Senorito
sv" lorena carleton
*■WrrKN n,h AN» l«LM!>EI. MY rKNTKAL MUM A!tt>oriATI> «
SYNOPSIS
.'.1 Al.l.OItV I!AI;kI;. :. !<intotMl. but
^a,.i i!!' BiliKvr.
lii-* u. uu.vi.il uutiiKi-u ui, u.e ol
;1Y„t! nin'Vi,!CK-. ", r r. llu liiuj
bet H Ik i at;ent ...lite ;;he w;i:i utl 4.u_
, t'-ltainor MllMlr; t,, t, „
t-.ii route lu Mi-mi ii by i.l.ine, Maliory
meets an uttiactue. rather mysteri
ous >utui|; man.
JtlOIAltD UI^VTUB.
YKSTERl>AY: A Mexican boy, Pcpe.
tells Muiluty tliat the aulomtihilij she
hna Juat put rl la.sril toriuerly bi'luit'^eU
to a doctor who now la in the "clink."
CHAPTER NINE
MALUXiY NOW understood
Pept's exclamatory whistle. "What
ilo you mean, 'clink'
"Just clink, senorita. Not sissy
jail stuff, but the bail clink. Old
Dr. Courvier now Is in the jvn."
"How awful." Maliory shuddered.
She had wondered briefly about
liim, had thought he probably was
In the Army. Hut this! "Couldn't
you be wrong, Pepe?"
His mouth twisted to one side
jnntl made il little clicking sound.
He was insulted. "No, I'm not
wrong! Everybody around here
knows the old coot was mixed up
in a dope ring. Why, he used to
come zooming back and forth
across the bridge in this high-pow
ered buggy nearly every night."
"This very car?" Mai lory Baker
looked at her prize'd possession
with horror. "Ciood heavens—1
don't want any Jope car," she cried.
Her voice held a hysterical note.
"It's not a dope car," I'epo told
her with patient slowness. Dr.
Cotirvier was too smart a guy for
that. He had the stuff brought up
other ways. Urul' r powder in wom
en's powder lioxe.s. Ho even had an
old woman bringing it up inside a
fish, lie had all sorts of ideas. He
didn't use this pretty buj;gy for
anything except to drive over and
meet people." The boy's eyes were
wide and glowing. "He was too
smart a guy for that."
Mallnry remarked coldly, "Not
too smart to get caught."
"Yes. you're right." l'epe looked
uncomfortable at having to admit
that fact.
"So don't get any racketeer
ideas!" To herself Mailory's words
sounded like the worst sort of prim
teacher. Well, what if they did?
l'epe had a good beginning with
his attempts to inveigle money
from a traveler.
"Don't bawl me out!" retorted
Pepe. "I'm not going to be any
dope peddler. Ami don't get funny
ideas about your automobile. It's
O. K. I just hartr. t seen it in so
long. You see, it was left to the
doc's wife and then, when she com
mitted suicide, her sister tried to
sell it and nobody—"
"Nobody wanted it," supplied
Mallory.
' A dark flush spread over Pepe's
thin cheek. "Well, nobody around
here. But there's nothing the mat
.ter," he insisted. "Everything is
O. K."
Yeh, thought Mallcry grimly, ex
cept that I have the sensation of
being in a haunted house with
something tugging at my coat tails.
Again she found herself wanting to
go back to New York. But, as be
fore, she couldn't hear to let Tod
Patrick have the satisfaction of
that retreat.
"Pcpe," she commanded, "let's
get some lunch. And if you must
talk, please make it pleasant."
As it turned out, the boy did not
talk at all. He just ate, ravenously.
Searching for a word. Mallory
thought of skill. That was what
such eating amounted to. She
watched Pepe tlown, without any
trouble, a huge steak Willi chili
sauce, several cnchilades, salad,
three cups of hot chocolate and
both his and her cake.
As they walked out of the res
taurant onto tho street, Pepe
paused significantly before a shop
tilled with scrapes, small rugs,
woven bankets, bright pottery— ali
sorts of curios. "Curiosidades," in
big letters, outside the shop, pro
claimed its wares.
