IN THE STREET OUTSIDE IT HAD SUDDENLY GROWN dark, with the last, brilliant red rays of the setting sun bathing the housetops to the west in a crimson glow. The crowds in the street had become even heavier and noisier, and down at the end of the block, Vicki heard the blaring bands and saw the bobbing flames of the torches as the parade went by.
She looked around frantically. How was she ever going to spot one man in this mad, confused throng? Then, down the block, moving in the direction of the parade, she saw a stocky figure, his black costume standing out in the sea of so many colorful costumes. He was pushing his way ruthlessly through the mass of people that jammed the street.
She ran after him, stumbling, bumping into people, sometimes nearly falling, but never letting115 that broad, black back out of her sight. Then the man came to the corner, at the intersection of the cross street along which the noisy, colorful parade was passing. He slipped into the gay crowd of marchers and was lost to sight. She turned her head to look back over her shoulder. The tall figure of Raymond Duke, with his shiny bullfighter’s cap perched jauntily on his head, was moving rapidly in her direction. With a little gasp, Vicki ran to the passing line of marchers, and then she too was swallowed up by the parade.
Now she was carried along by the merrymaking marchers like a chip of wood in a swift stream. Some groups were parading six or eight abreast, with clasped hands forming a barricade through which she could not pass. She dodged around them, squeezed between other marching couples, squirmed and twisted and tried to forge ahead through the slowly moving column. Now and then, just often enough to be sure he was in the stream of moving bodies ahead of her, she caught a swift glimpse of the black-robed pirate.
Now and then she glanced behind her to see if Duke was following. If she could keep track of the man she was after by his black cloak, Raymond Duke would have no trouble keeping her blond hair in sight!
At that moment the moving line of marchers ground to a slow stop. Just ahead was a float,116 standing still as its driver waited for the parade to move again. Looking up at the float, she saw Louise Curtin, wearing a white silk dress and a black lace mantilla over her dark hair, sitting on a throne of red and white flowers and waving to the people below her.
“Louise! Louise! It’s me! Vicki! Right here below you!”
Startled, Louise looked all around and then finally saw Vicki’s upturned face. She waved and shouted a greeting.
“Louise! Your mantilla! May I have it please?”
Louise didn’t seem to understand. “My—my mantilla?”
“Oh, please, Louise!” Vicki reached up pleadingly. “I need your mantilla! Quick, Louise! Oh, please!”
Louise’s eyes widened at the urgency in Vicki’s voice and the expression on her face. She whipped the lace from her head and handed it down to Vicki’s waiting fingers. Vicki quickly wrapped it around her bright blond hair and looked again, desperately, for the man in the black cloak. He was nowhere in sight, and her heart sank. Then, far up ahead, she caught sight of him. She elbowed her way through the stalled crowd, drawing angry glances from people that she was pushing rudely aside.
She clutched the mantilla tightly around her throat as she ran and stumbled forward. No need117 to worry about Raymond Duke following her now! With the red dress and black head covering, she looked like any one of the thousand other girls in the great crowd.
Once she saw the masked man turn hurriedly around an peer in her direction. Did he see her? With her identifying blond hair covered up, she didn’t think so. If only she could manage to move faster! One thing she was pretty sure of. He would stay in the parade. The heavy mass of costumes would be his best protective cover. Walking up one of the side streets by him............