the back, an' there are a coupla dozen cars parked in the garage round at the side. I leave the car an' walk around to the front entrance.
Periera is there. He is all dressed up an' I can hear from the noise comm' along the passage that there are plenty people around. Periera says will I have a drink on the house an' I say yes, an' while I am checkin' in my fedora they bring me a highball. I say good health to him an' drink it, an' he takes a quick look at me an' says that if I would like a little game of anythin' there will be one goin' some time after twelve o'clock an' that it will be in the room on the balcony right at the top of the stairs. I say thanks a lot an' that I am game for anything that is a gamble from crap shootin' upwards.
He laughs an' I walk along the passage an' pull the curtain an' stand lookin' on to the main floor.
The place is crowded. All the tables are full of guys and there are some swell dames with 'em. Two, three cowboys-real or dude I don't know-are standin' up against the bar, an' the piece of dance floor is pack full of people dancin'. There are coloured streamers hangin' from the balcony, an' on the walls are long Spanish shawls an' here an' there a Mexican blanket - the place looks swell I'm tellin' you. The band know their stuff an' they are playin' a hauntin' tune-some Mexican tango, an' one of the guys on the band platform, who has got the sorta voice that makes a temperamental dame wanta go into a convent, is singin' a song about dyin' for love that is breakin' some of them janes' hearts.
There are two or three tables around the band platform an' the women sittin' at 'em are lookin' up at this guy like he was an angel or something. When one of the men with 'em - they look like business men from Los Angeles - says anything the dames sorta 'shut him up in case they miss a bit of the song, which only goes to show you that some dames are screwy as hell. These dames marry some business guy an' he buys 'em swell dresses an' takes 'em places where they can sling a warm look at a cheap palooka who is singin' in a club band. Sometimes they go the whole hog an' run off with these crooners, after which they get wise an' spend the rest of their lives tryin' to find another business man that they can get next to an' marry, so that they can get some more dresses an' sling longing looks at some different band guys.
I'm tellin' you that the place was a sight, one of the prettiest pictures I have ever seen, an' then just as I was goin' to move down an' walk over to a table I see a dame walkin' my way. She's comin' from the left of the room over by the windows. This dame has got what it takes-an' then a bundle! She is tall an' slim, an' she has got all the right curves. She's as pretty as a picture an' she has got her nose stuck up in the air like she was a queen. She is a brunette an' the way she has her hair done is aces. It is swell.
An' she looks tough. Her mouth is set in a hard line an' I see that she has got a jaw. Somehow for no reason at all I know that this is Henrietta.
I look back down the passage. Periera is still standin' there wisecrackin' with the girl who is checkin' in the hats. I nod my head at him an' he comes along.
'Who's the baby, Periera,' I say, 'the one who has just sat down at that table over there, the one by herself? I didn't know you had dames around here like that.'
He grins up at me. This guy Periera reminds me of a snake. I don't like him a bit.
'Senor,' he says, 'we got everything. Thees lady ecs the Setiora 'Enrietta Aymes.'
'You don't say,' I crack.
I look surprised.
'Say listen, Periera,' I say. 'She ain't the dame that was married to that guy - what was his name - Granworth Aymes - the guy who bumped himself off in New York? I was there at the time. I read about it in the papers.'
He nods, an' he puts on an expression like he was very sorry. Then he makes himself out to be the big guy. He says how this Henrietta came out to the Hacienda Altmira thinkin' that it belonged to Granworth, her husband, an' when she gets out there he has the sweet duty of tellin' her that the place is mortgaged over to him; that Granworth didn't pay off the mortgage, an' that it is his place.
He spreads his hands.
'Then, senor,' he says, 'there is some more troubles for thees unfortunate lady. There ees some argument about her money. She tells me she has no money. So,' he goes on, 'I let her stick around. I am a good man, you understand, senor. I feel sorry for thees poor woman. I let her stay around here an' be hostess until she makes up her mind what she would like to do.'
'Yeah,' I tell him. 'It looks like you're a good guy, Periera. How about meetin' the lady?'
He nods, but just then I tell him it don't matter, because goin' towards the table where Henrietta is sittin' is a guy. He is a big guy an' he looks pretty regular to me. He has got a nice sorta face. I can tell by the way that this guy is lookin' at Henrietta as he goes towards the table an' the way that she looks back at him, that these two are pretty friendly. I grin at Periera.
'Looks like she's got a boy friend,' I say, 'nice lookin' guy. Who is he?'
''Ees name is Maloney,' says Periera. ''He comes around here a lot. He plays. Maybe he plays tonight.'
I nod.
'Well, I hope I take some dough off him,' I say. 'By the way my name's Frayme-Selby Frayme. Do you play high stakes around here?'
He shrugs his shoulders.
'What you like, Seflor Frayme,' he says. 'For us the roof ees always the limit.'
I say OK. Then I go an' sit down at a table and order myself a highball. I reckon it is not very much good my tryin' to muscle in an' talk to Henrietta while this guy is stickin' around.
The time goes on. Periera takes me over an' introduces me to some party sittin' at a big table. These guys are pretty warm-hearted guys an' the women with them can certainly dance. If I hadn't had my mind on the job all the time I would certainly have enjoyed that dancin'.
About two o'clock people start movin', an' in half an hour's time the place is pretty empty, except for about ten or twelve people who were stickin' around. It looks to me like these people are the ones who are goin' to do the playin'.
My party scram out of it, an' as I am sayin' goodnight to 'em, Periera comes over. He tells me that play will be startin' any minute now, an' that I know where the room is, the one at the top of the stairs. I tell him yes but I think I am goin' to have a walk around first. I go out the front way an' I walk around the place sniftin' the air. I am very funny about any sorta gamblin'. I like the game to get started before I bust into it.
About twenty minutes afterwards I go back. One of the waiter guys is closing down the windows on the left hand side of the club. The band have packed up and most of the lights are down. I walk across the floor, up the stairs an' go into the room at the top. It is a fair sized room, with a big table in the middle. There are some guys playin' baccarat at this table, an' at another little table in a corner another three guys an' two dames are playin' poker.
Maloney is at the baccarat table an' standin' near to him watchin' the play is Henrietta. All the guys up there are wearin' tuxedos, an' one or two of 'em at the baccarat table look plenty tough to me. It looks like everybody has been doin' some drinkin' too because there is that sort of atmosphere that comes when people get high.
After a minute Periera comes along, looks in an' then goes off some place. I just stick around and watch.
Maloney ain't doin' so well. He is losin' plenty an' he don't look so happy about it. Also he is lookin' a little bit puzzled as if he cannot quite understand somethin', an' I am wonderin' if somebody has been doin' a little fast stuff with the cards.
After about ten minutes Maloney goes banco an' flops on it. He loses a bundle. He turns round an' he looks at Henrietta with a silly sorta grin.
'It don't look anythin's comin' my way,' he says. 'I never seem to get any luck at all around here.'
She smiles, an' believe me her teeth match up with the rest of her, an' did I tell you that she had sapphire blue eyes. Me, I have always been very partal to sapphire blue eyes!
'Why not give it a rest?' she says. 'Or would you like me to play a hand for you?'
On the other side of the table is a big guy. He is a broad-shouldered fellow with a thin face an' a lotta black hair. I have heard him called Fernandez. He is watchin' Maloney all the time whilst they are talkin'. Then he chips in:
'It looks like both your luck's out,' he says. 'But,' he goes on with a snicker, 'maybe you always expect to win. Maybe you don't like losin'.'
Maloney goes red.
'Whether I like winnin' or losin' is my business, Fernandez,' he says, 'an' I don't need any wisecracks outa you.
