The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 9

MAGAZINE THE AGE. FRIDAY. OCTOBER 28. 1955 By Joh Appleby THE STORY SO FAR Dr. Mark Stanton and his wife, Helen, decide to take their holiday in the remote little Republlo of Andorra, high in the Pyrenees.

At the partly finished Hotel Rosa, near the Spanish border, they are greeted with fear and susploion and as they drive away in the morning they are nearly killed by a boulder that crashes down the mountain. They suspect that Borg, a brutal, blond Norwegian, has tried to murder them, but Captain Cantlnl, Chief of Police, whom they Interview at Andorra La Vella. the capital, refuses to investigate. A mysterious American called Rogers enters the story. Stanton thinks Rogers la part of whatever plot is going on till he sees Borg trying to kill him.

At a dance that night, Borg is clearly terrifying his partner, Coloma, the heiress of the peasant owner of the sinister Hotel Rosa. Stanton fights Borg and thrashes him. Bernat, Coloma's father, fears that Borg will insist on marrying his daughter, to get control of the hoteL He admits to Stanton that the hotel people employ him as a smuggler, but claims that he smug- gles only tobacco. The Ig and dangerous organisation of the Hotel Rosa seems too elaborate for such minor mmr, JWs3 One rf fla.ArtiHh, specie of 6s in flifffc (it niflit. Their value as de- strotfcrs of mosquitoes Is often forgotten.

I Jt here and there to drinlg coffee and brandy. It was only a little town and we had seen it all before, bud there were fresh things to point out and smile at. We discussed whether this doll or that would do for. Helen's niece, and there was) chaff over the foot-long cigars which were a centra) showpiece in many of the) windows. The picture of my trying to.

smoke one on Christmas Day and having to balancej it on the mantelpiece was very funny. So was the radio pro gramme which Jangled front every cafe: the gong which heralded a shrill woman from Radio Andorra advertising alternately in French and Catalan cosmetics, soap-flakes, olive oil and lottery tickets. humble. "But after Monsieur Stanton was so good to my daughter I presumed on it. I did not know who else could be trusted." He got up.

"It Is finished now and I beg your pardon." "If only It were finished. Mark, don't say it I said miserably, "I'm sorry too, Helen." And before she could protest further I turned to the old man. "I have a favor to ask and It will sound eurlous. I want to come with you tomorrow night." I heard Helen's sigh but did not look at her. Hurriedly I went on, "I shall not be a burden to you.

I will do nothing, and nobody but you will see me." For a long time I could not persuade him that serious. When he accented He had insisted he was not a policeman, but that could be a play on words. I recalled his mention of Interpol, the investigation bureau dealing with international crime which had Its headquarters in Paris. Smuggling narcotics was certainly international crime. Some whisper of what went on at the Rosa must have drifted back to the Boulevard St.

Cyr and the American was sent to investigate. When he found me prowling round too, he had assumed 'I was one of Douvet's men. gun still pointing at my stomach, what was the Dhraso he had used A HITCII-IIIKING TROPIC FISH JfATS are feared by many people because of a mediceval superstition that they ivere "in league with the powers of darkness." vrr all the small insect mos5ltoes are becoming pear within the Arctic circle J-Ltw hff nVStfv, troublesome in Melbourne during the brief but hot The -Remora, a slender black fish suouids ana otner carts summer. that I was, he described the 1. danger for one such as him- I HAD managed to con-self, who knew every rock vlnce him that I was and crevasse.

not. And then, with his found in trnnirs ran swim miitP "uuu lu We tropics, can SWim quite weIl but prefers to hitch-hike around foul-up. Crossed wires. In you dont nee any ex-other words, had Interpol, cuse stronger than an at-through some depart- tempt on your life, how- Tnpnta.1 COnfUSiOn' Set Dvnr mlofalran t.Via of- NOB was it only the ex- avoided them, I should tainly break my neck. we have some lo species in Australia, are friends of mankind.

