The Secret of Casa Grande

by Roy J. Snell

  CHAPTER V THE SIESTA HOUR

  All the way home from the market Jo Ann kept wondering what excuse shewould make to Florence so that she might go back after the rope.

  To her delight the opportunity came sooner than she expected. While thethree girls were at the table lingering over their late breakfast, Felipeentered with a message for Florence from her father.

  "Daddy needs my help for about half an hour in the office," sheexplained. "I often assist him in the simple cases. You girls amuseyourselves any way you wish while I'm busy."

  "All right," Peggy answered promptly. "I believe I'll run across thePlaza to that curio store we saw yesterday and buy some postcards. I'dlike to look at the curios, too."

  "The sun's getting so hot now that you'd better carry my parasol, ifyou're going out," Florence suggested over her shoulder as she left theroom.

  Although Jo Ann had not said a word, she immediately decided that herewas her chance to go back to the market after the rope.

  Jo Ann got the parasol and then hastened out the door, Peggy at herheels.

  "Let's go back to the market for the rope first before we go to the curiostore," Jo Ann suggested as soon as they reached the street.

  "All right, but let's hurry so I'll be sure to have time to stop and getthe cards," replied Peggy.

  When they reached the market the crowd had thinned considerably, andwithout much difficulty they found the booth and bought the rope.

  Peggy smiled widely as they left the booth and remarked teasingly, "Inotice you didn't ask for _ropa_ this time."

  Jo Ann grinned good-naturedly. "No, I looked it up in my dictionary andfound the right word for rope."

  As it had taken longer to make the trip than they had anticipated, Jo Annhurried Peggy along.

  "I've got to get this rope inside the house and hidden before Florencefinishes helping her father."

  Just as they turned the corner by the Plaza, Jo Ann halted abruptly."Peg, look, standing there in the doorway--Felipe! I can't go past him,carrying the rope loose like this."

  "Well--I'll tell you, Jo. We've forgotten the postcards. Let's go to thestore and get them, and maybe by the time we get back he'll be gone."

  To their vexation, when they returned to the same corner fifteen minuteslater, they found that Felipe was still standing in the doorway.

  "Look, Peg! The watchdog is still there. I'm not going to throw this ropeaway now that I've got this near home with it. What shall I----" Shestopped abruptly. "I've got it! I'll slip it inside the parasol."

  Putting her words into action, she closed the parasol and slipped thecoil of rope inside.

  Peggy laughed, "That's a funny-looking parasol, I must say."

  "I don't care if it is funny. You walk close to me, and I'll carry theparasol between us. Now, how's that?"

  "All right, I suppose--only I'm sure Felipe is wondering why we're notcarrying it over our heads as we're supposed to do."

  With an effort to conceal their amusement, they hurried on past Felipeand up to their room.

  Quickly snatching the rope from its hiding place, Jo Ann threw it intoher trunk and slammed the lid down with a bang.

  "There now--I'm glad that much is done," she remarked with a sigh ofsatisfaction. "I hope I don't have as much trouble using this rope asI've had getting it."

  Even as she spoke these words she began thinking of the many problems shestill had to solve before she could reach the mysterious window. Wouldshe be able to climb the crude scaffold? How would she be able to fastenthe rope after she got to the roof? And how could she manage to do allthis without being seen?

  All through lunch and later that afternoon during the siesta hour thesequestions kept racing through her mind.

  Just as they had done the day before, Florence and Peggy quicklysuccumbed to the heavy, drowsy stillness. But not Jo Ann. The harder shetried to sleep, the more wide awake she became.

  Finally in desperation she got up and sat gazing out of the window. Howcould she stand this quiet and inaction so long? Glancing down at herwatch, she realized it would be at least an hour before Florence andPeggy were awake.

  "Even being outdoors in the hot sun's better than sitting here doingnothing," she told herself.

  No sooner had this thought entered her mind than she decided to gooutside and examine the scaffold on the building at the end of the block.

  "It'll take only a few minutes, and I'll be back before the girls areawake," she thought.

  Quickly she rose and slipped noiselessly out of the room and past thesleeping Felipe at the head of the stairs. Once outside she hastened onaround the corner and looked anxiously down the street to the farther endof the block to see if the scaffold were still there.

  "Good! It's there!" she exclaimed to herself the next moment.

