Call Down The Hawk

by Richard Folmar

  Seth uttered a strangled sound. “Molly, for the love of Pete, don’t do that!”

  “Well,well,well, maybe I don’t need my sheer silk gown, after all,” she said letting go the sides of the flannel gown.”

  “How much did you have to drink tonight?”

  “Wine at dinner—you watched every drop I drank.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Well, that’s all I had. Alan wouldn’t stop and buy me any champagne.”

  “Then, why this peculiar mood?’

  She looked hurt and then there were tears. “I’m sorry you find me so peculiar, Mr. Cane,” she said starting for the door.

  He caught her arm. “Just a darn minute, Molly Langdon. I didn’t say you were peculiar. It’s that this is so unlike you—coming in here, this way.”

  She removed his hand from her arm, anger flashing through the teary green eyes. “How do you know what I’m like, or what I want? Do you think me so unattractive?”

  It seems we’ve had this scene before Molly, in the lobby of the New Willard. “Molly, please—you are a lovely, and pardon me, a most desirable young woman. But, the emphasis is on young and I have no right to think of you in that way. What can I say? If I were ten years younger, of course, but that is the way of it.”

  “That’s a lame excuse, mister. You don’t think you are too old for her, and she and I are practically the same age—well, almost, but she’s not that much older than I.”

  “Who in blazes are you talking about?”

  “You know who—that Annaliese woman. Can she make you feel like this?” she said, throwing her arms around his neck, her body pressing against him, lips warm and moist on his. It was an inexperienced kiss, but certainly not lacking in passion. Caught by surprise, he found himself responding, kissing her back. The pressure of her body against his was also causing an unavoidable reaction that she clearly felt, as indicated by her closed eyes opening wide in wonder and innocence. The vision arose in his mind of the bruised and hurt little girl, thrown from her horse. He carried her in front of him on the saddle, filled with fear and apprehension as he desperately galloped back to the Bar-5 ranch house. Now, he had just kissed and held her intimately close, resulting in definite sexual feelings. He was ashamed. Abruptly, he turned from her. “Molly—I don’t know what to say,” he stammered. “I should never—I forgot myself. I am so sorry.”

  She smiled. “Don’t know what you mean, Seth,” she said looking dreamy eyed. “Guess I did have more than my share of wine at dinner. I had no right to intrude upon you this late.” She moved to the door, putting her hand on the knob, but turned and smiled at him. “But, you want to know something, sir? I am damned glad I did.”

  27

  ON THE FRIDAY MORNING BEFORE their scheduled departure on Saturday for Mexico, Hand Otho Comfort showed up at the Langdons’ door with his one battered suitcase. As a matter of convenience in the morning, he had accepted Bessie Mae’s offer to put him up, rather than have him at that small hotel on 8th and H Streets, where he had stayed since the Inauguration.

  “Going to be like old times, ain’t it, Seth?” Hand asked on their way to the State Department for a final briefing by Bryan. “I was fixing to go home and hunker down to some real honest cow farming when they told me I was going down to Mexico with you as your bodyguard.”

  “Let’s get something straight, Hand. I don’t want or need a bodyguard. You are going with me as my assistant. Do you hear?”

  Hand shook his head. “Put any face on it you want, pard, but I’m still taking my iron.”

  The mental image of the hulking Handsome Otho Comfort following him around Mexico City with that big old forty-four single action Colt strapped on his hip, seemed at best, slightly bizarre, if not dangerous, considering the revolutionary situation down there. Well, he would manage to take care of that somehow, when they got to Mexico. He had been genuinely pleased when the President said he was sending Hand along, not because of the nonsense about protection, but simply that he would enjoy the companionship of his old friend. Departure for Vera Cruz on Saturday morning would be aboard the U.S.S. Dolphin.

  They found Bryan sitting in his office shaking his head over a story in the New York Times concerning a proposed bill in the California Assembly to bar persons who were ineligible for citizenship from owning land in that state.

