Gerald Breckenridge

“ The huts were of the poorest, being mere jumbled collections of shingles and tin or of ’dobe, with here and there a little patch of desert grass enclosed in a rickety picket fence before the more pretentious. As if satisfied with having done its worst, with that last dreadful jouncing given them, the roadway had become a little better. Bob was still keeping his distance of a block behind the leading car. He was wondering whether Ramirez and Ramon were aware of his presence behind them and, if so, whether their suspicions were aroused. ”

“ Hampton turned toward the taxicab, beckoning Frank to follow. But they were not destined to put their plan into execution, for at that moment, Jack halted his father and pointed up the street. All turned to gaze. A powerful motor car, with the top down and spilling over with men, was approaching at high speed. A comet’s tail of dust whirled and eddied behind it. And the driven motor gave off a droning roar that was music to their ears.
“Hurray,” cried Bob, exuberantly, “Captain Murray and his gang.” ”

“ Taxis and private cars sped recklessly up and down or shot from side streets at dizzying speed.
“Whew,” said Jack, “you know you’re in a foreign country all right.”
“Good-bye, Uncle Sam,” cried Bob gaily, looking back and waving his hand. Then a cry of alarm burst from his throat, he leaped to his feet, and the next moment was hurled into Jack’s lap as the taxi was struck from the rear with a sickening crash and went careening drunkenly across the uneven roadway to end up against an iron pillar supporting a sidewalk canopy. ”

“ Pedro cannot get anybody to work.’
“‘But you can send other men,’ said Rafaela.
“‘Bah,’ said Don Ferdinand. ‘You are just a girl. What do you know about such matters? If Ramirez takes some men, will he not take others?’
“Rafaela shrugged and spread out her hands. ‘But you are rich, father. You need not worry about the mine.’
“‘Foolish child,’ said Don Ferdinand, and he appealed to me. ‘Women do not know,’ said he. ‘Why does Ramirez lure my men away, if not to make revolution? And revolution will upset everything again. ”

“ What it was, Captain Murray did not wait to hear, but with a cry of “Come, come on, fellows,” he started to bound up the cellar steps, the bullseye of light from his torch showing a closed door at their head.
After him leaped the others, crowding the narrow stairway. But as Captain Murray reached the door and grasped the handle, he came to an abrupt halt. The door was locked. And as the others piled up behind him, there came to their ears the sharp crack of revolver shots, muffled by distance and intervening walls and floors, from somewhere in the body of the house above them. ”

“ No well-regulated bull fight at Nueva Laredo would pretend to be worthy of consideration without four encounters. Estramadura had been followed by his Mexican rival, who had successfully defended his reputation and had performed even more thrillingly than his fellow matador from Spain. Practically all Nueva Laredo was down there making holiday, and so not a soul appeared in sight on the sun-filled Calle Libertad except Captain Cornell. ”

“ In such tense moments, it is emotion, not reason, which sways one. Certainly, Jack was in the grip of strong emotion. Certainly, the others were, too, as they bore down upon the car ahead. But how different in every case! Jack was filled with rage bordering upon despair as he thought of the possibility that Rafaela might have come to harm through the machinations of Ramirez. ”

“ Jack in turn whispered to Captain Murray. The latter frowned thoughtfully for a second or two, then his eyes brightened, and he turned to Hannaford. The other stooped from his greater height, and the three put their heads together. The other Americans regarded them curiously. As for Ramirez he continued to glower while from beneath his lowered lids darted a poisonous glance which fell on Ramon and made the old fellow tremble.
“Come on, you,” said Hannaford, at length, turning to Ramirez; “we’ll just put you where you won’t be no trouble to anybody but yourself.” ”

“ It was known that a lieutenant of Ramirez’s, who had been hiding in the hills near the estate, had swooped down the day after Jack and his father had concluded their brief visit, and, after smashing the radio station, had carried Rafaela off from under the eyes of the few peons left behind by Don Ferdinand and Pedro and from the despairing clutches of Donna Ana. More dead than alive, the poor girl had been swept up into the hills. ”

“ Truth to tell, Bob had had a hard time persuading his father that it would be all right for them to attend the bull fight in the Mexican town across the Border that afternoon. Mr. Temple was what would be termed an old-fashioned man. To him attendance at a bull fight under any circumstances was to be frowned on. And Sunday attendance was little short of a sin. However, the youths were now at the age of discretion, he pointed out, and could do as they pleased. Bob had pointed out that, inasmuch as bull fights were not held except on a Sunday, this would be their only opportunity to behold one. ”