  Without a thought about the extreme heat she ran down the street to thecorner. As she gazed up at the high, crude scaffold made of peeled polesfastened together, a slight tinge of fear passed over her. How high itlooked! And what a blank wall it was fastened on! There wasn't a sign ofa window or opening--not even a ledge--to break the smooth, regularsurface of the wall.

  "That's the crudest scaffold I've ever laid eyes on," she thought, as sheexamined the hardwood poles which were fastened to the wall in severalplaces by wooden pegs.

  Near the top of the poles she noticed that there was a rough platformfrom which dangled a long rope with a bucket attached to the end.

  "I wonder how the workmen get up to that platform," she thought.

  Going over to the other side of the scaffold she discovered that deepnotches had been cut at regular intervals in one of the poles, forfootholds. "So this is the way they get up! These notches look awfullyfar apart, though. I wonder if I could reach them."

  Carefully she pulled herself up to the first notch, and then on to thesecond and third.

  "Sure, I can climb this!" she exulted. "This is more fun than I've had ina long time."

  Up she climbed to the platform and then scrambled over onto it.

  While she was sitting there resting a moment, she was busily examiningthe rest of the scaffold to see if she could reach the top of thebuilding. She noticed that, although there were no more notches cut inthe pole, there was a crosspiece near the top to hold the scaffold inposition against the building.

  "If I can only reach that crosspiece, I know I can climb up on the roof,"she told herself.

  Cautiously she rose and, wrapping her legs and arms around the pole,slowly pulled herself up to the crosspiece; then balancing herself on itshe climbed over the edge of the roof.

  However, hot as she was, she knew that she had no time to cool off, sincethe siesta hour was almost over, and the girls would soon be awake.

  "I must not get caught again," she told herself.

  She looked hastily around the curious roof, noting with surprise that itresembled a flat cement floor with a low, thick stone wall around it.

  "How on earth can I fasten a rope to a roof like this?" she asked herselfin dismay. "While I'm up here I've just got to see the roof over thatmysterious window. If it's like this, what will I do?"

  Hurrying to the division wall, she scrambled over it, only to beconfronted by another wall. Undaunted, she climbed over it, and then overstill another, till she came in sight of a chimney.

  "This must be the chimney of the big fireplace in the kitchen," she toldherself.

  Climbing up on the broad outer wall of the roof she peered over, tryingto find the position of the mysterious window.

  "Why don't they have window casings or something to show where theirwindows are?" she thought in disgust.

  She lay flat on her stomach and leaned farther out over the edge of thebuilding. Although the hot stones burned her, she kept on persistentlyexamining the surface of the wall below till she made out the outlines ofthe mysterious opening.

  "Whew!" she exclaimed aloud. "I know I'm scorched."

  She spran
g down quickly, took a pin out of her hair, and tried to scratcha mark with it on the wall directly in line with the window. To herdisgust the hairpin proved to be too frail a tool to have any effect uponthe old plaster of the wall. Tossing the pin away, she looked about forsome other object with which to mark the spot, but on finding nothing shehurried off toward the scaffold.

  "I've got to rush, or the girls'll be awake and miss me," she toldherself as she vaulted the first division wall.

  In a surprisingly short time she reached the end of the building. Leaningover the wall, she looked about for the crosspiece on which she must geta foothold before sliding down to the platform below.

  The next instant she gasped and drew back. Surely her eyes were deceivingher.

  Cautiously she peeped over the wall again. Yes, there on the platformonly a few feet beneath her sat a Mexican with a bucket of paint besidehim. Just then loud, coarse laughter sounded from the street, and peeringdown she saw several workmen applauding one of their number who, poisedat the bottom of the scaffold, was dramatizing a love scene. Pulling outa piece of white material from his girdle, he pressed it first to hislips, then to his heart, talking rapidly all the time.

  Only two words floated up to her--_senorita_ and _amor_. As the actorwaved the white material in response to the applause, an expression ofconsternation came into Jo Ann's eyes. That was her handkerchief! Shemust have dropped it when she was climbing. The senorita of this sillyfarce was no other than herself.

  Horrified, she drew back out of sight. What must she do now? She darednot climb down with those awful men there. If her handkerchief had causedsuch guffawing, what would happen when they saw her?

  Alarmed by these thoughts, she fled back toward the chimney. It wouldoffer a little shelter, at least.

  "What a mess I've made of things!" she thought as she ran. "Peggy's rightabout my curiosity getting me in trouble. I'm in it now."

