The Brussels Post, 1943-2-3, Page 8i?IVEi2 OF
ROMANCE.
By Molly Moon
CHAPTER I,
Tropical Witchery.
The, iudians were disputing noisily
down there: below the hotel balcony
in the torrid street. Christine Fair-
burn, silting at the shad). end of the
balcony, felt a faint cariosity, but
she :knew beter than to get up from.
her chair and walk to the balcony
rail. In Barrancas at laid -day, the
slightest exertion caused one to
stream with perspiration.
Slee sighed wearily and asked her-
self what Iife would be litre when
her father's expedition started for
the interior of Venezuela, if doing
nothing in Barrancas could be so
exhausting, Not that there seemed
much chance of the expedition "ver
etartiug, thought Christine, mil she
400-ewerlr tills veeke not because
rof her discomfort, bui'N v.-, sympathy
with her father. --....,
For tivo weeks, Professor Fair-
. been
air..bean and his daughter had been in
Barrancas. During that time, the
Professor had been exploring every
avenue to obtain helpful information
about the ruined city of n past
civilization which an 'Ninglisb arehae-
oloytcal society had sent him out to
explore.
It wasn't' as if there were any
doubt ae• to the existence of the
city, .thought Christine now with
exasPeatiou. There were records
of half -a -dozen 'people having . dis-
covered and re -discovered it at var.
ious tines. But beyond the fact,
which the professor had already
known. that it was somewhere on
the backs of a tributary of the Orin -
h 1 been unable e
company that he had come nut hour
England to find and explore the
ruined city lu the jungle, and every-
one would start to argue hotly why
he sltoa1(1 give up the project.
The Indians were obstructive, too,
but for a different reason. They
were terrified of the "devil -haunted"
city, or pretended to be, in order to
have a good reason for not accepting
service with the expedition as
guides and porters.
At the European Club, the pro-
ressoi' was certainly given more
valid reasons. He had not expatiat-
ed on these reasons ttoChristine,
merely referring to them vaguely as
"snakes 'and crocodiles and things."
They were reasons which did not
impress him. In bis younger clays
he had travelled far up the Amazon
in search of prehistoric rock draw-
ings, and had learnt on that
expedition of the many varieties of
sudden death that lurk in the
steaming forests,
eclo•pstant alertness and common-
sense," be was wont to say to
Christine, "and you're all right.
Failing these two attributes, you
wouldn't be safe on a Cornish moor.".'
Christine wondered where her
father was. Well, she wouldn't have
long .to wait now. It was close on
lunch-time and he was due hack at
any moment. She supposed, with a
sigh, that he would have another
story of disappointment to tell. She
had ceased to hope for anything
better now. -
"Poor daddy," she thought and
her violet eyes clouded with trouble,
for, as she knew her fatheie explor-
ation of this city . of a past civiliza-
tion was to have been the 'crown of
to learn his career .as en .archaeologist. It
oro, he was maddening to think that,
anything about it, instead, it bade fair to he a complete
There was something almost or. failure, ending, torero it had, begun,
genised about the way people
seemed trying to be llnhelpfal. The. at Barrancas. .
professor had only to mention in "Ch, there you are, Christine,
THE BRUSSELS POST
coffee exporter.""As, that's because 1'0u've allowed
"Daddy, if it you weren't as eine- I yourself to be preiudleecl by the
cent ase dove as well as wily as a word 'Dago•` Prejudice is a cruel
serpent, I'd wash my hands of you. tiling, my dear,"
You're utters unprincipat 13ut, look i. "Daddy, you allvaye think well of
Wednesday, February 14th, 1045
bring you here under fai,e pre-
tenses, Mr, •Cardoza, I admit," he
said hastily. "As a matter of
foot," he added, "1111 a prore1601' of
y archaeology and I ani seeking the
here, yeti. told me the expedition was j everyone." ruined city or a lost civilization that
starting on Monday," 1 "Well, I don't know, human beings Is reputed to be about tweItty of
"And it is, Chris. This -Cardoza aren't shell a bad lob, talco thein by thirty miles up the river from your
is going book to his coffee planta- and larger estate. I thought it you'd be kind
tiou on Monday on the rivet' 91011111- "Meanialg that you want me to
el' -+and we're going, too,' i give your Dago the benefit of the
"Slut, darling, must I remind you doubt till I meet him. All fight,
that you didn't come out here to 1 crackly, I will, Yon say he's rotting
grow coffee " 1 this afternoon?"