li ripsfrnvarn nf fnspnlfi. especially mosquitoes, they have no rivals. The way in which the mother bat cares for her Toon as tne single youngster is born, it clings to ine xur ui wie mouiier end is carriea arouna Dy her until it is nearly full- grown and can catch its own A bat's body is usually crawling with small para- lires. incse are not neas ttlLdnfnerate tyP6 Xftudv of these nara- The study or these para- Tney Inject a highly irrl- tant Poison. There are SEkV' h.r?1 nwm.K.

lor nours 01 the Arctlc summer day. ti fncw P. JOr DDT DustUta IN New Guinea, the army showed during the Low-flying aircraft gave a tuuiuugu uusung wun DDT powder every week and except for occasional ones the Dests disaDDeared. around parte Melbourne and other Victorian towns treated ln a similar wav would not bre his' neck two men on the trail tempt was. And after-tastic iL SfT tiZL tvin other beiner me 1 rri if vmi come to think of it, when he made the suggestion I had been too confused' to deny it.

And Rogers had gone to the trouble of Qe should be easy. So far as this it hung to- branch of -science for it Pts come in smoke-like by the aircraft which do, Ash by pulling on the tail, tney let tne ttemoras elriuds rs snnn t.he crop dusting However if the head is ten themselves to thi the of victoria close to swampy areas Most people seem to think thnt. r.hn Wtr, tv.a vnB- quitoes the worse they are. Admittedly, most of those which transmit diseases such as malaria, elephan- ii'slonti0 But. for sheer -torture, aiiiitu mosquitoes wnicn maice a high pitched whining as they fly.

take some beating. diets made IN fltt -wamps of Dutch New Guinea, vl io goes down. Only a very finely-wovcri net can keep them away. At night the natives have to crowd into huge sausage like family nets woven from thin strands ot cane. Without this protection they would die blood, wolst mosquitoes in the tropics, however.

They are the tiny ones which ap- w.tv. 11151 iijr uiiiaillllltlUlC and dangerous pine trees wherever nossibli, narf. nf our fire-prevention cam: Daien. It can be' grown quite easily from cuttings and in suitapie places us growtn is. even more rapid than that of the radiata pine.

the OCean. xT does thls through an oval suction disc on f.JZ l0kS ISTT The Remora attaches it- self to sharks, rays turtles and in rare cases, to boats. tion of spines and suction- cup grip that it is almost impossible to detach the In daylight it Is seldom At sunset. however, piumea pigeons can De seen in large numbers when they mane wieir way mj mm from the waterholes. I have a special regard for these plumed pigeons.

In 1886 my father, then 18 was a member of a sur- nafi, tl.Vili vey party wmc Central Australia, which crossed They were In danger of dying from thirst in the MacDonncIl Ranges when a member of the party followed a pigeon to water in a rocKiiole on a uroblems connected with the other types of vermin which often cause damage to do- livestock. TrOtlbleSOmC HlOsqtlltOeS THE mosquito-destroying bats should be espe- idallv welcome this sea- ton. Because of the wet winter and spring the Pigeons Save Lives It Ililiit'lIUUl1 rilJLUiN NOT only does the Cali-' climate cool and damp. They forniari redwood grow do best where there are iLniwsf good size bush fire can wood wui carry Arc. do no more than scorch It should therefore replace PEOPLE In danger Of dyillg Of thirst in desert COUIltry have Often followed pigeons ,0 noles These little birds, being uvuio.

iin.u uiuin at least once a day, and thev are never far from water. The nlumed nieeon is found only in rocky country where the spinifex grows, firownisn rea, parrea witn black It has a vertical crest on the top of its head at the time that whatever I did had official approval and was directed towards a larger, necessary aim. But that was exactly as though a child had been given permission -to break windows. Approval lent zest to the operation, but it was the breaking of windows itr self that really mattered. Like millions of other men I had put violence behind me.

telling myself it was merely an episode, colorful and satisfying, but transitory. I had believed it. too, through the years of study and skylarking at St. Thomas's, through the graver task of establishing myself as a country doctor. But here, lying beside a mountain stream in Andorra, I took a long, hard look at myself and honesty told me I had been deceived.

