The Wilmington morning star., 1947-01-25

looking tor adventure 1Ley SCI
sail in two s~quare-riggers, and it
must have been a heartbreaking
trip they rap out Of water twice
and nearly lost one of the ships in
a hurricane.
But the colony was a success
from the start. The plateau is free
o. cattle t i C S, and Floriap
brought pure-bred cattle. Today
New Dixie cattle get fancy prices
al along the coast
What happened after Florian
died?',
His son ran it - and now his
granddaughter, Ciaribel. She owns
ever half of the land herself. Peo-
pie say she's the most able Of all
the Florians. They're a domineer-
ing family, and intolerant of out
side interference"
"Why did they start to grow
RUBBER"
"They didn't want to depend en-
tirely on cattle. The Blacklaads
we're no good for grazing. but the
best grade of native rubber IN
South America grew wild in the
forests. Malaria was the big PROB
lem-nobody could live there so
twenty years ago they called IN
Father, and after years of work
he drained t h G Blacklands and
wiped out malaria. Then they
planted thousands of acres of rub
Der, but the rubber boom col
lapsed. and they could never find
a market for it,"
Cliff grunted. Il brought them
a market on a silver platter. and
look what happened 10 me-
MAYBE they didn't like your
9latter." she suggested. .
Drsh was coming on when they
finished dinner. and he followed
Janet into a large candlelit room
with high ceilings and white tiled
floor.
''This is Claribel's office" she
said.
One end of the room was taken
up by a long mahogany table; to
the left stood a large piano, and
on the walls hung a dozen pic
lures, dark w;h age. Against the
window was a huge hand-carved
desk. Uttered with papers, and the
empty chair behind it was worn
with long use. From a perch
above the d e a brilliantly
plumed macaw looked morosely
down at them.
Janet touched the keys Of the
piano - it had a fragile. muted
quality. Il used to play for my
father on this very piano when we
came to see Claribel."
"What was your father like"
She glanced quickly up. He
vas big and exciting. and red
hcaded-not dark red like mine;
his as really fiery" Janet's
voice and eyes had come sudden
ly alive. "He had a terrific temper
100. but with sick people or with
childrcS he was tender as a wom-
an. The Indians back in the Jungle
adored him. He was the kind Of
man who was either your enemy
or your friend - there was never
any middle way
What happened to him."
He went On a field trip in the
food season and eve came
back" Abruptly she rose, and
moving to the window, stood look
ing down over the broad sloping
plateau toward the village. where
lights were already tWinkling. She
had apparently forgotten him, lost
in memories, and in the long 81
lence Cliff walked about the room,
feeling he should say something,
but finding speech increasingly
difficult. She seemed less conf
dent, less sure of herself than she
had that morning, and with g
shock he realized how completely
his future depended on her.
He walked to her side. 81 think
there's n thing you should do
tonight = you ought to tell some
body that Vicente and his riders
are in the neighborhood.'
But we promised not to-" she
protested.
Il promised not you. You
weren't asked to promise. Wade
said these New Dixie people don't
get along with the Blacklanders,
and if anything happens that you
could have prevented"
She shook her head. II wouldn't
do that. Let's not even talk about
it,"
He could see her mind was
closed to the idea. Have it your
own way-but it might look as if
you were trying to stand in with
Vicente. l don't want to give them
any excuse to throw me out again
this job mean too much to me-"
He could feel her drawing into
herself again. Don't you think l
know how much this job means
to you, Mr.. Bogard?" she asked.
mo, l don't" The panicky re.
sentiment flared up In her eyes,
but Cliff went slowly on "All you
know is that if 1 don't get this
job I go broke, That's true. I'll
lose my shirt, and so will the
friends who backed me, but that's
rot the important thing"
The deep voice ceased. and for
a moment his eyes seemed to
brood on the night outside. He
reused himself. II had a partner
down in the Argentine. He came
out with me when we left the
States, and We worked together
for five years. We went broke to-
sether too. He was the one who
first got me interested in the New
Dixie plantations, so we decided
he would come up a d look it
oves. A week before he left l got
a telephone call warning me that
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