The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-11-18
(Continued From Yesterday.)
The Stranger Arrives. CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER l.
 The rider dismounted tossed the re1ns over the railing of the veranda, lodged gracefully as the pony n:pped at her ear, and crossed the patio. With deliberation she selected table near the sidewalk from which she could easily see to the hilltop, where the ramshackle station reposed Tn the shade of a clunp of tall, slender palms. The afternoon train was not in.
 She ordered a glass of limeade, with two marachino cherries from the lowering mozo and devoted herself to letter consisting of several pages which were extracted loosely from the region of her silk shirt-waist. The letter was written upon ful1-sized of flee stationery with the inscription, Horace Callahan, Inc, Mechanical En- gfneers, engraved blackly across the top. The letter was in a way quite typical of the man who had written it.
 My dear Daughter:
 I hope you are well and enjoying yourself with the Legarras. am writing to assign to you an important task, one that you will find entertain ing, am sure. By the time this reaches you one of my best men will have started for Gu!anatara Valley on 8 very interesting commission. What I want you to do is to report to me weekly on his progress.
 You are not to act as a spy in any sense; you are not to shadow him, you are merely to observe him and talk with him whenever the oppor- tunity presents itself. It goes without saying that you are not to inform him that I have written such a letter as this to you.
 His name is Ward Armstrong. Here are some pertinent data concerning him: he has been in my employ for five years, is twenty-seven years old, a graduate, with a good record, from the Boston Institute of Technology; halls from Saugatuck. Michigan; came East without a cent in his pocket, via ''side-door Pullmans." and worked his way through college. His mother was school-teacher his father lum- berjack.
 I have great faith in Armstrong, a1- lately he has been somewhat of a dis app ointment. When I say that he Is one of my best men, I mean that he has possibilities. He is a dreamer, and I have confidence in the right sort of dreamers. In his five years in my drafting-room he has done noth- ing of importance. Lately he has fal- tC1i 4IlIO IuLP p1OUdOly poSa QSS HIS imagination has not had a real chance to assert itself. He has made a num- Der of trivial mistakes recently.
 This morning I called him to my office and told him that he was of no further use to me. He came right back with: You are right; I knew it was coming" In the next breath he added: ''The trouble with me is that have grown afraid of talk 5r,cr 101ae 1H7 c-id d -fY~oo yod My imagination is dying a slow death. Where can I go with the two thous- and dollars have saved and gamble with a year of my timer"
 Almost instantly, Dorothy, I thought of my dis-used power-plant in Guana- tara Valley. It has never been a euc- cess. because the Guanatara Cubans refuse to use current. You remem- Der that I sent Hawthorne down a little over year ago; and he failed.
 I outlined the prospects to Arm strong, painting the picture with such bright colors that he will probably take the first steamer back home as soon as he sees what conditions that machinery is in. He snapped me right up, mentioned that he had stud jed Spanish in college, and asked me to give aone year option on the plant. The young scoundrel named a price that is positively outrageous! Know ing me as he did, he said he would pay $1,000 for the complete in- stallat:on if, after a year. he decided to buy it. Dorothy, your infirm and decrepit father signed that option. Is it necessary for me to say that Arm strong is a practical dreamer?
 There is only one feature that may bring forth interesting developments. Armstrong has a pair of fists that he can handle on suitable occasions. I have a faint recollection that he ma jored in the manly art during his jun for year at the university. You know that am adverse to exhibitions of violence, but if it should happen that Ward Armstrong is so molested that he cannot refrain from punching some husky Cuban on the jaw, I warn you not to repress any detail of 1t in your report
 You might inform Senor Legarra that Armstrong is coming and you can impress upon him that the young man may be trusted to the nth de- gree. Unless I greatly underestimate the constructive imagination of the young man, Guanatara Valley will shortly witness a burst of activity such as it never before experienced. Per haps I am mistaken in Armstrong, but the men who have come up in my training rarely disappoint in the final analysis.
 I presume that you will fall in love with the young upstart, but that is none of my affair
 Hoping that you are in the best of health, I am, lovingly,
 FATHER
 Dorothy Callahan continued to con- template the station as she stpped the lineade, and when the afternoon train its arrival by a puff of snow white steam, followed an instant later by single long screech, she smiled.
 "I do hope Armstrong is on that train,'' said Miss Callahan. 'I just can't stand this suspense any 1onger.''
 Selecting an American in the stream of passengers descending the hillside, | Miss Callahan studied him critically as he followed the street to the Casa Grande, the only hotel in La Pintura. l She observed that he carried himself erectiy, striding with a certain pride | and yizOr He cIiraf1-d inc to l