“ Mr. Hampton said to the waiter, “All right, tell him to begin.” And to the distant figure, he waved a hand, a signal which the latter apparently understood, for he disappeared.
“Ramon says we must begin dinner,” Mr. Hampton announced, turning to Don Ferdinand on his right. And he rapped on the table, and made a similar announcement. “You’ll all have to sit down and be good,” he added, “or the old fellow’s heart will be broken. He wouldn’t let anybody, not even the caterer, oversee this dinner but himself. Says he owes it to Jack for lifting from him a load that oppressed him for years.” ”

“ The bull fight was to be of more than customary interest, for two famous matadors were to display their prowess in opposition to each other. One was Juan Salento, idol of Mexico, and the other, Estramadura, famous Spanish matador, who, fresh from triumphs in Madrid, was touring Mexico.
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Through the crowded, dusty, ill-paved streets of Nueva Laredo went the taxi. The crowd grew denser. On the sidewalks, a pushing, jostling, eager mass of Mexicans with a thick sprinkling of Americans. Boys running in the streets, barefoot, ragged, dark, darting in and out between automobiles. ”

“ It was a hot June day when little more than a month later, two commodious limousines keeping close together rolled along the last few miles of the Boston Post Road, coming from the South, and entered New Haven. How strange and yet familiar seemed the streets of the famous college city to the lithe, sunburned young fellow at the wheel of the foremost car. This way and that darted his glance, as the car passed Poli’s and many another place enshrined in memories and traditions, and he was kept continually busy pointing out landmarks to the dark olive-tinted beauty beside him. ”

“ But when she found that whatever fate was intended for her was to be deferred until she could be transported on horseback to Nueva Laredo and turned over to Ramirez, her courage and resourcefulness revived. She watched for an opportunity, and, when on arrival at Nueva Laredo, she found Ramon in almost as sad plight as herself, she instantly began working to bring the old fellow around to the point of helping her escape. The two, as we know, were in the act of carrying out their desperate attempt when Jack fortunately and opportunely arrived with his comrades and the aviators to rescue her. ”

“ By now they had reached the landing field, and Mr. Hampton raising his voice shouted: “Ho Tom.”
A figure, followed by another, rounded the corner of the hanger. Tom Bodine and his new assistant had been lounging on the shaded side.
“A great old-timer,” commented Mr. Hampton in a low voice as Tom Bodine approached in response to his beckoning wave of a hand. “Tell you some time about how he saved the lives of Jack and his pals, Bob Temple and Frank Merrick. It was down in old Mexico, when the boys were all several years younger.” ”

“ Bob turned the next corner, finding himself in a street as deserted as any they had passed through, and with only a few houses in the block. All were mere huts. Not a person, man, woman or child, was in sight. The only signs of life were a few chickens pecking dispiritedly at the ground under a drooping pepper tree in the shade of which Bob brought the car to a stop. ”

“ That Ramirez would wait until the ending of the event he did not question. What was his surprise, therefore, to see the latter face about and, gripping Ramon by an arm, start to make his way through the crowded stand toward the nearest stairway exit.
Jack and his father looked at each other. Their thought was the same. Ramirez and Ramon should be followed. But for either of them to shadow the precious pair would be foolish, inasmuch as they were known. Somebody else, someone of their companions, would have to play detective, if the others were to be kept in sight. ”

“ What they saw was a broad straggling roadway encircling the amphitheatre which stood on the edge of town. The last houses of Nueva Laredo lay to their left and some distance away, too far to afford cover in case they wanted to hide while spying on the movements of the two Mexicans who any moment would appear behind them.
Across the roadway, however, were parked hundreds of automobiles whose owners, Americans and Mexicans, were somewhere in the crowd watching the bull fight. Captain Cornell’s roving glance fell on these cars, and he made a quick decision. ”

“ Hampton laughed. Rafaela was a continual delight to him.
“It means,” said Jack, solemnly, “that if you don’t clear up this mystery, I’ll appeal to Donna Ana.”
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Rafaela made a grimace. “Oh, that duenna. She sleeps. Not even your airplane wakes her. But when I hear it, I run. ‘Senor Jack will go search for my father who is missing four days,’ I say to myself. As I run, up comes that Pedro with a note. He would stop me. But I am so anxious to ask you to, please, go at once and search for my father, that I take his note and run. He looked after me and scratch his head. I see him, yes sir.” ”

