Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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How much? inquired Juan as he quickly resumed his sphinx-like appearance. Eight hundred thousand, Tony replied immediately. Five hundred thousand, said Juan, after a moment of contempla- tion. It will be a lot of trouble for me to get rid of that. I'l1 take it, answered Tony-Know. Juan arose from his swivel chair and walked over to the wall that was without ornaments of any kind. Pressed at a certain spot, the wall yielded to Juan's touch. Behind the panel in the wall there ap- peared a safe, securely riveted to the beams in the wall. After several turns the safe opened and Juan thrust his hand into it. Withdrawing it, he lay on the desk a large pack of thousand dollar bills. Leaning over them he began counting and putting them into a separate pile. Tony's crafty gaze shifted from object to object in the room and finally came to rest on the bookends at the end of the desk. Slowly he edged his hand toward them. Juan was still counting- one hundred and eighty-eight, one hundred and eighty-nine. Tony grasped the iron book- end in his hand and, raising it above his head, brought it down with a sick- ening thud on the base of Juan's skull. Juan slid to the floor without uttering a sound. Tony scooped the money up into a pile, put the emerald into his pocket with the money, rifled the open safe, and walked quickly to the window on the opposite side of the room. He raised it noiselessly, and putting his legs through the window, he dropped some ten or fifteen feet to the ground below. Some distance above the ground, through an open window, lace cur- tains waved farewell to scurrying footsteps that died away into the en- folding gloom. III. SAN FRANCISCO - 1934 Mr. Samuel Terry, millionaire curio collector, sat at his breakfast table, having almost finished his repast. Before him rested the morning paper. The sheets were turned so that he could easily read the advertise- ments without constantly leafing the pages. Terry was growing old: his hair was grey, not only from age, but from years of needless responsibility. In his declining age he had turned from the continual worry of amassing a fortune to the humble hobby of collecting curios from all parts of the world. Perusing the paper his eyes ran from one advertisement to the other. seeking some item of interest or some new shop he could visit to add more THE MISSILE Page nineteen

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dier. It was owned by Juan Cortez, a Mexican half-breed who had .been a profiteer during the War Between the States- and had opened a small speakeasy on the waterfront. Now he was reputed to be the ringleader of several dope smuggling rings, ownereof various breweries and the great- est fence for stolen jewelry of anyone outside of Paris. It was to the Dead Soldier that Tony Sparta ordered a carriage. It was also to see Juan Cortez, as Tony knew that soon he would be a wealth- ier man than he was at the present. The carriage stopped before an apparently deserted alley, but never- theless the occupant of the carriage got out, paid the driver, turned, and walked into the gloomy darkness that enveloped the alley. After having walked about thirty paces he halted in front of a closed door and rapped several times. A small panel in the door snapped open, and, upon giving his name, Tony was instantly admitted. Striding through the vestibule he utterly ignored the hat check girl, and going into the ball-room he elbowed his way among the dancing couples to the farther side of the building. He again knocked on another door and was admitted as quickly as upon his entrance into the building. He entered the smoke-permeated room. Gathered around a desk perfectly bare but for a pair of iron book- ends were four big followers of Juan's laughing and talking. Juan was seated in the center of them, his features as set as if the skin on his face were made of marble. They say Juan had never smiled or registered any emotion on his face. As the gunmen became aware of Tony's presence they ceased to grin and hawhaw. Juan, said Tony, how about seeing you for awhile? O. K., answered Juan. Run along boysg I got business. The four henchmen filed out of the room into the dance hall. Following them out with his eyes, Tony waited until the door closed behind them before he addressed Juan. Juan, said Tony, I got something to sell you. O. K., drawled Juan. Flash it. Drawing from his hip pocket a cigar case, Tony opened it before Juan and removed a pack of ten cigars, held together by one band. Tony re- moved the band and holding the cigars in his hand over Juan's desk, he broke all ten cigars in half. From the middle of them there fell on the table an emerald that was nearly the size of a hen egg. Juan's eyes, in spite of years of beholding millions of dollars' worth of diamonds and other precious stones, blinked in response to the stabs of green light that the emerald reflected in them. Page eighteen THE MISSILE

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curios to his now countless collection. He affixed his gaze to one in par- ticularg it read: BAROUN HASSEIN Curios and Unique Articles From Every Country in the World 1836 Grove Street, N. W. Making a mental note of the item, he arose from the table and rang for his valet. The valet, after helping Terry don his coat, summoned the car and chauffeur. The valet accompanied Terry to his limousine and, helping his em- ployer into the car, received orders as to the time for lunch and what foods to prepare. The chauffeur of the expensive car was commanded to carry its occu- pant to 1836 Grove Street, N. W. Slowly from the suburbs to the much poorer business section, the automobile sought its way. As Terry's car stopped before Hassein's Curio Shop, he already had made a visual inventory of the neighborhood. It was that of slums, dives, beer parlors and criminals' hide-outs. Terry knew such places by ex- perience. He got out as soon as the chauffeur opened the door for him, then walked into the shop with the air of one who was afraid of becoming con- taminated if touched by any article in the store. On the floor, on the counters, suspended in the air by strings, peeping from shelves along the walls, throughout the whole space of the store there were goods from Spain, China, France, England-truly from every country in the world. He would certainly enjoy this visit, as it was a veritable mecca for any curio collector. Yes, splendid-but the proprietor, yes, where was the proprietor? Ah there he was, warming himself in front of the hearth-yes--he was fac- ing the fire. Terry spoke. I say there, may I look over your stock? From the figure in front of the fire came a deep, husky reply. Yes, sir, you may observe at leisure. I am at your service. The prices and a short history of every article are on the bottom of each of them. Thank you, very much, replied Terry. Picking up various articles at random, he came across none in par- ticular that seemed to interest him very much. As he was just about to leave, he turned directly opposite to the di- Pagetwenty THE MISSILE