Evening star., 1932-07-10
Her Fathers 'Wo' Wo''AI00ays Meant
"Yes" to Luanne-BAt the Mise
ParenfKnOzUs H0zU to GetArOnnd
Stubborn Young Daughters.

tioning this Kitchen person as matrimonial
timber!
And, to make matters even worse, as soon
as lunch was finished, Stannard said he would
have to be hurryng along-down to the East
Grove wherever that was; and would Mr.
Kitcheu be obliging enough to take Luanne on
a tour of inspection along that new piece of
railway the young man had just completed?
c INCE there nothing for the girl to do
- but accompany Wayne Kitchel1. she went
Riding on small contrivance which resembled
a hand-car but which was powered by gaso-
lire motor, the two young people spent the
afternoon touring the Stannard banana groves
And just as the girl had feared, her COM
panions shyness gave way to professional fer
vor. Expressing flare for accuracy he spared
not the slightest detail about grades cost of
construction and labor problems. 1t seemed to
the despairing miss that he talked for a solid
hour about how he planned and contriyed to
build a track across the piece of swamp land
between loading stations nine and ten.
OF course, the result of all this was that when
Stannard returned home that evening he found
an irate and eloquent daughter grimly waiting
for him
A FTER dinner Luanne sat alone on the porch
~ while her father busted himself over a pile
of reports submitted by his superintendent.
AS the setting crowned the distant Cor
dilleras with halo of pale gold, the breeze
from the Caribbean grew cooler. Then, as the
light faded before the empurpling shades of the
tropical dusk the girl noticed new moon
hanging poised above the idle-swaying fronds
of a giant palm tree.
1t in this glamorous setting that there
came to her the soft strains Of a guitar. She
sat upright listening, straining her eyes to see
whence this magic melody came It must be
~ 0iltt IN hock
ing tree shadows. Curious she rose and
started walking, glancing alertly before her.
Then she came to an abrupt stop. for there,
with his back against the trunk of tree,
young man sat strumming a guitar his dark,
handsome face upturned as If he were serenad-
ing the star-strewn heavens.
Suddenly he turned his head almost as if
he had expected visitor.
"Buenes noches, senorita," he greeted softly.
"ET@good evening" stammered the sur
way she had come. IL heard your music
and-well-I wondered il"
Il hope you have no objections" he replied,
his dark eyes meeting hers.
oh no no. of course not" And then:
Where did you ever learn to speak English
so well?"
He shrugged. "And why not, may I ask?
My father was an American"
HNH, see But won't you go on with
~ your playing? I enjoy hearing you"
Isl, senorita. you viii sit here beside me.
Before you came, the moon and stars were my
inspiration" He smiled at her. But now they
seem-how do you call it?-eclipsed."
And his expression was far more eloquent
than words as he began to cajole harmonies of
minor wistfulness from his beloved instrument.
The young lady, sitting contentedly beside
him, realized that here was her dream of ro-
ton of moonlight: the cooling caress of vagrant.
fower-scented zephyrs; the indigo vault Of sky
spangled with fiickering stars. 1t all seemed
too strange, too wonderfully exotic, to be real.
And yet at her side, this fascinating
man with the handsome face and body, youth
whose dark eyes smoldered with glowing. mys-
terious fires-in short, exactly the type Of mas
culinity conjured in the hazy dreams of signing
debutantes
When his playing ceased and his melodies
had gone to mingle forever with the madrigals
of the night breezes this caballero, as cabaleroS
are prone to do, inclined his head of wavy black
hair close to the breathless girl-and kissed her.
OF course, the modern Luanne had been
~ kissed before by several collegiate chaps,
but never had she been kissed so full upon the
lips, and in Central Ameriea-on moonlit
night.
And never had the young lady trembled
she was trembling now. For a moment her in
vulnerable sophistication fed before feeling
Of terror She wanted to leap to her feet and
race back to the hcflse; to the protection of her
fathers arms. But her swarthy companion only
smiled-and kissed her again
"Ah palomita, mia' he whispered, and the
girl inferred that, in the stress of this mad mo-
ment, he was lapsing into his native tongue.
Your hair is like the gold Of dawn. only more
beautiful Tell me- who are you? From where
do you come? What kind fate am to thank
for"
The sound of heavy footsteps caused them
both to turn quickly. Out of the shadows strobe
John Stannard his eyes blazing. his stern
mouth set grimly.
so, here you are!" with feet planted wide