“ Bob laughed, leaning on the gate as if he had nothing in the world to do but exchange pleasant conversation with the Mexican boy.
“Radio certainly is fascinating,” he replied in Spanish. “But I shouldn’t have thought it would keep you from the bull fight.”
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“You are an American, senor, aren’t you?” asked the boy, a trace of scorn on his features. “The senor speaks my language well. But I can tell. Well, that accounts for your mistake. Not all Mexicans are animals.” ”

“ Acting on impulse, Bob halted at the gate and, smiling at the lad, whose dark, olive-tinted face was bright and intelligent in expression, he pointed toward the aerial and asked in Spanish:
“Radio? You have a receiving set?”
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“Oh, yes, senor,” the boy replied, moving forward a step or two, “but more than that, I send, too. I have a two-way station.”
Captain Cornell had halted a step of two beyond Bob. No man on the Border Patrol could go long without acquiring a knowledge of Spanish, and as a matter of fact he had fluent command of the language. ”

“ Hampton. From the first car Jack helped out Don Ferdinand and then Bob’s sister, Della. A slim, charming girl, with the springy step and quick yet graceful movements of a veteran tennis player, she well merited all the devotion which Frank Merrick showered on her. During Rafaela’s week in New York, shopping for her trousseau, a warm friendship had grown up between the two girls. Della’s chum, Marjorie, to whom big Bob had of late been paying marked attentions, was already in New Haven, and would meet them later. ”

“ They walked out to the radio shack. And there Jack launched into an enthusiastic description of his work. He was seeking, he said, to work out some of the fundamental problems demanding solution as a result of the tremendous increase in both broadcasting stations and receivers.
“There are six or seven such problems,” he said. “First, we must have a radio receiver which will provide super-selectivity—a receiver which will enable the Operator to select any station he wants to hear, whether or not local stations are operating. Such selectivity must go to the theoretical limits of the science. ”

“ Frank suggested, “suppose we fly out there in your plane.”
At that Captain Cornell shook his head. “It’ll be dark in another two hours,” he said. “And you couldn’t get started under an hour from now. The flight would take three hours. It would be folly to make the trip in your plane, Jack. You may know all that country well, but landing at night is a very different matter from making a daylight landing. If you were forced down, hm!” He shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands in an eloquent gesture.
“There’s a landing field at Don Ferdinand’s,” Jack expostulated. ”

“ It informed him that devil Ramirez had lured away my last man from the mine and asked for instructions. Soon—the next day—Don Ferdinand appears. I am astonished. ‘Your messenger came at night, Pedro,’ said he. ‘I left at once.’ So I say to him, ‘Let us make talk.’ But he answers that he is fatigued and will sleep first. All day he sleeps. That night we talk. The next day he remembers suddenly that he has left you alone, with no knowledge of what had become of him. He does not want you to be alarmed. So he sends you a message. There is none to take it but Pedro. ”

“ How did he happen to lure away my cook, Ramon? Don Ferdinand suspected Ramirez of working up a revolutionary movement, you know. That’s why he followed Ramirez here clear from his distant estate.”
“That’s all true enough,” said Captain Cornell. “But I believe when your friend Don Ferdinand turns up, you’ll find out that I’m right. However, the cars are outside. Let’s get back to Laredo as quickly as the law will allow us. The bull fight will soon be over, and if we can get across the Bridge before the crowd hits it, we’ll be better off.” ”

“ But the malicious triumph that shone from his eyes departed when his attention was drawn by the loud trampling of feet in the hall and he swung around to face newcomers in the doorway. If these were more Americans from the front of the house, it was likely that his men had been captured and Rafaela rescued, was the thought that followed. And this suspicion of the downfall of his rascality was confirmed when Bob stepped up to Don Ferdinand.
“Don’t believe him, sir,” said the big fellow. “Your daughter is safe outside. Jack is with her.” ”

“ As a matter of fact, all male human beings and a good many of the other sex who were anywhere near that amphitheatre were inside of it. Who cared to watch automobiles when he could watch a bull fight, instead!
At that moment a renewed outburst of cheering signalized the advent in the arena of the bull which Juan Salento would be called on to fight, and big Bob heaved a sigh. ”