The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-08-04
Chapter IL
UNDER COVER

UNDER COVER
THE winch clattered. A boxed ra-
Il dio came up from the Bonaven.
lures hold and was swung out into
the snub-nosed, broad-beamed pow
or boat that thumped against the
steamers hull, and that was already
loaded, one might imagine, beyond
the capacity of even two of her kind.
And yet. 1t seemed, there was
always room for something more
another barrel or two OF -four, an.
other drum Of gasoline or oil, bale
Of this or a case of that.
Lastly there would be the mail
bag. But the mail bag was not usu.
ally either bulky or heavy. It gen.
orally seemed to have an emaciated
and detected look about 1t as though
conscious its poverty.stricken state
would not even enable 1t to dole out
so much as a letter apiece to that
little cluster of houses on the shore
there.
Colin. leaning over the coastal
steamers rail, watched the scene
as he had watched similar one
many times before, always with TN.
tagging interest.
His NH. harked back over the
four days and half since he had
left Quebec. Not that great dis
lance in actual mileage had been
covered, as the time consumed
might imply; but there had been in.
Vulnerable stops like this one. for
the Bonayenture was the liaison be.
tween the lone villages on the coast
and the source OF supplies and ne.
eesslties which came from Montreal
and Quebec.
He nodded thoughtfully to him.
self. He had gone ashore frequent.
", walked through the villages.
talked with the people, and had come
to admire them for their courage.
their faith. and their simple phi.
losophy OF life under conditions that
were so often those Of obvious hard
ship--and in his heart to pity them
for. what seemed to him, their pro-
found loneliness and isolation. A
queer. strange, new country to him,
so near to civilization, and yet so
lmmeasurably far awayi It was
The boat alongside, fair down to
her gunwales, cast OF. A figure In
the bow. nondescript in dress, one
arm wrapped around the plhnging
mast. waved his cap and shouted in
farewell; another figure in the
stern, nursing his suffering engine
and half hidden by the heterogene-
Gus plle OF cargo that surrounded
him. did the same. There came a
short. barked order from the bridge.
The Bonaventure was on her way
again.
And the next port of call was Cap
Af0rage.
A few hours from now-this after.
noon. Colin swung away from the
rail and began to pace up and down
the' deck. Cap q Forage ~ Storm
Cape. He had wondered often
enough II there were anything sig.
nihcant In the name--for him?
On the face of It. It all looked
simple enough-to deliver q letter
20 one known as Joe Lazarre at Cap
Arorage. that was all. But 1t wasn't
ell. Granting the delivery Of the let.
ter-what then? What was he. Co
lin. to do2 Go back to New York,
take up his normal life again?
TT wouldn't last very longl The
Il Mask, as witness Reddy's end. did
not delay attentions OF that sort un.
duly. AS II stood now. Colin Hewitt,
90 far as the Mask was concerned,
had--well. vanished. He had left no
trace behind him. no trail to follow:
he was confident Of that. And to
make assurance doubly sure, he was
no longer even the "Routh" OF the
hotel register. His name now was
ward - Donald Howard. He
smiled wryly. How many names had
the Mask? He was running the Mask
q close secondl
All very WELT But to resume his
life rs Colin Hewitt In New York
as matters now stoodf Merely sui
eide! What TO do. then So much de-
pended on Lazarre-on I.azarre's
attitude. What was In that lstterf
why had Reddy laid so much stress
hpon Il? What would Iaxarre dor
Reddy had stated that Isaaarre
WAS working for the MAsk--and be-
heved that the Mask had Inter.