"Want to buy a lot of things,
senorita?" lie inquired innocently.
The avaricious cunning showed
on his lean features, however. It
made Mallory stern. "No, I don't,
l'epe. And if you don't stop trying
to make money on me, your tip is
going to got smaller and smaller
and smaller."
Curiously, her throat brought a
smile from l'epe. "Oh, no. The love
ly senorita wouldn't be so cruel.
Not the senorita with eyes bluer
than the flowers and hair golden
like an angel's in heaven. Oh, no"'
he said more excitedly. "Not when
I ve given her so much of my time.
I've escorted hc-r to have the pho
tographs. I've escorted her back to
her car for her dark glasses. I've
escorted her to lunch. I've given her
the comfort of mv company in a
strange town. And now 1 try to
give her the help of ntv expert ad
vice so she will not he cheated in the
shop—" Ho had been enumerating
on tho tips of his slim t-n lingers.
"So the lovely senorita would
never do me such a wrong when I
already revere her almost as I do
the Virgin of Guadalupe."
As he had during his earlier
plea, he grasped her hand with his
warm, sticky lingers. "Oh, senorita,
please be generous with me. Clive
me many pesos so that I may go
to Mexico City to sec my beloved
mother."
"Your mother, Pepe? You, an
orphan?"
The boy snapped his fingers with
self-disgust, mashed his lips to
gether and hit himself in the chin
all at once. "Never will I learn not
to open my mouth so wide. But I do
open it and tho words simply roll
out." Nevertheless, ho was not act
ually chagrined. "Let'- have a
coky-coly, senorita."
Not waiting for her answer, he
sent a peremptory whistle toward
a boy loitering in the short street
at the end of the bridge. The tiny
fellow ran swiftly, his bare feet
making a swirl of dust. Pope's lord
liness lasted until they wore in pos
session of the bottles. Then he mo
tioned to tho bahy-sizod vendor
that the senorita would pay, ami
stopped back to loan against an
adobo wall in a pose of laziness
that came with no trouble whatso
ever.
Rosa's hour was not 60 minutes.
It extended over exactly two hours
and thirty-eight minutes. Mallory
knew this, because when she sent
l'epe after her photographs she
watched for him to emerge from
Roe-.'s shop. At that instant she
looked at her watch. Pope's lazi
ness as he proceeded along the
narrow sidewalk made her want to
pot back of him and boot him. Still,
what difference did it make? She
had lost so much time. Because she
had planned the customs inspec
tion as a matter of minutes only,
she was doubly inccnsed over the
— I,
•May. Aiitl it was not yet over.
The pictures hud to be ailixed to
lie.- various passports. Also, "And
now jour cur. Miss LSakor. Of
course you understand you must
■nuke u 2.r>0-prso deposit on it?"
"But why?"
"Because you are going to work."
"lie «irl did not care to start that
argument all over again, so she just
nodded. "It s refunded to you when
you return," she was informed.
"Now, your jewelry ? W.uit ure you
taking?"
She moved hrr shoulders irrita
bly. "This ruby and red-gold wrist
watch. a string of pearl.-, ami a dia
mond bracelet."
The man looked at the coat slung
over her arm. "And a mink coat."
He looked up from his writing to
explain. "All this is t.. protect you
when you come back north, a.
great many people buy jewels and
furs in the city, so we have to know
which is which—now, about your
smallpox vaccination. Haw you a
certificate?"
Heavens, no! But 1 have been
vaccinated."
He lulled her Instantly. "All
right, Miss Baker. If you swear you
have, we'll let that pass. Its all Tor
your own protection. The women
arc Inspecting your two bags now.
Let's see if they have finished." To
gether they walked out to the far
ther end of the bridge. Mallor.v's
luggage was on to,» a high wooden
shelf.
A sad-cycd Mexican woman ex
tended Mallory's pistol toward tlio
customs inspector. "Ah. Miss Bak
er," he deplored. "Why?"