"I know," The professor was ; "I made the appointment. for after
grinning again. "But it's like this; lunch, but from what I know of
Ca.rdoza's plantation, a1; far as 1 eau Venezuelans in general, he won't
make out, is about twenty or thirty ' show up till after the siesta."
utiles as the crow Ries frons our lost I And it. was just at that point that
city. Now do you begin to see day- i e rather musical voice 11l:iuire.l
light? There's no dowel about it, tentatively, "On the balcony, you
my dear, I've learnt that our lost says?"
city is a commonplace to the The professor rose from hie chair
employed on that planation. as a very dark, fautlelessly-dressed
Well, as I said before, we take young man appeared at the french
'Passage on the river steamer as far window.
as the head of the tributary, which "Mr, Cardoza, I presume?" Bug-
le where Cardoza gets off and takes gester the professor.
to canoes. There we. have our "Yes, and you are Mr. Fairburn "
stores transferred to the canoes, 'Fairburn's my name,' admitted the
take to our'' motor boat ourselves professor, and they shook hands,
and follow—or accompany—Cardoza the dark young pian giving the pro -
as far as his estate. As a matter' of fessor a flashing, brilliant smile,
fact, I don't sae how he can refuse to "My head man, Jose, told me that
let us accompany him." you wanted to see me about some
'But, daddy . dear," questiolle,l the coffee Tor exportation," he remarked
girl, "does this mean that you've questioningly,
succeeded in getting Indians?" "Well, as a platter of fact, 1 think
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Glory, it's hot." said a masculine
voice, 'and looking up, Chriatiuo saw
her father stepping nut of the hotel
on to the veraneie followed by a
servant with a cool drink un a tray.
"(No, it doesn't, Cu•ie. and there
you put your finger on the weakest
spot of my plan," said her father
gravely, "I'm reckoning on getting
Indians at the head or the tributary.
As 81 matter of fact, I'm hooter that
this Cardoza will help me to get
them."
"Cardoza? He's Spanish of
course," mused the girl.
"Spanish, Portuguese, this, that
and t'other and 'what would rou ' I
expect" replied her father chuck-
ling, 'I inquired about him at the
club. They call him a Dago there,
and leave it at that, And by way of
being as helpful as they invariably
are, bless 'em, they warn lie to have
nothing to do with him. Sheer preiu-
dice, of course,"
'Somehow I don't like the, sound
of him,"_ said the girl slowly,
"What luck, dear?" asked Chris-
tine, but her father had become
aware or the drink and did not
answer till he had gulped it down.
"That's better," he breathed, sink-
ing into a chair near her. "It s well
to be you, chick; you look as cool as
a cucumber."
"'I don't feel it, then," returned
Christine, laughing,
enough to let my daughter a(1(1 lie
accompany you as far as your estate,
and if you'd acid to your kindness by
1lelp1ng us to get porters and
canoes—"
gave a sigh of repot,
S don't know how t0 thank you,"
she said, violet e'y0s glowing and a
lovely colour' tinging the fair skin
that, as yet, the tropics . had not
bleached,
i's a pt'ivilege, he retorted gal*
unity, wondering as he bowed, at
the miracle of red -gold hair which,
in this country where dark women
Predominate, he had not enoouutered
before, Christine felt her cheeks
grow hot because the stranger's
eyes spoke so eloquently or his
admiration.
"Your head man told me you were
leaving on the elver steame" on.
Monday," said the professor.
"Yes, we go as far as the Lead of
the Mete and then transfee to
canoes,"
"We also plan to do that" said
the professor, and added—'Perhaps
you'd care to travel with us up the
Meta in our motor boat and let the -
canoes follow?"
"I should be more than delighted.
Can I help to getting you at lies?"
"I've brought everything I pos-
sibly could from England. All I shall
need when we leave the steamer to
go up the Meta is canoes ,to carry
them, Indians for porterage and, of
course, a guide."
The visitor was about to 1st AY 1
a string' of the most choice Venezu-
elan -oaths, when the professor
moved slightly and Cardoza saw.
