Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise., 1938-01-07

But they're all right now"
They're all right if that bridge is,
and I'm pretty dead sure it isn't.
They'll certainly be out of luck if
they can't get most of the Santa Cata-
lima cane"
Daddy, please go and see Hilario.
think perhaps he really has found
out something"
What the devil are you driving
at?"
81 think you ought to find out why
Martinez wanted to fire that cane so
badly"
81 know why, if he did. Pepe Ruiz
put him up to it."
"What do you mean, "if he did?'
Lancey Micks put his finger tips
together. "Well," he said finally, "may
be Arnold's right, you know"
Ruth sat straight up.
Get this right" suggested Lancey
Micks. He stared at her moment. II
didn't know it was Martinez. 1 thought
knew what he was doing. / shot him
first and went to see afterward."
He had made slight mistake-El-
mer Kirk knew. He guessed, specifi-
cally, the mistake had been the cham
pagne, but whatever it was, he didn't
feel any too well. He noticed Mr.. Grove
was preparing, rather furtively, to
leave the long, light rooms of the
Casa Vivienda, noisy now with the
dance music, and hot. Elmer seized
the opportunity to slip out too.
He saw Ruth, he. knew, and Edith
Fletcher. Probably Ruth was taking
Edith home. "Hello," he said awk-
wardly.
Hell, Mr.. Kirk" said Edith. Were
going driving with Saez. Come along"
He heard Ruth ask where they were
going. Saez the driver thought they
could go to Jaurez and turn around
and come back, because the road was
good now.
It struck Elmer as amusing that
Jaurez was where Grove was going.
He might see Grove, and that would
make the sugar-boiler mad.
'Saez,' he heard Ruth say, "you
can leave us at the Florida and go and
get yourself drunk. Fifteen minutes
will be all right"
He was out then, on the fragment
of paving. The Florida was quite new,
in a glory of mail-order American fix
lures. With Central Baria, for which
Jaurez was the main line station, the
box could find no mention about
Jaurez, S. c.
Elmer Kirk saw Ruth give Saez
some money from a small gold hand
bag and the car moved away.
They went to a place that was alright
except dirty, fat and rather irritable
old woman behind the bar. What do
you want?" she snapped with vigor-
Gus hostility.
Like little cognac, Elmer? Good
for the head, probably. Two cognac,
sonora and-I don't think you'd better
have an ice, Edith"
"Oh, mother let's me. I had my ty-
phoid shots this Fall. But-would it
be all right if 1 had little bit of
vermouth with some line in it
Think so. You can have an ice,
too, if you want"
"Well then WILL" she explained to
the woman very politely, winning
quite thawing or notable turbulence" -"
where is every one, senora?" ask
ed Ruth, smiling.
Fiesta" the woman shrugged.
"Curs and pigs" she added judicially.
Him." whistled Ruth. Edith, dear,
you get after that ice, and Elmer, if
you go down to the tienda at the cor
ner you'll find Saez. Tell him I want
to get out of here right away"
"All right" he nodded. "How do I
say that?"
She repeated the phrase for him.
Elmer Kirk had swallowed his cog
nae and now, on the pavements, he
wished he hadn't. He should have told
Ruth he didn't ever drink much be-
fore he came down here.
The phrases to summon Saez he said
over and over, but even as he did he
knew he was mixing them up. He shut
his eyes and clenched his teeth, aware
that he must get Saez, that something
serious was happening, that for some
reason Ruth was alarmed. Fiesta in
TINA, whatever that was. Not nice.
; Then-with flash of inspiration
it must have something to do with Mr.