"Yuu were laying something
about protection."
"It is not permitted. And it is
not necessary. We," he assured,
"have a most peaceful country. No
trouble whatsoever. The highway in
like wall ing through your own liv
ing room. You will have to leave
this with me, Miss Baker."
At last, at a little before 4
o'clock, after having passed out
tips—a particularly liberal one to
Pepe for his escort serviec—Mal
lory Baker drove over the Rio
Grande. As she left Niievo La
redo s sun-baked buildings she camc
to an apparently uninhabited des
ert-land. Mallory began to drive
faster. She had 110 miles to drive
to Monterrey, something she knew
she could not do before dusk.
She knew, too, that, although the
countryside appeared uninhabited,
it could not possibly be. There were
too many herds of goats dashing
back and forth across the highway.
They were managed by sandal-foot
ed or barefooted men in wide som
breros and loose white cotton suits
that looked like pajamas. Little
boys, exact replicas in identical
clothes, often were along, carrying,
as did their fathers, huge machetes.
Occasionally a woman, in bright
clothes, a baby strapped across her
back, was the goat herder.
But, as dusk approached, the
goats and peons disappeared. They
have gone to their rough little
homes, decided Mallory, thinking
at the same time, "The customs in
spector was right. This truly is a
peaceful country." As abruptly she
changed her mind. The scene that
loomed up in the sh.-.dowy daylight
was responsible. The men were
not fixing a tire, as she had sur
mised. One was being thoroughly
and brutally murdered by the other
two.
(To Be Continued^
JAP BOMBERS RETALIATE AT GUADALCANAL
AN AMERICAN WARSHIP (loft) steams into port at Guadalcanal soon after the departure of Jap bombers
which left flames and smoke rising from shore installations. The ship's gun crews stand at their posts ready
for a return visit by the Japs to the island, which is still a fighting zone. U. S. Navy i>huto. (International)
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HOUNO t>06 BECOME A^
'WATCH C0<&"WHEA) HES
PULL OF TICKS T
GEO, FULLERTTON
ATLANTA, SA—
C>EA6 MOAH~ CO PABBrr
HUN»"m«S USE- ''HAI5E
TfclCfSEe*&UNi? , '
JOE CALV/M JP,
CMA<8LOTtK, A>C
»OSTcTA*C> VOUR?
NuMNOTiONi to
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rtoAti Numskull
At ACsN\n!
E>EAR HOW CAM
VOU TELL TIME AfTBS
AN ''ALU AROUND TMI5
CLOCK*BOMBW<S ?
A MAN SEC, BUPPAiq, M Y.
DEAP NOAM — SHOULt> /A
FELLOW STAY SIM<oJ-E
AND SETTLP UP OS!
set - MAieraiec* and
SE^TLEl t>OWA» ?
WADE WEAVER
SgQTTOALE, VEMMA
Postca«C> A'nummy Vo'/yaw
N«W»1 »r K»»| tfr**•<• ton
C5EAR MOAH=* IS A COW
THfr" BUTTER HALF "OF
THE COW FAMILY?
BUPStSS BONN »;i
CHAIficrrre, N C.
DC AW NOAH= IF I PUT
tmeVunnv sheets"
Om MY BEt>,will i
HAVE HAPPY WOEA.MS?
C>. hsaly jacksoa#
, MtiaHl Ss Al Y
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IVrtWH *f K'-| rIm
Hazards on the Home Front
By LOGAN CLENDENING. M. D.
WINTFK IS tin1 season when
the home is the most dangerous.
"Little Willie in the best of
sashes
Fell in the fire and burned to '
ashes."
is not simply an example of the
mordant humour of Col. Slaugh
Dr. Clcndening will answer
questions of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
ter: some such occurrence is hap
pening this very second in some
homo in the land.
The most dangerous room in the
house is the bathroom. The cellar
is a close second. A year or so ago
I mentioned the hazards of the cel
lar—going down the steps in the
dark and hitting the step Father
forgot to fix; getting up 011 the
rickety stepladder that is not sol
idly on all fours to get a jar of
preserves, etc., etc.
