Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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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

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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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rection in which he had been standing. There was a small idol, whose face was contorted beyond description, gazing at Terry with ogling eyes. Be- tween the protruding orbs, high up on the forehead, was a small, green, imitation glass emerald. Though it was only an imitation it shone bril- liantly. At the base was carved in small letters, Naida of Jaipur. Terry's complexion changed quickly from a feverish red to a leaden color as the blood drained from his face. Terry turned again toward the old proprietor who was standing in the same position as when Terry had entered. Addressing the other old man Terry said, I'll take this small idol with the inscription--let's see, I believe it reads 'Naida of Jaipur! That is a remarkable resemblance of its model, they tell me, the old man said. The stone in the original must be a handsome gem, 'ventured Terry -then he added slowly as if thinking suddenly became rather diificuit, Beautiful-just like a gargantuan cat's eye. The old man in front of the fireplace whirled around, then stopped short as if afraid of some unseen object. I Terry raised his eyes from the small idol and glanced at the man now facing him. There stood before him an ancient, grey-haired man, whose long beard fell to his waist. Unfortunate fellow, Terry said to himself. Not only is the old codger bent double with age, but he's also blindg his eyelids have grown together from years of lost vision. Hassein spoke again, this time more softly, more imploringly. I have some curios that I'm sure you would be interested in-they're so rare I thought it best to keep them under lock and key. If you step this way, sire, I would be only too glad to show them to you. Led by the old man Terry followed him into the back room in which there were many piles of boxes that had not as yet been unpacked. Has- sein led Terry to one corner of the storeroom and there turned toward him. Reaching out his hand toward Terry, Hassein said, Excuse me, sire, you are standing in front of the drawer in which the curios are. I-Iassein's left hand touched Terry's coat lapel and pushed him politely backwards, apparently out of the way of the drawer. Simultaneously Hassein's right hand opened the drawer and extracted from it a jewel-studded dagger, obviously of oriental design. Terry's eyes widened. Why, that is an exceptionally beautiful thing. I should like to have it, he said enthusiastically. Would you ? asked Hassein slowly. But without Waiting for an answer he added quickly, Then take it! T H E M I S S I L E Page twenty-one