Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, December 1956 — page 125: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

out of the way, then set her little radio on top and helped her up. I hit the starter and we pulled out. “We're on our way, Maggie. No more worries?” She patted my arm. “No, Matt. No worries.” The first part of the trip I like to remember. Just the first couple of hundred miles from Reno down to Bishop—before I began to no- tice the tail we were wearing. North of Bishop everything was wonderful. Empty, the big job cruised smoothly along, her Diesel turning over with the steady con- sistency of an expensive watch. The blonde was the cutest trick that ever graced the cab—and a great traveling companion _be- sides. No breathless questions fol- lowed by obvious inattention while you raved on. No ‘school-girl gig- gles at every other word. Just two adults who were getting up in their twenties and not trying to impress anyone. If losing her job at the Silver King was important to her, she kept it hidden. The talk was easy and relaxed. In Carson City I pulled off at a trucker’s service station to take on fuel. “Coffee, Maggie?” She hesitated and took a careful look around. Then she nodded to- ward a little cafe, linked an arm through mine, and_ said, Let’s try this one and we can keep an eye on the suitcases.” _ We had pie and coffee and went back to the truck refreshed. I RETURN TRIP: > - “Sure. rigged the desert air-cooler and hosed it up with water. We were on our way again. The wind over the wasteland was getting set for the heat of the day, but a tug on the cord leading out of the cooler rolled the evaporation drum _half- way over and cooled the cab nicely. A mile or two slipped by. I no- ticed the blonde looking at me with an odd expression. : “Matt. I—TPll bet your married.” “Bad guess. But what brought it to mind?” “There’s something about you— your easy sort of way. You’re used to having a girl around.” I laughed. “Four sisters, three of them older. I had to get used to it. And you?” She didn’t say anything. She didn’t say a word and I felt my fingers tighten on the wheel. I paid careful attention to rolling the truck down the highway, but sud- denly the breeze had spilled out of — my sails and I realized I’d been counting a lot on seeing Maggie when she settled in L. A. Great big dreams, but— ? “I must have figured wrong,” I said softly. “But you got no ring. Where’s he hiding?” Her hand stole along the green cloth on my sleeve and covered my knuckles on the steering wheel. © “He didn’t come back, Matt. He didn’t come back from a little is- land in the Pacific called Iwo Ji- ma.” She said it without bitterness. A simple statement of fact that 123 COPMIG OOO KS.€©