Adventure, November 1915 — page 165: what you’re looking at

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

Gold at Sea XVI wie WE BOTH cried out as the shot | put a reverberant period to the si- lence. As with a single impulse, we sprang for the ladder and stumbled out into the night. We came upon a scene of tragedy. In the center of the broad, clear strip of deck abaft the funnels stood Dacy, his back half turned to us. His figure stood out with cameo distinctness in the bright moonlight, tense; menacing, dominant. A revolver glit- tered in his hand, and from its muzzle curled a wisp of smoke. And at his feet lay a huddled, formless bulk, still, yet terrifying. Mary gave a little choked cry at the sight, and shrank closer to my side. Instinctively, for I could make out no features, I knew I was gazing at Ralder’s lifeless body. To one side of Dacy stood Von Werner and Henderson, the gleam of steel in their hands, too. The three of them confronted a common menace. In the black shadows cast by the funnels upon the port deck, was a moving blotch. The blotch was a little blacker than its sur- roundings, and resolved itself into arms and legs as its parts moved near the edge of the moon’s rays. It was the crew, or a portion of them, and from them came a sibilant and unfriendly murmur, Dacy was speaking, and from the midst of the shadow came also the sound of Far- ley’s voice in nervous jerks: “Silence! Stop it, you fools. Keep uiet!”’ ‘“‘And any other man who dares such an act will meet with the same fate,” Dacy was saying. His voice was low, and unexcited; his manner the more lethal for its very calm- ness. “For the remainder of the trip, the cabin hatch is a deadline upon this ship. The man who crosses it without orders will be shot dead.” ‘He ceased speaking, and the savage growl came again from the living, shifting shadow. Above this sound rose the crisp tones of a man blaspheming. ——————=, he was my- matél”’ There was the fleeting sheen of steel in the darkness. “Ah—would you!” cried Dacy; and whipped up his arm and fired point-blank at the cursing voice. A scream was the echo to the shot. Dacy 163 bounded forward, with Von Werner and Henderson at his heels, and Farley leaped backward out of the mass and into the moonlight. He too was armed, and prompt- ly trained his gun upon the gang. There was a scuffling of feet, and the blotch disintegrated. There was a glimpse of figures fleeing across the bright patches on the deck, one of them staggering as he ran. Dacy and his henchmen plunged after them, and a moment later there came shouts and curses from the forecastle forward. The moon-bathed square of deck was deserted, save for the dead man sprawled upon his face. Mary moved restlessly at my side, and the weight upon my arm in- creased. From the starboard side, around the aft- most funnel, a white, ghostly figure dodged into sight. I spied it with a superstitious thrill. It flitted towards us across the deck, and as it drew near i recognized Dooin. “Come on, Mack,” he whispered, while yet a few feet from me. “This is our chance. The bridge is deserted, and I have Podd all ready. I can’t handle him alone. Come on!” But just at that instant I was in no posi- . tion to heed the little man’s words. For I had become suddenly aware that it was only the strength of my encircling arm that pre- vented Mary from falling to the deck. Without a sound, she had collapsed. I gathered her up in my arms with a sharp stab of apprehension, and unmindful of the twinge it gave my wounded shoulder. She lay so still, her face was so waxen in the moonlight, that I had the momentary, hideous thought that she was dead. And then the gentle lift of her bosom, as she breathed, reassured me. “Come on,” urged Dooin. ‘What have you there—oh, lay her down. This is our chance, and I need your help.” “What shall I do? What is wrong with her?”’ I demanded wildly, oblivious to his entreaties. He stepped close and inspected my un- conscious burden. “She’s just keeled over—fainted,” he said. ‘“‘Lay her down—she’ll come around all right.” I turned towards the ladder. “All right, dump her in her bunk,” he hissed after me. “We'll wait for you behind the forward smoke-stack. Hustle, for Heaven’s sake!” And as I started down the ladder, I heard the light patter of his feet as he raced forward again. (CO) 1OOOKS > a (CO)