Adventure Magazine Cover — page 174: what you’re looking at

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

738 coming close to him, her eyes on the door- way down the gallery. With an assuring, protective instinct he put his arm half about her. The color flamed into her cheeks, she threw back her head and gave him one blaz- ing flash from her eyes as she drew herself erect, but before the look that had come on his face at the touch, the nearness of her, her glance softened, her lower lip trembled like that of a hurt child and she whirled away from him and vanished down the cor- ridor, leaving him strangely stirred with emotions new and strange to him, but not unwelcome. “Little girl,” he said to himself, “if this were hell I would stay!” Left alone, he leaned against one of the pillars, smoking quietly and listening. Ina little while Nacion appeared, backing out the door, and in a moment Don Felipe fol- lowed. His heavy hair and his thick beard were still damp from his bath, but his cot- ton clothing was white, fresh and immacu- late and there was an air about him that evoked Haskell’s admiration. “Ah, sefor,”’ he cried at sight of the American, “‘buenos dias, buenos dias! I regret not having been at home when you came; my house is yours, pray believe me,”’ and he advanced to bow courteously, smil- ing with his lips but not with his eyes; nor did he offer his hand, for which Haskell thought the better of him. “Don’t speak of it, sir; your family received me most hospitably and if my in- structions had been more definite I should have known how and to whom to send notice of my coming.” Haskell, with his right hand never far from the opening in his jacket near the butt of his revolver, watched the other narrowly. “Did you have a pleasant journey to the peninsula? It is useless to ask farther than that, as we are so primitive here that travel- ing is hard for men used to the easy ways of civilization, so you must forgive our humble and comfortless methods of living, Sefior Haskell.” The engineer could scarce repress a smile as he thought of the intended addition of thirty inches of henequen knife to his com- forts the night before, but he said cor- dially: “For years I have been living in camps in outlands and I like the life; and, contrary to what you say of your district, I have enjoyed my two days in it very much and Adventure am looking forward to a pleasant stay dur- ing the period of my work.” “Tt shall be our gratification to contrib- ute in every way to your pleasure and enter- tainment!’’ Don Felipe had a little light in his eyes as he said this that would have been envied by the devil himself. ‘Of course, having lost several days, lam anxious to get on the grounds at once. Now to clear away any misunderstanding, I am here as the agent with full authority of the syndicate which has acquired from Sefior Don Juan Rafelo Calderon y Ortegas the rights to cut and export the mahogany and other hard woods from certain lands close to the border of the district, and if my cal- culations are correct, the nearest part of the tract is not over ten miles to the south. I was ordered by telegraph to come to this hacienda and here I found a letter of instruc- tions. Sefior Don Juan Rafelo is your father?” ‘““My father is dead. This is a brother.” There was a hidden significance in his choice of words. “Ts the forest near?” “Yes; yonder, not a league, begins the great woodland and it extends on hundreds of miles, and there are things hidden away in it which the world never dreams of.” ‘Ves, I know the Central American for- est is comparatively unexplored.” ‘“And though the sun shines fiercely and the rain pours down like a river from the clouds and the trees and vines grow thick, some men may pass through parts of it, but they will come out knowing little. Even the Maya aborigines fear it.” ‘Well, with your help in securing provis- ions and a guide, I shall ride to-day to begin taking care of the part of it assigned to me.” “Ah, but not to-day, sefior. You have no reason for haste. Is my hospitality fall- ing so short 2 ‘“‘No, far from it, Don Felipe; but I have lost too much time and I must push on to join young Peters, my assistant.”’ Haskell’s eyes dwelt coldly on the other’s face. ‘Peters? Peters? Your assistant is now in the mahogany garden?” ‘““He came here before me. Have you not seen him?” Don Felipe shook his head as if deeply puzzled. ‘‘No, Sefior Haskell, I have not seen him or heard of him.” Slowly, without taking his eyes from the GCOMIGDOOKSEEO