and removed his hat don jaime formally presented the boy then snapped his fingers at robbie and th the e little chap limped over to him well old boss don jaime greeted him find scooped the boy up la in his great left arm we had IL a fine ride today we but you disobeyed orders robbie I 1 told y you oil to ride home with the cook in the chuck wagon and lead your pony behind youve overdone it son what are we going to do about that eh robbie bobble looked distressed but I 1 felt so good jimmy he began don jaime shook him and set him flown down 1 I put you on the payroll at len ten dollars a month at the end of the month collect nine you are fined a dollar for disobedience of orders the boy threw his arms around don jaimes waist and looked up at him almost tearfully are you angry with me jimmy of course not do you think im a short sport but an orders an order and given to be obeyed you promised to obey me son and you must learn that a promise must be kept kep t understand no matter what happens a man must keep his promises its costing you a dollar to learn that an and d the lesson would be cheap at double the money run along now and wash your face and hands bands and get ready for dinner roberta caught the boys mothers glance fixed on don jaime with a sort of maternal adoration that boy requires manhandling man handling don jalma |
