Ace in the Hole Page #4

No, I'm not drunk, Mr Boot.

Maybe a little excited, because

unless war is declared tonight,

here's your front-page

feature. Now...

How much is it, Mr Minosa?

No, sir, I wouldn't take your money,

not after all you're doing for my boy.

- Hi.

- Morning.

The construction boss show up?

Or the sheriff?

Not yet.

From the way you were talking, I thought

you'd get the Governor down here.

- The Marines, too.

- It's all taken care of.

They got a construction crew

together, machinery too,

and they're on their way from Los

Barrios now, Sunday or no Sunday.

- Yap, yap.

- I've talked to the doctor.

We're taking him in as soon

as they clear the passage.

And the sheriff will

be on the job, too.

Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap.

Look, madam, when I say

I deliver, I deliver.

Where are the old folks?

Went to early mass.

What's that you been playing

on your typewriter all night?

From upstairs, it sounded

like that Sabre Dance.

With all this trouble, I didn't

think you could sleep anyhow.

I've had enough sleep,

five years of it.

What else could you do in Escudero?

Look at the family album?

- Where'd you get it?

- From Mama Minosa.

Just shows.

Yesterday, you never

even heard of Leo.

Today, you can't know

enough about him.

Aren't you sweet?

Good-looking kid in his

uniform, wasn't he?

Him and eight million other guys.

See our wedding picture?

Bet you didn't even recognise me.

Sure, I did. You were

a brunette then.

In '45? No, in '45,

I was a redhead.

See how skinny I was?

A hospital back in Baltimore

said I had a touch of TB.

You'd never think it

to look at me now.

You don't look like

a chest case to me.

If you can spare this one,

I'd like to take it along,

in case I forget

what he looks like.

What time is it?

5:
45. What's all this about?

- I'm grabbing the early bus.

- Where to?

Out of here fast. As far

as 11 bucks will take me.

I'm blowing this place.

- You picked a fine time.

- I've left him before.

Once, I got as far as

Dodge City, Kansas,

in a big, blue convertible

that stopped by for gas.

It must have cost $4,000, easy.

But Leo caught up with me.

I told him I was through.

I told him it was no good

any more. This isn't for me.

What is?

I bet he took you out of some

dime-a-dance joint in Baltimore.

- Nightclub.

- Saloon.

All right. Saloon.

You know what he told me?

He told me he had 160 acres in

New Mexico and a big business.

Look at us, we sell eight hamburgers

a week and a case of soda pop,

and once in a while,

a Navajo rug maybe.

He married you, didn't he? Brought

you out here, fed you, nursed you.

And I thanked him plenty. I've

been thanking him for five years.

That makes us even.

So long, Jack.

Nice kid.

Got a little jump on

him this time, huh?

Can't run after you, not lying there

with those rocks on his legs.

Look who's talking.

Much you care about Leo.

I'm onto you. You're

working for a newspaper.

All you want is something

you can print.

Honey, you like those rocks

just as much as I do.

Say, lady.

Excuse me, we're a

little mixed up here.

Are we on the right

road to Escudero?

This is Escudero.

- Is that the mountain?

- Is he still in there?

That's the mountain,

and he's still in there.

Anything else you wanna know?

No. No, just stopping

by to take a look.

The name's Federber. We're on

our way to Bottomless Lake.

Gonna get in a week of

fishing and boating.

- Thought, as long as we're this close...

- Glad you dropped in, folks.

How'd you hear about it?

- Are you one of the family?

- No. Just a friend.

Well, haven't you seen

the paper? It's full of it.

- Got one?

- Sure. Picked one up in Albuquerque.

Come on, Nellie. Tilt.

Thanks.

We thought there'd be a

lot of digging going on.

- Where is everybody?

- Scared of those Indian spooks, huh?

When are they gonna

start doing something?

Any minute now. They're on

the way. Aren't they, mister?

I guess it's all right if we

drive up there, isn't it?

Go ahead. Help yourself.

What do you say, Nellie?

Just a half an hour?

All right. Later on, we can

have a nice breakfast here.

That is, if it won't

disturb the family.

- It's all right. You can get breakfast.

- Thanks.

Wake up the kids, Nellie.

They should see this.

This is very instructive.

Walter, Willie. Wake up.

Hey, you look pretty good here.

Wanna hear what I wrote about you?

"The grief-stricken wife

with a tear-stained face,"

"trying to fight her way into the

cave to be at her husband's side."

Tough. You'll just

have to rewrite me.

In a pig's eye. This is the way it reads

best, this is the way it's gonna be.

In tomorrow's paper

and the next day's.

It's the way people like it.

It's the way I'm gonna play it.

Get this.

There's three of us buried

here, Leo, me and you.

We all wanna get out,

and we're going to.

Only I'm going back in style.

You can, too, if you like.

Not with any 11 stinking dollars.

You saw those people. To you,

they're a couple of squares, huh?

To me, they're just the beginning.

To me, they're Mr and Mrs America.

I wasn't sure before, but now I know.

They're going for it. They'll eat it up.

The story and the hamburgers.

You'll sell all your hamburgers,

hot dogs, soda pop

and all your Navajo rugs.

There's gonna be real dough in

that cash register by tonight.

When they bleached your hair, they

must've bleached your brains, too.

Hello there, Mr Minosa.

Anything new with Leo?

Not yet. Mr Tatum's down

there now with the doctor.

Okay.

Hey! That'll be two bits.

- It's the press.

- Twenty-five cents.

- Newspaper. We never pay.

- Everybody pays.

Mrs Minosa says so. Two bits.

Now keep moving.

We'll have that air going in

about 20 minutes, Doctor.

I could use a little of it myself.

- Thank you, Doctor.

- I'll send over some aureomycin.

That's every four hours

for that one, isn't it?

Yes. The caffeine if he feels weak,

and the Demerol if the

pain gets very bad.

- Say, about every three hours.

- I got it.

As soon as I can get close enough,

I'll give him a shot of

tetanus-gas gangrene antitoxin.

But it's all right for the time being.

In fact, any time within a week.

But we'll have him out before then?

Oh, sure.

Say, Doc?

He's a pretty rugged

customer, isn't he?

Leo? They don't come any tougher.

He walked around with a burst

appendix for three days,

because he promised his wife

he'd take her to a square dance.

Well, as soon as you get him free,

I can start to work on him.

Call me anytime, night or day.

- I certainly will, Doctor. So long.

- Goodbye.

Thanks a lot.

It's a fine thing. Now I

have to pay to see you.

- Howdy, fan.

- Did you read the paper?

That I did. Broke pretty good, huh?

Boot flashed a couple hundred

words over the wires,

and they came back for more.

- They want all we've got.

- Yeah, it figures.

We wired all the art, too.

What a break for me.

If this keeps up, maybe Life

will go for it, or Look,

one of those four-page spreads.

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