Christine. The oaths remained un-
uttered as, for a moment, he stared
at the girl with mouth fallen open.
Then the brilliant anile flashed out
again.
Since she knew so much de.pencled
on winning this man's help, Chris-
tine smiled back at him, and rising,
held out her hand with a pretty,
clepraoatory gesture,
"I do hope you will forgive my
father for his subterfuge, Mr Car-
doza," she pleaded, "You see this
expedition means everything to him,
and till now everyone has been so
unhelpful alld uninformative."
"Mass Fairburn I will do all that
I possibly can to help," Csrdoza
your loan got me wrong," said the premised fervently, and Christine
professor, "I told him I was ^_
interested in coffee, which iq quite a — ea.^
different thing from saying that I ex-
port Coffee." A04��os �OHeiH•.1�Nr..�N�♦♦+.1AN�..4Np1♦6♦� a±a►si s�.44e4,i�!ot.+Q��
The dark young man's face .chang-•3.
ecl, the brilliant smile becomblg less ♦e � r, o
� �♦�♦
brilliant. Ile gazed at the profs- .�. � L, t I
t es. � ,. r •64 ♦♦
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TO BE CONTINUED
Look At Your Label —
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ser speculatively.
"Peldiaps, then, you are interested
in the growing of coffee?" he sug-
gested tentatively.
"I'm intosested in coffee it. the
cup and nowhere . else," ' answered
the professor bluntly.
The Venezuelan's smile faded out
entirely. His black eyes Rasped
angrily and he opened his mouth
��
.2 . WILLIAM SPENCE �_�
♦ Estate Agent Conveyancer ♦♦
4. , and Commissioner ♦4*
At
'GENERAL INURANCE_OFFICE . i+°
Y MAIN STREET, — — ETHEL, ONT. X
Zi
• ♦.
with the :intention of being e.:treme- Allan A. Lamont
1y rude . to the professor, The O ♦ti
professor, however, forestalled him: , , Agent tor—Fire, Windstorm, and Automobile lnsuratnc¢, 4,1
"Tt' was unpardonable of me to ♦t♦ Get particulars bf our Special Automobile Policy eye"
for farmers.-
"I've
armers:
"I've ordered lunch out here, he
said. "li'11 be cooler than indoors."
"1 don't believe any place :s an-
preeiably cooler than any other
in Barancas."
"Barrancas is a bit tropical, Wait
till we get into the forest, though!
All, here comes lunch."
Having laid a small rattan table,
the servant set it between the two,
when another servant brought out
covered dishes.
"Oh, this eternal chicken," said
Christine as the covers were re-
moved, "And to think that 1n Eng-
land 1 regarded chicken as a treat!"
When we set out,.for the ruined
city," saie...hoz rather, chuckling, `it'll
be+'ihahh 'fish, fish, with fish for a
change."
"When we set out on the expedi-
tion," retorted Christine bitterly,
and the professor looked at her with
twinkling eyea, •
"We're starling on Monday," he
said, with pretended casualness,
"Daddy!"
"Well, my dear, it's our subject,
isn't it, to go on this expedition—not
to stay in Barrancas all our lives "
"But -.oh, daddy, I (could shake
You! Tell 111e about it this minute,"
s11e demanded, ceasing even to pre-
tend interest in her chicken and
pushing her plate aside.
The prefessor grinned at her,
helped himself to another mouilrful
and kept her waiting while he dis-
posed of it.
' 'It was 'like t111s," he said. "I got
winch to -day of a eoffee planter who
has come to Barrancas from tar
sweet up our tributary of the
Orinoco So I was on his track like
greased lightning, I didn't actually
makecontact, but got hole of a
hhlf•broed who ateompaniecl him,
The half -Uracil made an appointment
for his master to meet me here at
the hotel this afternoon:
"How do you knew he'll 'britt up,
daddy?"
"Chi, this follow --She's >t Venezuel-
en, by the name of Cardoza—ie look-
ing for buyers for ,his coffee crop.
I let it be supposed, that I was a
Sr ■ t�ttilr' - rein _■ �'. w• v � r w.
There are war weapons in your household
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Every scrap counts. Help win this war at
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