The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-11-02

waiting for him. The red-headed mechanic was gone, but he had left tag on the steering wheel bear ing the words, "The brake drum is worn down. I fixed 1t OK for now but she needs a new one. Tell Mac"
 Bobby threw the tag away and was about to get into the car when he saw Mark Hopkins neat blue roadster parked against the ! opposite wall. So the boss and the foreman had got back, had they? He leaned against his car, meditating briefly; then he cross ed the shop and stood looking at the car the men had used. Julius, the colored man who took care of the shop nights was coming up with a bucket in one hand and a length of hose in the other. He grinedn when he saw Bobby.
 Boss sure got her dirty to-day" he said. Told me to wash 'em up good right off."
 The roadster was dirty, unde- niably. It had gleaming wire wheels, and an abundance of bright chromium-steel on hood and bumpers; and these were plastered with 8 peculiar reddish dust that completely obscured their ordinary brilliance. "Now where you suppose they got that kind of mud?" unused the Negro, bending to look at 1t. "Ain't no roads around this part of the country got red mud in 'em. I seen plenty down south, but ain't none around here. No- where"
 That was true. The soil in this part of the country was a clayey loam which deposited dust and mud of a tan color. The dirt on the car was almost blood-red.
 Looks like iron ore," said Bobby, Julius connected his hose to a well fitting and motioned Bobby to stand back lest he be splashed.
 "Uh.huh, he said, twisting the connection tight. "She do look like iron ore. I don't know where he could of got that on him, Tess it was down back of the Empire Steel plant"
 A stream of water from his hose rattled on the cars hood, and trickled to the concrete floor like blood.
 "Was he down thereP" asked Bobby. The Negro looked up.
 I don't know where he was," he said. When he come in, I hear him cussing to MacFarlane about the Central street bridge being closed. That's all I know"
 All of this seemed to add up to nothing at all. Bobby stood for Q moment longer, watching Julius; then he got in the demonstrator and drove out to give his prospect" a spin.
 It was about an hour later that he brought the car back to the shop and parked 1t for the night. As he let himself out and started walking down the street to get his street car, he began to ponder anew on the trip that Mark Hop kins and MacFarlane had taken. Was it worth thinking twice about? Certainly it was Hopkins privilege to take his shop foreman of on Q business trip in the mid- de of the afternoon. if he chose to, without arousing anybody's suspicious. What if he had driven through some peculiar-l looking red dust? Did that necessarily mean anything7
 And then he remembered Larry Olenn's words. Somewhere around Dover there was factory where armored, bullet-proof cars were surreptitiously made for gang sters. Larry believed Hopkins himself was selling these cars He felt that 1t was highly impor- | tant to find out about 1t, and he had urged Bobby to notice every little deviation from the ordinary routine, no matter how unSmpor- tant 1t might seem.
 Yes, thought Bobby, but I'd look swell, wouldn't I, calling up Larry and telling him, Hopkins went out for a ride this afternoon and got his car dirty. thought