  Huddling behind the chimney in an effort to hide from the workmen shouldthey come up on the roof, and to escape the direct rays of the sun, sheracked her brain for a way to get out of this predicament withoutdisgracing herself.

  "I must not do anything that will hurt Florence or her father," she toldherself. "Florence said it would never do for a girl to do anythingthat'd attract attention in any way. If I were back home and these wereAmerican workmen, I wouldn't have a bit of trouble getting out of thispredicament. But down here--! I'd have a time trying to make themunderstand me. They might think I was crazy or something, but I wouldn'tcare if it weren't for the Blackwells. There must be some way out of thisembarrassing situation."

  At the same time that Jo Ann was puzzling over her problem Peggy wasarousing from her siesta. With half-opened eyes, she stretched lazily andlooked about the room. Florence was beginning to stir, but where was JoAnn?

  "These lazy, quiet hours are hard on a girl of Jo's temperament," Peggymused. "I wonder where she is and what she's doing?"

  The next moment Florence sat up, yawned two or three times, then askeddrowsily, "Where's Jo?"

  "That's what I'd like to know. I just woke up and discovered the bird hadflown."

  "Maybe she got tired waiting for us to wake up and went down to thedrugstore for a drink. She ought to be back in a few minutes."

  As Florence slipped out of bed she remarked tentatively, "I've planned ashopping tour for this afternoon. I thought you'd be interested in seeingsome of the souvenirs and drawnwork in the stores."

  "We'd love it," replied Peggy promptly, rising at once. "I'll hurry andget ready so we'll have a long time to shop. I want to get some of thosedainty little handkerchiefs like you sent me for my birthday."

  "I'm so glad you like them. The Mexicans really do beautiful handwork,but unless you see something you especially want this afternoon, you'dbetter wait and get the handkerchiefs directly from the women who makethem. They'll be much cheaper that way."

  A half-hour later Peggy announced proudly, "I'm all ready--how about you?Don't you think it's time Jo was back?"

  "Yes, I do. I don't see what's keeping her. I'll ask Felipe how longshe's been gone."

  When Florence returned a few minutes later there was a look ofbewilderment on her face. "Felipe says he hasn't seen her," sheannounced.

  Peggy's eyes opened wide. "Where do you suppose she can be, then?"

  "I'm sure I can't imagine," replied Florence, shaking her head dubiously.

  "Do you suppose--she surely wouldn't----"

  "What in the world are you talking about?" broke in Florence, seeing thealarm on Peggy's face.

  "I was just wondering if she'd slipped down that back street again. Shecan't get that mysterious window out of her mind, you know."

  "That's so, but, surely, after getting caught yesterday, she wouldn'trisk it again. I'm afraid for her to be in the sun so much when she's notused to it."

  "Jo doesn't really mean to do anything that isn't right," Peggy defended,"but when she makes up her mind, there's no stopping her."

  A little frown appeared on Florence's forehead. "I'm really worried abouther going on with this scheme. I don't see how she can carry it outwithout being in great danger. Isn't there some way you could persuadeher to give it up?"

  "No. She isn't afraid of anything, and she's the most determined personI've ever seen."

  "Let's go into Dad's office and out on his balcony so we can watch forher," suggested Florence a moment later. "She'll surely be back in a fewminutes."

  "I'm going to give her a piece of my mind," fumed Peggy. "She ought toknow better than to go off that way. Something might happen to her."

  Looking in every direction, the girls were dismayed at seeing no signs ofJo Ann.

  "She seems to have disappeared in thin air," said Peggy anxiously."Something must be wrong. She wouldn't stay away this long."

  Almost simultaneously Florence turned her head, listening. "What wasthat? Didn't you hear someone whistle?"

  The next moment a faint but distinct whistling note sounded.

  "That's Jo's whistle," exclaimed Peggy. "But where is she?"

  "Here I am!" called a low voice. "Up on the roof."

  "What!" The girls gasped in amazement.

  Blankly they stared above them as a red, flushed face, framed withtousled hair, peeped over the edge of the roof.

  "What in the world are you doing up there?" called Peggy, finding hertongue.

  "I didn't mean to do it," Jo Ann called down, "but I'm caught and can'tget down."

  "Well, how did you get up there in the first place, and why can't you getdown?"

  "I climbed that scaffold--it was easy--but while I was up here theworkmen came, and now I can't get down. It's hot as the mischief up herein the sun."