The Ely miner., 1942-10-01
CHAPTER XII

hadn't seen much of his children,
and one of the things he most en-
joyed was playing with them, let
ting Chuck and Buddy crawl over
him. He loved making them squeal
with happiness. And now little Syl-
via Mitchell was an added attrac-
ton. So today Curt went home ear
ly, to have some time with them
before dark.
Curt spent a full hour. with the
children before the clouds let loose
with a ten-minute shower, daily
feature so regular they could set
their clocks by it.
The shower gave Curt chance
to calm the children down with a
story so they wouldn't be too excited
for supper and bed, and when Lee
called for them he shooed them up
the steps and into the house. But
he remained outside. He returned
to the open basement. For here his
eye had caught something of inter-
est during the play which he couldn't
have investigated then without rails
ing the children's curiosity.
The living room ran the width OF
the house across the front, screened
on three sides-a lanai, had this
been Hawaii. Along the front and
sides of this veranda-livingroom was
a solid bank of hibiscus, broken only
by the steps. A cement walk ran
from the front around the side of
the house to the rear, but a two
foot space had been left for the
shrubbery between this and the ce-
ment floor under the house.
And on the edge of the cement,
inside the hedge, were dried mud
footprints! Someone had stood on
this spot. Why? For only one rea-
son. To listen in on what passed
above in the veranda-livingroom.
Then who could it have been? The
prints were broad and indicated fiat
shoes. They weren't large. The
men IN this cline didn't run to big
feet, Curt knew, but he sensed these
were woman's prints. Not Lees, for
she wore heels. The cooks? No,
she didn't know English and caves
dropping would have done her no
good. That is, Curt had been told
she knew no English.
But Ines knew English. Not well,
but enough for simple phrases,
which meant that she understood it
even better. Ines was the maid fur
nished by Montaya. She was me-
stizo, a mixture of Spanish and In
l1oNIr aYI Tnfhnr 0U0fIII
Curt had noticed this much, and
that she was unusually neat, with an
eye for style and effect. Were these
her prints?
Whoever had left them had in
advertently stepped into the hibis-
Gus bed, then up onto the cement,
and since this soil absorbed mois-
ture quickly il. had to be early in
the evening after the shower. Per-
haps after dinner when he and Lee
sat on the veranda above. About
the time Ines left for the day.
Let's see, he and Lee had been on
the couch-hammock. It was some
distance from this spot. But the
yeranda walls were of wood waist
high, screening above that, with rat
tan drops to afford a measure of
privacy with the lights on. Sounds
should carry.
Dinner. Curt was quiet and brood
ing, and Lee caught his eye on Ines
whenever the girl was in the room.
Especially, Lee noticed, he glanced
at her feet. Lee wondered, but said
nothing-couldn't have at the table.
What Curt saw was that the shoes
Ines wore to work, despite her flare
for style in dress, were for comfort,
not style. They were practically
heelless and broad enough for feet
which had gone barefoot through
childhood.
After coffee, Curt collapsed on his
shoulder blades in a comfortable
bamboo chair which he pulled close
to the couch. He lit his pipe and
blew rings to the ceiling, and ig-
nored the stack of papers on the
taboret by his side. Lee recognized
the mood and got out her sewing
small rompers to mend. She knew
he'd start talking when he got ready.
She took the couch, as he'd planned
for her to do. A subdued clatter of
dishes came from the rear as Ines
removed them from the dining table
to the kitchen sink. Then sounds
from the sink. Curt came to life.
'Lee, l want you to talk to your
self for a while, as though you
were talking to me-"
Lee shot him startled look.
'I want to know if ordinary con-
versation can be heard outside" he
grinned.
ooh" But she stared.
Curt put down his pipe, went to
the door, silently let himself out into
the dark.
Lee, with the ghost Of snicker,
sighed and did as asked, keeping her
voice down as though Curt were be-
side her.
"Wen, I suppose I might as well
talk about the people I've met. I'll
get as much attention as if you
were here. Let's see, there's Mrs.
Berry, the doctors wife. She's from
Pennsylvania, but she's no Quakerl
"And there's Mrs. Laine-spells it
with an 81 Her husbands some
thing-or-other in the Merchandise
Department. She's cute. You'll like
her if only because she looks like
Myrna Loy."
Lees hands flew at her work while
she talked.
"Oh, I've found there're quite a
number of nice people here. It's a
good clubhouse we have, with pool
and billiard tables, card room,
and movies twice week"
Lee heard chuckls and looked up
to find Curt had returned as silently
as he'd slipped out.
dance? Okay," he said. "Much