The old tingle was back again. PLOP There was ex cuse enougn tor it. iM4uuv not once hut repeatedly to get out and stay out your hackles rise, rposnninir aA etie To Helen it was all foolishness. I was a child who must be pro- tected from its own danger- ous curiosity, and to allow me to pry into this tangle of circumstances was as in- excusable as allowing an m- fant to walk along a high ledge. My confidence that I could look after myself made not a whit of difference; the tottering child is confident, too.

but it must still be protected. She could follow all I had been telling myself without any need to put it into words and she despised it. My request to go with Bernat had filled her with alarm but not surprise. And though the request had been refused, the chasm between us was as wide as though Bernat had By the mere fact of asking I had broken faith smashed the compact of love and trust between us. That was how she saw it, not I.

Loving her as I did I felt remorse for causing her distress, but it was not a complete remorse. To pretend that it was would be to deny my whole nature. I wanted to know more. When I returned to the Anyos Helen greeted me with a smile and I smiled back, but I might have been the postman at the door at eight o'clock in the morning. At dinner there was a brittle amiability between us and the talk was of the kind you switch on when entertaining a person you don't-know very well.

Any small Joke met with a too ready appreciation. I felt I was dining with a girl who was eager to make herself pleasant to an acquaintance. My own behavior fitted the part. I nodded sagely at any point she made, as though encountering a new profundity. I was a shade faster than usual in lighting her cigarette and Jumping to take her chair when she stood up.

We wandered round the town in the dusk, stopping 111. Some of Americas biggest vPar oirt tnousanas 01 jrcois uiu. Redwoods look like fir trees and are very beautiful, mcy wui grow anywnere in louthern Australia where the rainfall is heavy and the She bit her lip. "I won't discuss it," she said. v.

V.1" oy.l.11B 4. so anxious to avoid any interference, a 1 or lancied, that they did not hesitate to kill. For to- bacco I said slowly, "It must nave occurred 10 you tnat something else is Involved." "It has occurred tn me often, but it is not possible. I load the mules myself, I make the Journey myself, I deliver the load myself and take payment. It is an or- dinary transaction." "Surrounded by a great aeai mat is iar irom or- dinary, He repeated what he had said earlier.

"Tomorrow will be the last time. I have decided, but it will not be easy. If they hear of it they will betray me and I shall wear out my life breaking stones. None of them would hesitate to betray me Douvet, Borg, PerkofT." "PerkofT "The man to whom I make delivery." The man whose name I had heard for the first time an hour ago, from Rogers. Another nail in the coffin of the tobacco story.

Whatever the American's reason was for wanting to find Perkoff, this was not it. "Where do you deliver "Sometimes to one place, sometimes to another. It may be in France or in Spain. Douvet tells me." "And tomorrow night 1" "He will tell me before I leave at dusk." HELEN'S fingers were digging Into my arm again. "Mark, don't be insane Bernat had none of th telepathy that grows up between husband and wife, the shorthand which puts Into a glance or an inflectlnn whole sentences of meaning.

one saia to nim vene-mently, "It was good of you to explain so much, answer so many of my husband's questions, but it would have been better if you had said notning." "I am sorry, madame." He had no notion of what he was apologising for. "The fact is that my resolution is not very strong. It is one thing to tell yourself what you will do and another to do it, If you fail, no one knows. "But hv Knenlclnff tn an. other what is in your heart you make a kind of oath.

I have pledged my word not only to myself but also to Monsieur Stanton, 'and be cause of that I can carry it out. She said angrily. "We are strangers to vou. we have our own problems and difficulties. Do we wish them on you 1" "No, madame." He was SOLUTION to PUZZLE 3412 rnirH0DWtAMOUST utt 1 pgMplglo 1 emu which made the idea fan- These fellows were Jf ORNINO and sunshlnei changed nothing.

If anything we were brighter than before, and, a sauntering walk which, we spun out till lunchtlme gave fresh points for ob servation and perky comment. Time was slipping away fast. At lunch, with Rogers giving a friendly hello from two tables away, there was no chance to discuss what we had both avoided so rigidly; and If Helen tools her siesta straight afterwards there might be no chance at all. I followed her up to our room and Idled at the window while she took off her frock. I said, "It just can' be helped." "I know," she said wearily.

