Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 18, 1928 — page 110: what you’re looking at

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

908 But all the natives in the vicinity disclaimed having seen any one answering the de- scription. This failure resulted in Simores again examining the house on the plaza. And this time he walked all around it and dis- covered the great shell hole. He went into the house. There the devastation proved to him that tragedy had occurred. Inquiry in the neighborhood uncovered an old crone who, watching in fear and trembling through a crack in a shutter of her home, had seen bodies removed from the house. She had recognized the aunt, Senora Lorenzana, who, though of a much higher social station, she knew by sight, and the old servant with whom she had often gos- siped and hobnobbed. They were dead; but she had seen no boy. Possibly they had taken him out before she peeped through the shutter. Simores resolved to keep this to himself for the time being. He was unwilling to bear such news to Patria until further search had proved fruitless. He therefore lost no time in calling at the various hos- pitals. | Although several boys had been treated for unavoidable injuries received during the fight for the city, Esteban’ was not among these, and Simores had been in a quandary as to just what course to pursue. He felt it would be a most propitious feather in his cap if he could find Patria’s brother for her. And now he resolved, if possible, to make capital for himself out of the situation. He had brooded all day. Nelson’s gratuity of the two dollars had capped the climax of his insane jealousy and hatred of the American officer. His resentment turned bitterly toward Patria, too, for from his concealment the night before he had witnessed the full inci- dent of the maestro’s magic violin, and he had interpreted accurately her mood and impulse toward Nelson. So he was in an ugly and dangerous frame of mind when he went to Patria’s room that night for his instructions. He wanted to hurt her. He was cunning enough to wish to raise in her false hopes the better ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. to dash them down and cause her suffering when the time came for full disclosures. Yet there clashed with his evil intent the remote possibility that in some way he might win the girl to a softening attitude toward him. He tried, then, with an assumption of sympathy and loyal servitude to appear big in her eyes; he never even mentioned the incident of the previous night with Nel- son, In manner tenderly regretful he there- fore told Patria of his search for Esteban and the clews he had unearthed and run down without result—except the news of the wrecked house and the death of her aunt and her servant. The family, he said, according to in- formation secured in the neighborhood, had escaped from the city at the time of the attack, but he could find no trace of them. Her people might be sheltered in some little town, unable to reach Mexico City, although there was no telling what dangers -they may have encountered. Even such slender and dubious news was . precious to Patria, for by now she had almost given up hope of finding the boy. She took fresh heart and charged Simores not to relax his quest. The man assured her of his intention to continue the search. He sank back in his chair and regarded her speculatively. Patria became uneasy under his scru- tiny as he lolled familiarly in her room, the only place where she could receive him him and exchange information with any de- gree of security. An easy air of possession marked his manner toward her. | He had previously been wise enough by instinct not to obtrude upon her any re- minder of the promise she had made him; he felt that the ground was insecure under his feet. 3 Yet to save his soul he could not re- press a gleam of anticipation as he ap- praisingly watched her, reveling to himself in the belief that his plans and desires were on the road to fulfillment. Patria’s flesh seemed to crawl. | Carefully casual, Simores lighted a ciga- rette and ventured the attempt to estab- lish with some degree of recognition the Gomichbooks (E(0)