  He tapped the story in the paper with his finger. “You understand, this legislation is aimed at Japanese immigrants in that state. This is bad business, my friends. Bad for our relations with Japan.”

  “Why would passage of that bill by the California legislature affect our national relations with Japan?” Seth asked.

  “The Japanese are a proud and sensitive people. They will interpret that legislation as a direct national affront,” Bryan said.

  Hand looked confused. “Danged if understand how they can blame the United States for what California does.”

  Bryan’s smile was grim. “Not only can, but will. I am not so certain they fully comprehend our federal system. Nevertheless, until we can either make them understand that the action by one of our state governments does not indicate the policy of our national government, or unless we can persuade the California Assembly to back off on this matter, we may have a serious international crisis on our hands.”

  Seth was skeptical. “Are you suggesting that it could escalate to the level of war, Will?”

  “Not as long as I am Secretary of State, if I can help it.”

  “Shoot, maybe that bill won’t pass,” Hand said.

  “Let’s pray to the Almighty it won’t or we may find ourselves in a very delicate situation.” Suddenly his worried expression disappeared, changing to a wide smile. “Well, boys, are you all packed for Mexico?”

  “Yes,” Seth said. “We are here to get any last marching orders.”

  “Nothing more than we have already told you, except, I can’t urge you strongly enough, to be a model of discretion in conducting your inquiry, and to remind you that you are not to connect either the President or myself with your true mission.”

  “I notice that you and the President have referred to our mission as an inquiry. Are we not to describe it as an investigation?”

  “I think we should avoid that term. Investigation carries with it a sense of an official action,” Bryan said.

  That evening, Seth escorted Ginny and Molly to Harvey’s for one of its famous oyster dinners.

  Ginny looked worried. “How long do you have to be away, Daddy?”

  “I am not sure, but certainly not more than three weeks. Why? Isn’t everything all right with the school or with Aunt Eudora and Uncle Perry?”

  “Dunstan Hall is great. So is Aunt Eudora, a bit bossy at times, but mostly very nice.”

  “And, Uncle Perry?”

  She laughed. “Oh, he’s no bother, except a bit weird.”

  “How do you mean, weird?”

  “He has this old bugle, see, that he can’t really play. Just blows and out comes this awful sound.”

  “Does he do it all the time?”

  “No. He just blows it every night on the back steps at nine o’clock.”

  “Odd. Did you ask why he does it?”

  Ginny giggled. “Aunt Eudora explained, the second night it happened, that the Admiral is convinced that blowing that blast every night keeps his bowels regular, preventing constipation.”

  Molly laughed. “Really? Maybe he’s on to something better than castor oil.”

  “How do the neighbors feel about this nightly concert?” Seth asked.

  “Oh, Aunt Eudora says they are quite used to it, after all these years. Some even set their clocks by it. You want to hear something else funny? There was a retired General three doors up who used to join him with his own bugle, until he died.”

 
“I hope the general didn’t die of diarrhea,” Seth said.

  “OK, back to the point. You looked worried about my being away. What’s the problem?”

  She looked down at her plate. “I don’t know. I just don’t get to see you very much since we’ve been here and, now you are leaving.”

  That reinforced his already guilty feelings. “I know, sweetheart. This week has been rather hectic. I will make it up to you when I return.” He didn’t mention that after this job with the state department was over, after Mexico, he probably would be returning to Oklahoma. “Beside, honey, Molly has promised to spend some time with you while I am gone.”

  “You bet I will, Ginny. We will be doing lots of bully things. Alan mentioned you like riding. Well, it just happens that I have an account with the Rock Creek stables and you and I are going to make good use of it.”

  “Will Alan come with us?”

  Molly looked at Seth, and raised an eyebrow. “You just darn betcha, he will, if I tell him to.”

  “Terrific,” Ginny said. “I really like Alan.”

