The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-04-18
o SERIAL STORY
MEXICAN
MASQUERADE
sy CECIL cAsNES


road ard headed croes-eountry
FOR n. pins-topped hill He had
on canvas lsgginEs which pro
tscted hin from cactus spires
and ether more deadly perils.
Several scorpions seuttied away
a. his ssift approach. and at
leas, ore side-vinder ratified an
angry warning AZ him 10 watch
his step. he did.
He reached the bas. Of the
ali with no more than these
rsptilian alarms. He began the
steep ascent. climbing fairly
quickly til he was within a few
feet Of the top. Then he
erouched and went the rest Of
the way on hands and knees.
he came to the grove Of pine.
erawled through It to its farther
edge. and dropped flat on his
stomach IN an nice q front-nns
observation post as nature ever
devised.
Stretched before him was thu
blue-gresn expsnse Of the Gulf.
nected rays Of sunlight. Across
glinting and twinkling in the re-
glinting and twinkling in the
the water. nearly ten miles dis
tant al this point, was the hazy
shore Of Mexico. barren. sandy.
and with no sign Of habitation-
These details held Allans att
tention no more than an Instant
What he was interested in was
group of islands which lay
close inshore. almost directly be-
low him. They stretched out in
chain parallel 10 the shore
and separated from it, as sun
su had said, by q strait hardly
NOR. than a hundred yards in
width. There was a perceptible
current flowing south through
the passage, and Allan remem-
bered the ocean tides reached
up the gulf even as far as this
Only two Of the islands sp-
pesred 10 be occupied. One.
much the biggest Of the group.
had several substantial build
ings on IL; the "cannery' OBJ
viously. There was a boat dock
OF its nearest shore: on the
fsrthest. a long pier jutted out
into the water. II was easily
big enough 10 berth a freighter
while loading a cargo of canned
fish.
The other occupied island was
good deal smaller than the
first. Allan noted a roomy, white
stone bungalow in the center,
and a small structure, sppar-
entity a hoathouse. on its nearest
shore. He saw the figures Of =
man ard a woman pacing to
and fro on q tiled path. and he
focused his glasses on them
curiously. Neither was Japa-
nese. The woman was young.
blonde, and rather pretty in =
piquant way, he decided. The
man WAS blond, too, tall and
broad-shouldered; he might have
been an American but for the
way he gesticulsted with his
hands as he talked.
Still and all. the chief feature
Of the scene 10 hold Allan's be-
unused attention was on the PEN
insula itself. A little way off, \
crew Of Japanese vorkmen were
digging into the side of a small
mountain with picks and show
els. They seemed 10 be excavat-
ing a dark. clay-like substance
which was put on hand harrows
and carried sto a big scow by
the waters edge. When il WAS
loaded. the scow Was towed by
q launch 10 the eannery island
and another scow came up 10
be filled.
Something wrong about
this muttered Allan. wriRkl-
bis brow in perplexity. You
don't use clay in canning FISH.
DO you. wonder why the Sam
Hill Sun Su didn't mention this
digging Il could have started.
! suppose, after he received his
last report from his pals" He
shook his head regretfully.
Wish I knew more about
soils"
In the middle OF that wish. =
rsttlesnaks whirred some yards
behind him He had done moth
ing himself 10 startle the most
nervous Of side : winders; he
turned his head quickly TO see
what had.
ne found himself hooking
straight into the muzzis Of =
rife. Il Was held BY the squat
EuraSian. and behind him were
SIX short but strongly built Jap
anese- The squat man growied
q cultural order.
Hands Up. Senior steele.
Prontc
lie Be Continuedl