Evening star., 1934-04-12
CHAPTER XXI.
MEXICAN PARTY.

THEY swooped low to study the
topography of the country, and
when they returned that aft
L ernoon Cunard looked thought
full.
SIT could be. oil land" he unused,
thoughtfully, 'but weIl hope 1t isn't"
Judith paid little attention TO him.
She had succeeded In reminding Slim
Of the package he had cached in the
cabin of his ship and, opening 1t, had
discovered smart knitted beret and
pull-over sweater.
well celebrate its arrival with a
trip across the border tomorrow
night" Cunard promised when Jud-
it'll had tried them. I've never been
in Mexico and all need is an excuse
to CO."
Judith; who had turned to a pile
of newspapers brought up during their
absence, opened the one ella called
her "enemy's clarion"
She thumbed through 1t until she
came to the rotograVure section, then
quietly she laid the paper aside and
with a reckless laugh said, Lets go
tonight. I'd like to get away from
here now"
She saw Slim Sanford look over
her shoulder and quickly she shield
ed what she had seen, a picture OF
Mathile Bevins and Norman Dale,
with the caption: "Bereaved daugh-
ter Of Tom Bevins, in secluSion OF her
Galveston Beach cottage. confers with
family attorney, husband of the mil
nonaire stenographer."
Shed seen border towns, visited the
heated cafes with their milling crowds,
the quick warm tempo of the guitars,
She sang one of their songs as she
dressed in a tailored suit of pale tan
twill, boots of doeskin, light of sole
and dull of leather-she could dance
in those.
She pulled elias gift sweater over
her short dark hair, ran a damp
comb through the disarrayed strands,
then pulled the new beret forward at
a rakish angle above one straight
black brow.
A dash Of warm raSpberry-toned
rouge on her too-White cheeks, a full
| curved line for her lips, and she
| wheeled from the house and darted up
| the ship rock To the west the sky
was a deep apricot, toning gently to
| a luminous green, and midcenter hung
a single star. By midnight there
would be full moon.
Back at the house she found Slim
waiting, Cunard would join them at
the ship. Slim was Immediately
groomed as usual. She wondered
vaguely, as they strode down the hill,
if he managed to keep shaved and
pressed when he was guest-by-force to
the Chinese war lord.
She sat beside him in the dual con-
troll seat, and watched him as wom-
an might watch man, not as Judy
Dale had heretofore watched ella
Sanford's brother. The reflection
from the illuminated dial board threw
high lights on the severe line Of his
profile.
Occasionally, as though conscious
of the new element in her scrutiny,
he would look at her, the rare smile
which had first attracted her fash
ing across for its brief moment.
The moon came up behind them
and flooded the world. 1t turned the
Rio Grande. moving below them, to
molten silver, and then they were
banking about. circling low, skim
ming gently and whirring to stop.
The town lay, a huddle of adobe
and wooden buildings, on barren
strip of desert. Sunlight would have
picked out each detail of squalor. but
the moonlight turned the adobe snow
white, the lighted windows golden
yellow, the shadows of the frame
buildings blue-black and purple. It
lay a glamour over the scere which
reached Judith and heightened her
excitement.
The cafe was small, it was crowd