  After their dinner at Harvey’s, Seth escorted the two young ladies to the New National to see Miss Billie Burke in a comedy called, The Mind-The Paint Girl. Ten minutes before the curtain rose, they were surprised when the President and Mrs. Wilson, along with other members of the family, entered from a side door of the theater and were escorted to two undecorated boxes without fanfare by the orchestra, pursuant to standing White House instructions. Molly pointed out that this was most unusual because of a long standing custom to decorate a box in Washington theaters when it was to be occupied by a president for the first time.

  Seth was thankful that Molly had agreed to come with him and Ginny tonight. It appeared that Molly and he had tentatively resumed their easy going friendship without reference to the episode in his room last night, much to Seth’s relief.

  During an intermission, Seth left the two girls chatting away like old friends and excused himself to go out to the lobby restroom. As he came out, he encountered Annaliese, apparently on a similar mission.

  She looked surprised. “I’ve been thinking of you toiling away in that Oklahoma law office, and here you are in the lobby of this theater.”

  “Yes, well, since I last saw you, I’ve become a political hack in the state department.”

  “I know you well enough to reject that political hack business. Come on, Seth, what are you really doing for your Mr. Bryan?”

  “Oh, a little business regarding claims of our American citizens in Mexico City. Pretty pedestrian stuff. As a matter of fact my friend Handsome Comfort and I leave tomorrow for Mexico.”

  She gave him a funny look. “Really, I read something about those claims. I thought everything was pretty well settled, at least according to the American Ambassador down there.”

  “Well, you know, these things can sometimes get complicated.”

  “Hey Seth, remember me, your student from Baltimore? No fooling, what are you really going down there for?”

  He was saved from answering by the first buzzer for people to return to their seats. She looked desperately at the ladies restroom and smiled. “Got to run. After you return from your mysterious trip, we must get together and I’ll expect you to fill me in. Be careful down there, my dear.”

  28

  SATURDAY MORNING’S STAFF MEETING WAS about to conclude in the Ambassador’s office in the German Embassy The Ambassador was speaking. “Oh yes, one more thing. I was notified in dispatches from Wilhelmstrasse that our new military attaché has been named. He is Captain Franz von Papen. His file is to be sent on directly but as yet, I know very little about him.”

  The Naval Attache cleared his throat, indicating he had something to say.

  “Yes, Karl?”

  “I met von Papen on two occasions. Once while on holiday in Monte Carlo. We were both staying at the Metropole. I saw him again in 1910 during the Turkish Army maneuvers. Seemed like a most excellent fellow. I think he might be an asset to the Embassy. I shall look forward to serving with him. When is he scheduled to arrive, your Excellency?”

  “We can’t have him until December according to the dispatch.” He looked at his watch. “Gentlemen, that is all I have for now. Thank you for giving up your Saturday morning. Except for emergencies, I assure you that regular staff meetings will be conducted at the more customary Monday morning hour.”

  As the rest of the staff filed out, Captain Boy-Ed, followed by Lieutenant Dohrman approached Count von Bernstorf. “May we take just a bit more of your time, your Excellency?”

  The Ambassador, annoyed, again looked at his pocket watch. “I suppose so. Only a minute or two, mind.”

  “One of our reliable sources informs us that Mr. Seth Cane, and Mr. Handsome Comfort, agents of the State Department are leaving today on a special mission to Mexico. Probably nothing of significance, but we felt that we ought to mention it.”

  “Seth Cane?” the Ambassador asked. “Don’t I know that fellow from somewhere?”

  Paul Dohrman nodded. “Yes sir, he is a lawyer and was your dinner guest, along with myself, Miss Faver, last summer.”

  “Ah, now I have him. Tall, dark strapping fellow from out west with a remarkable knowledge about terrapins. I seem to remember that he accused you of being a spy. What’s he doing in Washington?”

  “From what we can learn, he is a close personal friend of Secretary Bryan and seems to be working on the assignment I just mentioned,” Boy-Ed explained. “He is also the friend of Miss Faver, and has been in contact with her, since his arrival here.”

