Adventure, November 1915 — page 36: what you’re looking at

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

A) bi ole iad hs a Pe eater es Ee ary ME PDA fr ay ky a wey A) ie Yh io . . TYR APULE LO TRA eae? Sr RETR RO MELD A Lae MA VASP ECA AR, ETA YMny PRAY OL RL CBT 3 AON " pi Wel ; . reste cea CPL TORN a9 ‘ ; : Sk ORS Ne Bs 4 ye oe a CR ty ahs as sed ARNEL at CG a can tell me yours. iO A. di "eck OOS athtais ta As. js oe |e Set Oe hs byuyay t ‘. Un Sad at —*\e x . 1‘ » ‘ : a i} ' Pes TAL ib ' %), FI hy, aw, ‘ *h t more chance of gettin’ her than you had of flyin’. And she’s the only craft that’s handy. And I’ve got her. Not for carryin’ sheep to Lanai, neither.” “You might as well use her that way,” said Addams. “I don’t see what other good she’ll be to you.” “Oh, you don’t, don’t your? Well, Til tell you. I’m going to load her with gold, Mr. Addams, and you’re goin’ to tell me where to get it.” “¢ Am Ip” “Yes, you are. You'll stay here, where nobody’s going to look for you, till you come through with that latitude and longi- tude. And you needn’t try to stall with the wrong figures. I’m going to get them from you and I’m going to get them from your pal, and if they don’t tally you’ll both stay here till they do. And you won’t be getting fat doing it, either.” ; “You don’t suppose my friends here—and I’ve got them, Henley—” said Addams evenly, “are going to let me drop out of sight, do you? You're playing a dangerous game.” “Yah!” Henley sneered through the bars. ‘“‘That’s just what you have done— dropped out of sight. You’re two floors under the ground. There ain’t more than a dozen white men, and they don’t include the police, who know anything about it. You think it over, Mr. Addams! I want them figures and I’m going to get ’em!” He turned his head at the sound of a low whistle. “All right, I’m coming,” he called. “That’s your pal, come to his senses; I’m off for a little talk with him. Maybe [I'll get some figures to bring back. Then you But they’ve got to tally,see? If they do I’m going to give my- self a few days’ start, according to the dis- tance, and then you'll get back to your girl again. If I don’t get them you can stay here till you rot!” CS THE whistle sounded again and Cs) Henley vanished. Addams could ite” hear his lame foot halting along a passageway and up an uncovered flight of stairs. He pressed his face against the grille. He- could see across the passage into another room, the door of which was partly open. It was dimly lighted and on the one wall grotesque shadows wavered. Through the Adventure door came an acrid tang, the smell of cook- ing opium. He went back to his bale to think it out, feeling for matches and cigars. Everything had been taken from his clothes to the tiniest scrap of paper. For- tunately he had left most of his money in the hotel safe and persuaded Winton to do the same. Despite his predicament, he chuckled at the thought of Henley’s cha- grin after searching, probably in the person of his sister, first the cabins, and now the persons of himself and Jim, for the figures showing the position of the treasure island. Their hunting fingers must have passed over them a dozen times without being conscious of their existence. Henley seemed to have set his plans very nicely: Silva, the fake Portuguese sailor, the row in the Fore-and-Aft, and Burke’s apparent kindness in slipping them out of the back door into the very arms of their enemies, done so as not to incriminate Burke, who could profess.ignorance of any- thing happening off his premises. The man - was not only determined but clever, and evidently had a crowd of his own kind with him. The situation was serious. He felt sure of Jim, who, for all his surface frivolity, was stanch in times of stress, and resolved, in any event, not to give up the position of the island. Peggy—whom Henley had called his “‘sirl”—his heart warmed to the word—was his chief worry. She would be alarmed, of course. She had money, and Selim to look out for her, besides the Belmonts to advise and protect her, but in her anxiety she was almost certain to call in the authorities. And, whether he and Jim were found imme- diately or not, the story of the gold would become public and they would find it al- most impossible to carry out their plans. They would be marked for the rest of their existence until the affair was cleared up, which might not be in a fashion en- tirely to their profit. Governments might intervene under the treasure-trove law. Private ownership to the island might be assumed and even proven. He was not particularly afraid of Henley doing anything desperate with himself or Jim. He decided to play the game of delay for a while. Peggy was not expecting nec-. essarily to see them that night. She need not be alarmed until nine or ten the next morning, : a 2 EOPMIG OOOKS (©) 3