Arkansas State press., 1944-04-07
CHAPTER y

- "e was vi alillllE BUNNY
out OF him. 1t was true, then. She'd
come to this bloody hole and fallen
for the first He caught him.
self sharply. He was being a first
class so-and-so.
Look here, Annie" he said quiz
city Il can't tell you anything |
know. except what's public knowl.
edge. The family is Old Guard.
They belong to the right wing Of the
anti-American element down here.
It's generally rumored-"
$50 that's how Army Intelligence
works." Anne demanded, Her eyes
were blasiae Her voice was low,
bul i was Glstinct and p~assionately
sctth.ag you pick up gossip and
ruHlof and hound the best people on
the Island because they have dig
nifty and integrity. and because
they're too intell'rent to tolerate be-
ing treated like th.ri-rate Americans
by people like you and Sue Porter
and all the colonial imperialists.
Somebody like Richard Taussig
comes down here and does as he
pleases. You give him an escort to
the bases and show him the works.
But somebody like MigIel, who be.
longs here, you kick out of the Army
and treat as il he was a traitor. A
traitor to what His own people?
His own ideals? MOI To a country
that took them by conquest-the
way the Germans took Poland and
all the rest Of them! He's not a
traitor"
She put her napkin on the table.
The tears we're scalding her eye
lids.
I'm going. Pete" she said in a
quick choked whisper. Don't come
with me. l don't want to talk to
you any more"
He sat completely stunned as she
got up and made her way through
the crowded tables out onto the
street. No one had more than
glanced up, as they would natural,
ly glance up at hair like that in a
Latin country. In a corner of his
mind Pete vas aware that she was
like that. II she had to make a
scene in public. nobody would be
aware of il. There was something
il breeding.
Then suddenly he found himself
getting very angry. If that was all
the sense she had, to hell with her,
He picked up his fork and took a
mouthful Of the tender aromatic dish
in front of him. 1t stuck in his
throat like a lump of wet dough, and
he had to struggle to get it down. He
had to get out of there, he thought,
and go find her. She wasn't re.
sponsible for what she'd been say
ing-she probably didn't ever know
what she'd been telling him, Any,
way, it wasn't safe for her to be out
on the streets In the dark. Poverty
and squalor and unrest did strange
things to ever innately kind and gen.
tie people.
He signalled the waiter, paid the
bill and got out as un%obtrusively as
he could. Not until he was on the
sidewalk did ne think of the man
who had been watching them al
the end of the bar. He looked back.
Taussig was gone. He wasn't at any
of the tables.
Some kind of deeply rooted in
stinct stirred inside Pete, He turned
and hurried up to his parked car,
The mar watching it got up from
the running board and opened the
door.
did you see the young LADY,"
Pete asked, hoping to God the man
understood English.
La senorita rubia?" he asked.
Pete nodded.
The mar smiled and pointed up
the street. Then he shrugged. She
had gone up the street-that was all
he knew. Pete made that much out
Of his Spanish. Also that she was
beautiful. "Ai bonita" kent going
round and round in his mind as he
drove through the narrow streets
and dimly lighted alleys A couple
Of soldiers with the armband Of the
Military Police had seen her ross
ing Allen Street, but the two stand.
ing on the corner Of Brau Street
had not seen her.
Maybe she took a taxi, sir" M
Of them suggested helpfully.
Pete nodded. OF course it was
what she would do, he told him.
self. Nevertheless he drove on
around the Plaza again. She was
probably out at the Granada by this
time. She wasn't a child. She might
even have gone back to the res.
taurant He drove down the hill
again. The mar on the curb watch.
ing the cars shook his head. She
hadn't come that way.
Pete turned left at the next cor.
ner and started out toward the Ora.
NADIA.
Anne went blindly up the street.
1t was true, she Thoughtful OF IL
was true. But not what she'd been
saying to Pete Wilcox.
Miguel Valera was a Puerto Ri
can. That meant that he was a citi'
e Of the United States. And what
1900 Ii. l.uz.I~, 90 bje faibar in