Henderson daily dispatch., 1944-01-06
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"a. n. .aassSNTANA r lORENA CARLETON
~ CENTRAL pK~Ssr
~ '-' fVK MD RELEASED ti CENTRAL PRESS Association

while their owners. motionless also.
stared at her with huge brown
eyes. their faces impressive.
Seldom. very seldom. did NAL
Tory see a smile. and that usually
came from 4 yoirgster. They were
the ones who responded to her
friendly waves: the grnwnups
seemed disintercStcd entirely. Lat
er. she was to learn that the ma
Jority of these people had the stern
indian blood rather than me more
jovial Spanish.
She did not stop for lunch. In
Monterrey she had bought a box
lunch. Chicken sandwiches, a to-
mato, some fruit and some delicious
chocolate cookies. While eating she
slowed to about 20 miles an hour
SO she would not miss any of the
sights. She was seeing more little
homes now. places with straw
roofs. In the dusk of the previous
evening she had missed them. In n
ldirt-bcatcn yard she saw some
thing that looked ike n fat wheel
barrow. A baby was sitting in it,
having n bath, a giggling. squirm-
ing. soap Splashcd. coffee toned
baby, with hair black rs tar.
Women swept their houses. even
their yards. with crude brooms
made of twigs and straw. There
was much visiting. much shouting.
She saw Il two-piecc orchestra re-
hearslnS for the evening in Il tiny
J saloon. n guitar and. ludicrously. n
very American saXophone. These
saloons - cantinaS - were every
where, small, with few bottles. but
with many glossy. Lright-lcttered
signs.
On sudden impulse Mallory
stopped at one of the little cantinas
and went in. There were no GUS
tomers-not during the siesta hour
but countless members of the
family made The small cafe seem
crowded. Four children slept in n
corner with n couple of puppies.
An older child sat in a chair bounc-
ing baby on her l;nec. The moth
er was cooking in back of n low
partition. A man and a boy, obvi-
ously another son, were hack of the
bar, both leaning On their elbows.
Mallory's entrance produced a
dcath-like quiet, instantly fol-
lowed by excited jabbering. The
woman ran up back of the bar to
help greet the customer. The girl,
rocking the baby. put it on The floor
and left it there. l. cried and
kicked its legs with fury. Two of
the sleeping children awoke and
stared. The dogs began to bark.
Everyone was talking frenziedIy
and smiling. talking to Mallory,
among themselves. to Mallory
again.
Her confused gaze swept over a
chalkcd menu. Besides various
Mexican dishes there was "bifstcl1."
Bcefstcak, she knew, but she didn't
want that.
She wished Pope were along;
she certainly needed an Interpreter.
Then ncr gaze lighted upon one of
the gawdy tin beer signs that had
cnticed her In the first place. Mem
orizing operatic arias had given i.cr
a fair idea of various language p,, =
nunciations.
"Ccrvcza." she ordered. Success
fully for the man put a bottle of
cold beer before her. AID she was
rewarded by ordinations and
chucklcs. as if she had delivered a
speech in precise Spanish. How
ever, when she left, she did not
fare so well. Words like "centavos"
and "cinCucnta" meant nothing.
She filed her palm with change and
SiSnalcd the cantina keeper to take
what was due him.
She used the same tactics on two
little boys at gasoline station,
who filled her tank by the primi-
i've fashion of first filing n large
Tin can. then dumping it into her