Evening star., 1923-08-12
THE OWL TAXI
BY Herbert Footner
copyrsA. by G.ors. H. Dor.a Company

trip. and bought more clothes than
] we could ever wear.
1T is small wonder that a gIr
should be spoiled by 4 E9A ike this
! Half-grown girls are fa6Asly impres
sionable. completely forgot tho
| saner. healthier ideas mad beer
| taught in the beginning and Soor
began to look upon myself as one oF
| only TO God. who looked with great
| leniency on the faults Of one Ike me
Life was very busy and pleassui
| Everything helped one not TO think.
] L imbibed the idea that il spoiled a
womans looks 10 think, 50 ! JUS
frivoled.
Il was good deal freer than The
other Managuayan girls and GO
the name of being very daring. MucH
| was excused me because / was half
American. l was the one who got UP
the private theatricals and took the
boys parts myself. The old ladies
talked with bated breath Of how
rode and hunted in knickerbockers.
| l loved to shock them. You do nor
know our Spanish dowasers. The;
acted on me like "a perpetual dare
Il never saw my dear Uncle Tom
after ] went to live with the de Socn-
| tras. ] missed him at first. but l.
was delicately intimated 10 me thar
he was really not one Of us. and after
awhile ! believed il. Little girls are
natural snobs. When l grew up l be
| gan TO understand that Francisco ann
Uncle Tony were on opposite sides in
politics. In Managuay men become
| extraordinarily bitter over politics
| In our house Uncle Tony was called
renegade. socialist. traitor to his
| class. atheist. and ] don't know wnst
/ had only the vsguest idea Of whsf
/ was meant by politics. l never read
the newspapers.
/ Il cannot give you any idea OF the
situation in Managuay at present eX
! cept to say that in general waN
Uncle Tony was on the side Of III"
on the side OF the rich l sided with
Francisco naturally. They told me
! the poor people were enTious and dis
/ contented: that If they were not KEEP
under, they would burn and des;ro,
and never rest until they had made
US as poor as themselves.
! One day in Managuay-it is really
only week ago. though II seem
like seven years. l have Travelled s.
| far since-we were still at Casa de-
Monte. the country house. and Nina
came to meat home Nina is my own
! maid. though when we travel she
serves both mamma and me-Nina
came TO me and said that a gentle
man wished to speak TO me and that
| he was waiting under the banyan
tree in the Jardin des Plantes.
For moment | was very indIg
| nant a t the idea of any man bidding
p
but 1 saw from the expression on
Ninas face that this was no ordinar,
| cavalier. | asked her who it WAS
| 'Senor Bareda,' she said in a scared
way: He said 10 tell YOU. your Uncle
| Tony.
| We'll. at the mere sound of the
! dear name sudden warmth flooded
my breast. ! forgot all the harsh
things i had heard said about him in
that house; | forgot that considered
Il ~a1f -fI - H..
| 1 remembered only the days when he
had taken, me on his knee and re
cited funny rhymes about the KinG
of tse CannRsl Islands. 1 ran to him
| as fast as could go.
| The Jardin des Plantes was Fran
cisco's private botanical gardens,
planned after the famous gardens III
Martinique 1t occupied great
stretch of level ground at the foot o
! the hill on which the house was buin
Trees. shrubs and flowers from every
| quarter of the earth were CROWNS
| there. The banyan tree is famous in
Manag quay. 1t is far from the house,
but near the public road on the other
| all to itself, and there was a stone
| bench under ii, on which l found my
Uncle Tony sitting. l wondered who
had steered him to the spot.
He looked so sad and kind and
patient, and he was not at all fash
ionably dressed. that my heart went
right out to him: the selfish. self-in-
| dulgent years slipped away and
felt like child again. He won M
before he said word. He kissed M
on the forehead as he used to do. and
said, smiling:
| lis it very wrong for a gentleman
| to ask for q secret meeting with
young lady if he is sixty-four years
old. or she his niece? If had gone
to the house l should not have been
admitted
But how did you get here" /
asked. How did YOU get hold OF
| Nina?'
"'Her brother is a friend OF mtne
| I sent a note TO her through him
| Every word of that talk Is en-
graved on my mind. Sit down be-
side me he. said; Let me look al
YOU. How beautiful you are" He
his words. And quite the glass of
fashion. the mold of form, wha.
have they taught you. NY child, ex
cept how to dress Well?
| When he asked me that | suddenly
seemed ineXpressibly ignorant to my
! self. 'Why-why. nothing much. [
guess ] stammered. He smiled such
a dear smile. oh, we'll. If you feel
that you know nothing there is still
hope for you
"I suppose you wonder what my
errand is he went on. and now that
L am here | scarcely know how 10
tell you. IT was an impulse OF the
heart. j felt somehow as II my hear
could not rest unless / saw you be
fore / went away.
You are going away" ] cried. al
ready experiencing the sinking sen
sation that one feels at the prospect
of losing an old friend They are
driving you away" ! added. thinking
of Francisco.
He smiled a different kind of
smile. No, they are not driving me
away. / go for Managuay.'
where?
| "'To the United States. l sail on
the Alliance tomorrow. 1t is a dan
.Dangerous" 1 cried. like the fool
ish child l was, but there's no danger
nowadays"
"He Smiled and answered with an
other question. Do, you know. any
what de Socotra stands for
"'No,' / said. Francisco only
abuses you. He tells us nothing
"My uncle was silent for awhile.
1t v-4s at this time that he took
out the little black book and showed
YOU night before last: The hap
niness of a whole people is bound
up in this But he seemed to chang
his mind. and put IL away without
| saving more. No, ] shall not tell
you. he said, for il anything hap
your only protector. l dare not take
the responsibility OF setting YOU
against him. ] will only say this:
That he opposes all. hold dear. And
he would say the same of me /
have no doubt
IContinued in TomoFroWTs Starr
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