If It could I should try and do something about it. After you fought Borg it was impossible for us to depart right away and leave him victor of the field I understand that and I agree with it. But this other thing Bernat's refusal to take you with him counted for nothing. You made up your mind to go, with or without him, and I can't changa It would have been easier if she had been shrill and yelled at me, given me an ultimatum, because then I could have Justified myself by becoming angry. But that was never Helen's way, I muttered.

"You don't see the alternative.1' you, Mark, there isn't one." WENT on, "picture it: sity ting round the fire wlta my brother George or the vicar, swopping hoHdas notes. I say: 'A funny thing happened to us last summer. Right in the heart of the Pyrenees when we were minding our own business somebody tried to kill us. "'Couldnt get the police to do a thing about it, though there was no doubt. No, I can't say what it was all about because we Just shrugged it off, but I have my "And old George wagging his head and saying, 'Quite right.

Always good policy to steer clear of people like that. They have different standards, you And the vicar putting in a word about the vagaries of human nature." I paused. "Is that the way you would like it to be "Yes," she said simply. I sat on the end of the bed. "There's nothing to it: Just a simple reconnaissance, a few hours' scrambling in the dark.

Good for tho figure. I've done it often enough before.1' "You- had reason to then." She put her hands behind her head and gazed sadly at the ceiling. "I've often wondered what happens to turn crazy medical students into grave and responsible doctors. It's a miracle as great as tadpole to frog. "But sometimes It doesnt happen at all, and you are one of those exceptions.

When are you leaving "About six o'clock. I'll sea you before then." She turned on her side, her back to me and her voice muffled. "No, Mark. I don't want to see you again before then." I stood up and looked around helplessly. There wa3 so much I wanted to say that I realised my selfishness, that I loved her, that-I hated to give her pain.

But anything I said counted for nothing against the central fact that I was going. Helen did not stir, and ln the end I set about my preparations quietly. They were few. A dark shirt and slacks, rubber-soled shoes, a brown windcheater over my arm. To anyone else they were merely a change of clothes, in no way remarkable.

I left behind my keys, coins and anything else that would clink. I went out and closed the door quietly. "The Secret Mountains' will be continued on Monday. moved forward, both teeth and suckers let go. QuSndaMS? usfd Re" tlttes.

shallow water until quired. fn Duntintt 7n-HEN the aborigines 'ln rnrtlM were hunting turtles, canoes until the turtles were sighted. The Remoras were then detached from the canoes and prevented from fasten ing themselves to them again. After a while they would spot the turtles and clamp on to them. It has been stated that the turtles were then hauled to the canoes, but this is in correct.

The lines tied to the tails of 'the sucker nsn were light ones and were turtles used merely to piay ine Ttirnoc nnr.ti r.npv wnrp tired Then the canoes could get close enough lor har poons to be used. The advantage that the Remora gains by attaching itself to sharks and other large sea creatures is the ease with which it can tret food. When a shark eats some thing, there are always Dlentv of scraDs floating around. The Remora de taches itself from Its host, gobbles up the crumbs, so to speak then hitches itself on again. they've gone VANISHED) AND IT WASN'T fliN ACCIDENT.

SOME THIN6 COMPELLED ME ID HURBY AND COMPELLED THEM TO DAWDLE" For anyone else the route was Impossible, failure cer tain. Savage dogs prowled the border and their mas ters were armed. Even if I Helen enlllir "TTe -Lit MIC V1 11c liyrAI IfVVU years in the Jura moun- tains, fighting the Ger- mans." He was unimpressed. He had never heard of the Juras. vial adventure to recount to your friends afterwards, Yu "HI discover nothing I have not already told, you." AND tnere was no shlt- ing him.

I had not really expected to and I had eraineri nothlnor ex- cept the hostility of my wife. I conceded defeat and he niade his farewells. The blue figure grew smaller down the hill. With forced cheerfulness I said, "It's a good deal clearer now, dont you think." She bit her lip. "I wont discuss it.

There are times when the only thing which would do you any good is a jolly good spanking." "But don't you see "I see that under that hulking frame of yours is the mind of a boy of ten. If he had been mad enough to fall in with what you want "He wasn't. So that's that." I tried to take her hand but she drew away and got to her feet. In silence we descended the hill. If I could not talk about It, no one could prevent me from thinking.

