Adventure, November 1915 — page 38: what you’re looking at

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

Ane ily TRL ae Athos is) i PAN AEA? ee vee, at ON! Pagar y ye Ler inf ! + Soe ba Ps ] aay ; et A ye 36 He paused to mark the effect of his words. “T assure you in all sincerity,” he went on, the purring voice covering a sinister, | insistent menace, “‘that you will find it very much to your advantage and to that of your friend, who is in the same helpless, unfortunate predicament as yourself, to forego any hallucinations as to your interest in the treasure. ‘There will be nothing clumsy, I assure you. The Orient, as you may have read, perhaps seen, Mr. Addams, has reduced the profession of punishment.and coercion to a fine art. I trust we shall not have to exer- cise it unduly. I have come frankly to deal with you as one head of an expedition to another.”’ Henley let out a growl that subsided promptly as the Chinaman turned the threat of his cold eyes upon him. “Your friend, Mr. Winton,” went on the quiet voice, “asserts that he does not know the needed figures of latitude and longitude. You do! It will be necessary to secure them from you and compare them with figures given by some other responsible party of your organization. He paused. Addams faced him steadily. “T am not going to tell you,” he said. “T shall give you a minute,” rejoined the Oriental imperturbably. ‘Use it to balance the value of liberty and your present excel- lent physical condition against the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. My own valuation is largely on the side of the money, in quite a heavy prepon- derance.”’ He went to the grille and called across the passage in Oriental sing-song. There was the scuffling of soft shoes and four Chinese entered the cellar. Addams, his muscles tense, kept silence. The newcomers shifted into the shadows. Suddenly the torch flared out into his face again and he was fighting furiously in a mélée of entwining legs and arms that pulled him down at last, writhing, strug- gling on the floor, conscious all the time of the High Chinaman’s impassive face and idly curious eyes, watching the certain out- come of the struggle. : Conquered at last, his wrists bound be- hind him, his ankles cross-tied, Addams found himself seated on his bale held by the four Chinamen, all of them _ breathing heavily. He knew by the resistance to a few hard blows he had sent home from Adventure > fists and knees and elbows, that some of them were not entirely uninjured, and he derived a grim satisfaction from ~the thought. | At the command of the leader he was jerked roughly to his feet. A rope was run through a hook in the ceiling and attached to the thongs that bit into his wrists. With this hauled taut till his shoulder blades ground in their sockets, two of the men lifted him by the hips, placing him on a little platform of superimposed boards an inch in thickness, a foot in total height. The slack of the rope was taken up once more and its end fastened securely to a second hook projecting from the wall. Then, at a word from their chief, the four coolies with- drew. “Now,” said the Chinaman. “As I promised—nothing clumsy. The pain is exquisite, but there are no marks, no dis- figurements, no blood. The dislocation can always be reduced if a satisfactory decision is arrived atin time. The figures, Mr. Addams.” Addams, the pain of the straining muscles already bringing beads of sweat to his fore- head, disdained to answer. The Chinaman flicked an inquiring torch- ray at his face. “No?” he said. “Henley, take away one of those boards. Quickly, at a level.” The drop of an inch sent a wave of agony through Addams. He sunk his teeth in his lower lip to stop an involuntary groan. ~“Qnce more, Henley,” said the suave voice presently. _ The sickening jar came again. The blood rushed to the tortured man’s forehead and his brain seemed congested. Then the biting pain cleared it. ‘““Well?”’ asked the voice of velvet. The cracking lips parted in an inarticu- late “‘No.” Henley dragged out another plank. Addams felt his muscles and sinews tearing away. His brow was wet, dripping with moisture. The torchlight, full on his face, faded suddenly as he fainted. When he returned to consciousness he was in the same position, racked with pain, though the boards had been replaced. Hen- ley had gone. | “We are going to leave you,” said the Chinaman. ‘It will not be comfortable, but that is your fault. Iam sorry you have been so stubborn. Once more, will you tell?” : CORNICE OOOKS (EO)