Adventure, November 1915 — page 74: what you’re looking at

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

a a es oe ae ‘<< f Bes 5 oe ee a = a. » ee} aa Me Cc na ~ - 72 bent him backward. The spine of the Chinaman thudded against the wood before the fury of the attack. His knife fell tink- ling to the deck, the grasp of both hands loosened, the savagery died from his face as the shattered vertebra tore loose the spinal cord. Addams heaved the paralyzed body over- board and turned to meet a new enemy who closed with him, attacking with teeth and blade. Winton, bleeding from a slash in the shoulder, had shot his man. Two more lay senseless on the deck from the mighty blows of Foo Chin’s weapon. The odds were now equal, save that Selim was at the wheel. The fire from the Lez Lehua had ceased in the impossibility of distinguishing the opponents. Addams, wrestling with a Chinaman who seemed-a bundle of steel wires and a voice shrieking foul-breathed expletives, heard the thud of Foo Chin’s capstan-bar as it crashed on the head of a victim. Then he stumbled across the dead body of the broken-nosed renegade and fell heavily, his head striking the deck, clutching his savage assailant as they rolled, while he strove to rally his clouding senses. Despite his strug- gles he felt himself suffocating, his arms pinioned, the weight of the pirate holding him down defenseless, the fall of the knife imminent. Then a sharp report sounded, the grip of his antagonist relaxed and, as his brains cleared before the urgent summons of his will, he got to one knee, then his feet, sup- porting himself against the mainmast. The attack was over. Six of Tuan Yuck’s men lay on the deck, three of them were in the boat, now fallen astern, close to the Lei Lehua, from which Tuan Yuck was still directing futile bullets, and three had al- ready gone to feed the sharks. Ah Sing and Foo Chin were already preparing to throw the dead men overboard. Winton, his face pale, was sitting on the skylight of the main cabin, nursing his wounded shoul- der. Selim was at the wheel. Addams looked down at the dead man at his feet, lying face downward, a puddle of blood flowing slowly from where a bullet had smashed through his skull. _“Whom do I thank for that?” he asked. “T thought I was gone when I tripped.”’ “Mees Peggy,” said Selim. “She break open hatch and come on deck. Me, I fight Addams Adventure | ~ with that one.’’ He indicated one of the dead men sprawling on the deck. ‘Foo Chin, Ah Sing, Monsieur Winton, all fight. One man with you, he try tostab you. Mees Peggy, she break open door and come out wiz peestal. She look aroun’—she see you— she shoot! Bismillah! She shoot straight! Then she go below.”’ Addams glanced astern at the Lez Lehua. The wind had freshened during the fight. The whitecaps had worked shoreward and were fretting the sides of the W avecrest. “Fase off the sheets,” he said. “Foo Chin, you take the wheel. Selim, we’ll help clear the decks. Hello, what’s the matter with Tuan Yuck?” The Let Lehwa was in trouble. The rising wind had found her too close to the reef for safety, and, with an inadequate crew, the clumsy, wooden schooner had missed stays as she attempted to go about. Swept broadside to the trough, she had been pera on the coral, striking hard and g herself fast. go ae checkmate for Tuan Yuck,” said “He'll not get clear of that in a hurry with the wind coming up.” He hurried down the steps into the cabin to find Peggy. She was lying on the tran- som cushions, the pistol with which she had saved her lover on the cabin floor. Her bravery had vanished with the accomplish- ment of its purpose. She had fainted. THAT night the Wavecrest breasted the waves beneath the stars, her sails sheeted home, close-hauled for Honolulu. The decks had been cleared of all the stains of combat, the gold had been stowed in the lazarette, after one box had been broken open and the coarse, yellow dust and nuggets, panned from the rivers of California so many years ago, displayed and handled and admired. While Winton ran the grains through his fingers, after dinner, rejoicing at the suc- cessful ending of his quest, proud of his wounded arm, which he fondly imagined would be considered by Miss Belmont as no mean trophy of adventure, Peggy and Ar- cher slipped on deck. Foo Chin was at the wheel, Selim and Ah Sing forward. The sky was a blaze of stars save where the big sails seemed trying to sweep them clear. The two talked of future plans and re- verted to Fellowes and the story of the (E00) NOOLKS (©) ANG