And the pieces' were fitting together now. The tobacco racket was a beautiful cover, conventional enough to produce a conspiracy of silence throughout Andorra. Even the police chief looked the other way. But Cantini did not realise the points which made nonsense of the picture. All he saw was a half-flnUhed hotel where work was held up, and I had perceived for myself that there were plenty of them.

Cantini did not understand that the whole object of the hotel was to camouflage the activities of Douvet and his associates. Those activities had to extend far beyond contraband in tobacco to be worth while. My guess was narcotics. Bernat said this was not fiosslble without his know- edge and consent, but Bernat could be wrong. There was still plenty of traffic irom North Africa to The oostwar fashion.

Leo- tardo had told us, was to run the stuff by sea, and Andorra had become a forgotten land. Why not revive it? If this theory were true, I oould see where Borg came into the scheme. Bernat and his mules could operate only" during the summer months but an ath-. lete like Borg could ignore the weather. As a ski runner of Olympic class he could negotiate the snowy slopes In the depths of winter, when only the road Into Spain was open.

He could even use the northern route, into France and back, the route which was technically Impassable from November to April. During those winter months he could collect a sizeable store for later despatch by the unwitting Bernat. What, then, of Rogers DOWN. 1. Compaot.

14. Sword. 4. rraiae. 1.

Leaving. 4. Pact. 5. Attractive, 8.

Shine. 7. Yoke. 13. Tavern.

15. Better. 16. Playhouse. 18.

Tin. 10. Overseas. 33, Speak. 33.

Exhaust. 34. Long srest. gether. made sense.

What I found hard to swallow was that Rogers was sucn a clumsy agent. Having cleared me with the Paris end, why tell me so Why the absurd and unnecessary pretence of being a geologist Why mention Perkoff I could think of only one reason, and that, too, was one I had encountered in the past: a fundamental weakness In his wtke-up. Rogers was so proud of his Job as an undercover man that he could not resist dropping hints about it. Taken separately they meant nothing, except that in some way he was a devil of a deep fellow. But putting the hints ln sequence, they made him look as phoney as a stage detective in a false moustache.

Meantime I had trouble of my own. bad trouble. Wife trouble. Lunch was an affair of long silences broken by monesyllables. I spent a long, peaceful afternoon lying on the bank of the Valira and plopping stones into the water.

A good deal of what had happened In the last two days had come about through my own actions. A good deal more was accidental. The sum of it all, it seemed to me. was that with or against my will I found myself ln deep. I could swim clear even now and commonsense told me I should do Just that.

I was a professional man with responsibilities, a wife, a home and a position all ln my keeping. Today had absolutely nothing ln common with that earlier time when danger was a Job of work, and if I went under there was nothing lost except myself and no one to regret It except a few friends ln a far-distant mess. And yet. and yet Another stone plopped ln the river. I saw now for the first time that during the war the consciousness of doing a job of work was not the mainspring of my actions.

It was soothing to know S0VWI LAVA F3M THE fGO gC Jmml mJ-W; CROSSWORD PUZZLE No. 3413 14 I IIS I 17 fun 20 I 1 I 21 122 23 I 12T "TElfTHITmBBMATlfclM wifCJOW W. FORIT THSS, (' WU ON THB BOAT DUCK WCl OP THI WTM I B6 BUtY PARNINJL WMS21if'4 B7 CAPTAIN OARNINS, I APTglt TEA Ml 1. Dexterity. 20.

wigwam. 8. Value, 21. Bid Trellis. 0.

Lowest point, 10. Donkey, mistake, 35. Melody. 36. Approximately.

97. External. ii. uoy. 13.

Harangue. 38. Kitchen 11. uotton utnH. cloth.

IS, Put out 17. Vacation. order. "I took the purse by accident," he told the Llamas flat But, though they are a simple folk, they're not as soft as that I They Just Ignored his crafty barks, "I thought It was my own 1" And Into prison for a term the guilty Fox was thrown I "But what of Mr. Fox you ask.

"Did he unpunished go 7" The answer Is, I'm glad to say, a Arm, emphatic, "NO For Mr. Fox In Llama Land was, so you must be told, Discovered with the Royal Purse stuffed full of RoyalxGold I.