Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-03-29

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was here.
She began fumbling with the
buttons of the yellow linen,
changed swiftly to suit and put
on heavy shoes Then she put
a dark bandana over her fair
hair and went TO the door of
Susy's room. .N
I'm going out just to see it,"
Susy looked at Mona as If she'd
forgotten her existence. ITS
better to ride" she said vaguely.
But l expect they've taken all
the horses. Take a sweater. The
winds cool"
Mona went back to pick up a
light jacket from her room, then
out and down the dark slope of
the hill, her eyes on the fire. 1t
was a raging avalanche now
beyond control she thought.
Though the wind was against
her, she could Whit the pungent
smell Of the burning cane.
From the level of the road she
could see less. She walked
quickly, not knowing how far it
was, only that she must go. A
man passed her on muleback, an
other. One Of them spoke warn
ingly to her But she hadn't
learned SPANISH she could only
shake her head II don't under
stand"
So much you don't understand,
she thought. What are you doing
here? Sight. seeing? Or going
TO Bling no matter where he is :?
No! No! she insisted. Not that
But you can find out il he's all
right, cant you She pressed
on, almost running now. aware
that inside her there was building
an odd. persistent sense of haste
Because of it, she didn't hest
tate when she found Bing's car
parked off beside the road. She
climbed in. relieved 10 find the
key in the lock. lurched down the
rutted road
She gained rapidly on the fire
now. She could hear the roar of
il, terrifying in its tumult Of un-
bridled forces. Across a field TO
her right, hundred yards away,
she caught vistas of blackened
cane She was paralleling the
path Of the fire. The red glare
on her right increased. She could
even feel the heat Of il as she
drew abreast Of the main body of
the flames. She bore on, conscious
only Of that sense of hurry.
A HEAD. she saw another fire.
" II took her a moment to
realize that il was too far TO
come from the one she'd passed
This must be a backfire, kindled
TO stop the hurting tornado Of
the first.
Abruptly the road she was fol-
lowing curved northward II ran
into the center Of a r formed by
two cart roads. Mona slowed
stopped.
To go ahead would be danger
GUS. cutting squarely across the
line OF the main fire, or 10 the
right, which would skirt it too
closely. To the left would be
equally bad as it would take her
into the slower-moving backfire.
She could stay where she was for
a few moments, then she'd have
10 backtrack TO the next cart
road and follow that.
She got out of the car Without
the car lights. she could see how
the whole countryside was bright
with the red, malignant flames
At intervals sparks went show
ering high where a tree. some
where in the fire, crashed to the
ground. The noises crackle and
roar and crash-frightened her.
But she stood her ground, her
eyes searching for moving fig
ures in the smoke and glare.
Far down the cart road which
she faced. she saw a group OF
men. mounted. They passed out
Of sight All but one. He'd de-
tached himself from the group.
heading instead toward Mona.
His white suit showed plainly in
the light. He was having trouble
with his horse. The big black
animal reared and plunged. no
doubt terrified by the sight and
sound of the fire.
Suddenly Mona's heart tripped
in its beating. That must be
Bling! No guajiro would come to
a fire in a white suit. Her
hands frightened at her sides. II
must be Bing. That was Diablo
the black horse he generally rode
She climbed on the running
board to see better, straining her
eyes TO watch Bing as he forced
Diablo forward.