Part 20 (1/2)

”What is this?” Adair laughed too now, but his face bore a puzzled expression.

”Nothing, dad.” Alice wiped the tears from her eyes.

”Don't say nothing to me, child.” Adair brandished his cane as though he was going to take Alice over his knee and spank her. ”What were you trying to do,” he jumped to the correct conclusion immediately, ”give me the silent treatment?”

Alice nodded her head half guiltily, half roguishly. The idea had been hers.

”Your mother tried that years ago,” Adair reminisced. ”It didn't work then, and it's not working now. It's better to give me an opportunity to explode,” he advised. ”Volcanoes have to erupt or something terrible happens.”

”That's what I said, sir.” Walker Jamieson agreed with the old man.

”You mean to say, to sit right there and say,” Adair exploded ”that you had the gall to liken me to a volcano?”

Walker nodded his head in agreement.

”You-you-you, why, I like you!” Adair thrust out his hand and shook that of the young reporter. ”You say what you think no matter how dire the consequences. Maybe you're not such a bad reporter after all.” He said this as though he was making a great concession.

”Yes, sir. No, sir.” Walker hardly knew what to say in the face of all this unexpectedness.

”Now, come on here,” Adair turned around and addressed this to the driver. ”Can't this old jallopie do more than 15 miles an hour even when it sees its berth in the distance.” He too, pointed to the white buildings that stood out from the green foliage around them.

”Not a bad looking place, from here.” He went on contentedly. ”Supposed to be one of the finest in the district, but you never can tell about such comparisons. Been fooled too many times to believe much of what I hear now. Take everything with a grain of salt.

”Hear that, girl?” He turned to Nan. ”Best always not to believe what you hear. Discount at least fifty percent and then draw your own conclusions. That right, Jamieson?”

Walker nodded his head in complete agreement. It was one of the first lessons he had learned as a cub reporter.

Now, as they talked, the car climbed a steep hill. At the top, they turned to the right and came upon the hacienda.

”How perfectly lovely!” Alice's face was all aglow as she caught her first real glimpse of the place. The buildings were in Spanish style of a stucco material of a color bordering on the pink. There were iron balconies, large windows, and a courtyard or patio complete with palms, a fountain, and seats.

The girls had thought that there could be nothing in the world so pretty as the patio in their hotel in Mexico City, but here already was one that surpa.s.sed it.

”Humph!” Adair MacKenzie was as pleased as the others at his first sight of the place, but more cautious than they and more reluctant to let his real feelings be known, he let his ”Humph!” be his only comment as he descended from the car and walked with the others through the archway into the courtyard.

There crowds of natives awaited the arrival of the new master, and the overseer of the place hurried forth to greet him.

”Eet ees a pleasure, senor,” he said as he took Adair's hand and bowed deeply. The rest in the party smiled and hung back at this bit of Mexican courtesy. Walker grinned broadly.

”You, Senorita, are next,” he whispered in Alice's ear. ”Are you prepared to have your hand kissed by a servant who would consider it an honor to die in your service?”

”Be still,” Alice murmured, and then smiled as the overseer did come forward, take her hand and bow deeply. ”Buenos dias, senorita,” he greeted her. ”May your stay here be as pleasant to you as your honoring us with your presence has been to us.”

”Come on, now,” Adair was always impatient with the elaborate courtesies of the south, impatient probably because he never felt at ease with them. ”I always suspect,” Alice laughed once when she and Walker were talking about Adair's abruptness, ”that he's more than a little afraid that some day some one of these strangers will break down and kiss him on the cheek.”

”I wonder what he would do?” Walker paused in speculation.

”You might try it yourself, sometime, and find out,” Alice retorted.

”Do you want to have me ousted bag and baggage from your presence, fair lady?” Walker questioned, but Alice never had a chance to answer, for just at that moment her father came upon the two and demanded all their attention.