But the bathroom takes the
prize. It is an electrocution cham
ber, nn icy street, a boiling vat, a
sharp razor, a shallow lake with a
reputation for drownings, a pre
cipitator of the fata! complica
tions of angina, high blood pres
sure and fainting spells, and many
other things.
"How to take a hath and live!"
was the subject of an at tide by
Dr. Dublin, of New York, in which
he listed the statistics of the rec
ord of thi3 chamber of horrors.
And another statistician of the
bathroom ended his remarks by
the sapient supposition that—
"Not many people would di'lib
erately shut themselves inside a
closet with a tiger, a rattlesnake
sn'l a Hash of lightning."
Not a few of bathroom hazard*
ore the fault of architects. Why
should the bottom of the huthtuiit
let alotiu the sides, be so smooth
that Siinja Heiiie would shrink
from tliem? The bottonv of the
bathtub could be corrugatcd or
even sandy—the water will bouy
you up so that you do not get any
pattern 011 your delicate hinder
shin. Xo bathroom should be de
signed so that electric switches
an- within reach of the bather.
They may be human rat traps.
A Denver woman of t>7 not wedded
under the faucet.'', and, cilice she
lived alone, was not discovered for
four days.
As to the boilinfi vat, a New
York hotel could testify to that.
An actress sued it because scald
ing water came out of the faucet
and spoiled her beauty. She was
awarded $100,00(1.00.
Carelessness Cause of Accidents
It isn't necessary in the winter
time to take a bath once a day.
It' old people with atrophied skin
would lea 1 n this their itchin^s
would i;o away.
Kvery room in a house lias its
own kind of danircr. Counting mi
nor ones, there are probably 111010
injuries occu.-rinir in the "safety
of the home" than on the streets.
Hut if we used ordinary precau
tions, and common sense, most of
the accidents wouldn't happen.
Must of them can be put down to
laziness, carclr sness, thought
lessness and losimr the old temper
— the sticking door to which you
say "Oh! you won't come open,
eh?" and then it does come open
ami ftives you a black eye or a
bloody nose. Alter the accident
happens the fust sent'-nce the vic
tim sp"::l - Ih'jm!i- "I hould li.ive
known better than to—."
Wife Preservers
Try cleaning marble by rubbing with
Rait; or mix salt with an equal quantity
of powdered pumiee stoni* and e:.ou?h
water to make a thick errant. Wasli mar
ble with this, allow it to soak a few tnin*
litis, then cleanse with sail water.
SCOTT'S SCRAP BOOK
vjAVAHia
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H^iVl K SAIRED
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260 Pounds A-wt>
34 inches ih MEic,M1
« PBoBABiy -<((£_
■fiNiEvf Adult
Bull in -ftti wokip
By R J SCOn
THIMBLE THEATRE—Starring Popeye "Signs Of Life."
VOU'RE A SPLENDID GPEClMEKS OF MAU
HOOD.POPE^E —PUTOM S«?UR CLOTHES
WHILE I SEE CUM AT (JjE CAM DO ABCUT"
VOUR eve jt^jk THINKS VA'ILTAKE WE
BLONDIE-—(,lecls,ercU L »• 1'atcnl Life Is Blind! By Chic Young
; sur T OM SJE5 K\'?
_"MOKT J/ £JP WELL -OL)
O* TPM
OP «.vM
OUT, yS- "••- ■
ETTA KETT
8EAS6 Y IS SURE '■
acting kys^hrious i ■
LATELY
i MUST BE THAT SCHOOL 1
PLAV HEG WORK IMS Of I
he SA/S irs )
A CHILLER '
THuTS
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Uy HAUL ROBjNjON
GOOD EVEN IMC Ty&L
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I he Gumps - Farewell To (Ned's) Arms
•'pou r WOVEY. foiPLS U<r Y THE
HAVE GOME TO 11GIGM A Al.Dl WOLVES
FIMPJOSI.WILL ' \I Arc- MUOT BE
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