5 Detective Novels Magazine Cover — page 36: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

36 gangling freshman, awkward, confused, ambitious, but unable to find a groove into which he would fit. With no musical talent at all, he first wanted to be a com- poser; with no acting ability, he next tried dramatics. Finally, when he was in a mood of discouragement, I per- suaded him to interest himself in his- tory, particularly the history of ancient Mexico. He did, but unfortunately he had meanwhile learned to drink. And since he seems to be one of these people who have no tolerance for alcohol what- ever, he almost had an early crack-up.” “And would have, if you hadn’t saved him,” Edna Ferry put in unex “Well,” Siddington said, “at any rate I steadied him a bit, kept him in the groove until the war came along.” “He was with the marines, wasn't he?” Ollin asked. “Yes, until they shipped him back with battle fatigue. He was in various hospitals and when he got out, he start- ed drinking again.” “And again you pulled him out of it,” the girl said almost resentfully. “Say rather,” Siddington modestly amended, “that a lueky break provided me with something to get him really in- terested in. Actually, I had lost touch with him, until he showed up here one day, as drunk as a lord and proclaiming that he was rich. [It seems that the nig- gardly uncle who had reared him had finally died and left him: a cool half million dollars, about the worst thing that could have happened to a boy al- ready well down the road to dipsomania. I knew something would have to be done, or he’d be dead or in an asylum in a year.” “You talked him into sobering up?” IDDINGTON shook his head sadly. “I couldn’t have. It was sheer luck. It just happened that about this time I got a letter from an eccentric fellow in Mexico City who calls himself I. Tezcat. He claimed to be a scholar of Indian blood who had made contact with some wild hill tribes who had preserved the old music of the Aztecs in secret rituals no white man was ever permitted to see or hear.” “It sounded fishy, of course, until I played a recording the man had sent FIVE DETECTIVE NOVELS MAGAZINE along. ‘man wanted so much money—for ex- That set my hair afire. But the penses necessary to carry on his work —that I knew our little college could not afford to finance him. I played that. re- cording for Kern—after I had got him temporarily sobered up—and it did what no amount of sermonizing could do. It gave him a purpose he has fol- lowed steadfastly ever since.’ “T assume,” said Ollin, “that the big safe there at his apartment holds more of these recordings ?” “Thousands of dollars worth of them,” Siddington said. “This fellow Tezcat charges fabulous prices. But Hil didn’t care. His ultimate plan was, to subsidize a sort of ballet troupe here at the school which would present the an- cient ceremonies and dances just as they were enacted centuries ago. Money was no object with him because he not only had an objective but a theory to prove as well.” “A theory?” Siddington frowned as he rolled a big fountain pen along the edge of his desk. “About the music—and it’s effect—” He looked up. “Anyhow, this work was his salvation.” “Not quite!” Edna Ferry snapped and looked quickly away. “Oh,” Siddington said, “there was Liria, of course. But if you hadn’t been so jealous, my dear, you might never have driven Hil to her. Anyhow, the recordings kept coming from Mexico City, and things seemed to be going along fine, until—” “Until last night?” Siddington nodded miserably. He got up and walked to the window and stared out across the sunlit campus. His hands, folded behind his back, worked nervous- ly. “Something cracked,” he muttered through his teeth. “For some reason, Hil took a drink, and then—” He turned, dramatically spreading his hands. “You have no idea what caused it?” Siddington came back and sat down. “It certainly wasn’t discouragement,” he said. “Hil had just got what he con- sidered the biggest prize of all, a record- ing of what purported to be the sacri- ficial chant used in the ancient Ochpa- niztli festival.” AMICLOOOLKS @ (C(O) (C(O) mM