  Paul Dohrman intervened, “I don’t think that is relevant, sir. He is just a passing acquaintance of Annaliese’s from that Baltimore Convention.”

  Karl Boy-Ed laughed silently. Oh you simpleton. I saw him at her apartment that night and you could cut the sexual tension with a knife.

  “Well, what is the official reason for his going to Mexico?”

  “Ostensibly to clear up some matters concerning property claims against the Mexican Government by U.S. citizens,” Boy-Ed said.

  “Why do you say, ostensibly, Karl?”

  “My counterpart in our Mexican Embassy informs me that a survey of those property claims has been accomplished by the American Consul down there, and to me it hardly seems sufficient reason to send these two, inexperienced persons down there.”

  “Don’t be too certain,” the Ambassador said with a shake of his head. “We know the Americans have been encountering problems with the Huerta government. Maybe it requires some special attention from Washington. Who is this second person going with Cane?”

  “That’s an interesting point,” Karl Boy-Ed said. “He has the rather bizarre name of Hand Otho Comfort. He is a former Texas Ranger and Woodrow Wilson’s personal bodyguard during the 1912 campaign.”

  “Any other special qualifications?”

  “Other than being a rancher, no.”

  “So what is your evaluation of this assignment to Mexico, Karl,” the Ambassador asked.

  1 “I suspect Mr. Bryan is up to some secret business down there. For what purpose, I do not know. Neither did my informant. The necessity for a bodyguard on this trip seems strange. It is not as if they are going to any of the battle areas.”

  “Wait a minute,” Paul Dohrman said. “Could his authority for this mission be coming from higher up than Bryan?”

  The Ambassador looked skeptical. “Unless you are referring to God, you would have to mean the President.”

  “Yes, why not,” Karl Boy-Ed nodded in agreement with his Assistant Attache.

  “For what purpose,” the Ambassador pursued.

  A smile began to curl at the sides of the Naval Attache’s heavy lips. “That I do not know just yet, but consider this, the American President has expressed publicly his distaste for
General Huerta and the manner in which he came to power. I think he would like nothing better than to see Victoriano Huerta removed. Could this have something to do with Cane’s mission?”

  The Ambassador looked shocked.. “Are you saying thesetwo agents might try to stir something up against this dictator? You don’t send these types of men, one of whom is an attorney, even though inexperienced, to do that kind of work. No, I still think we are making too much of a rather mundane assignment of these men. It may just be a political pay off, for which the new secretary of state is openly noted. However, Kapitan you may proceed with this, providing it doesn’t take too much time from your regular duties. Meanwhile, I will go so far as to send a wire off to Admiral Hintze, our Ambassador in Mexico, to alert him of the pending arrival of Mr. Cane and his bodyguard and suggest he might want to verify his true mission down there. Paul, I want a full dossier opened on Cane and this Comfort fellow, as soon as possible. And, Karl—”

  “Your Excellency?”

  “Pay a special visit to our Fraulein Faver to see what she can tell us about Cane, and/or his mission.”

  Karl Boy-Ed gave a sardonic glance at Paul Dohrman, whose pale face got suddenly red, and replied, “Yes, your Excellency. I shall be happy to do that.”

  29

  USS DOLPHIN

  SEVEN MILES OFF VERA CRUZ HARBOR

  SETH PAUSED OVER HIS LETTER to Ginny aware that Hand had been talking to him. “What’s that, Hand? I’m sorry, I was writing this letter.”

  “You know, one of them first mate fellers reckoned we will be getting into Vera Cruz pretty quick.”

  “Hand, there is only one first mate aboard a Navy ship.”

  “Well then, it must have been that one. He told me that we weren’t far off going into the harbor.”

  “In that case,” Seth said, picking up his pen, “you’d better let me finish this letter so it can go back with the ship’s mail.”