Adventure Magazine Cover — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

i= Ye tA vie wyh ‘Chats WLS BEC * Ne 1, a os ‘ Vie ss “{ . ’ wy n bia tO ARE - He ane to be i in irons for this. He forgets the law of the sea.” “Oh, you mustn’t do that!” exclaimed Vi, conscious that the man was trembling vio- lently. ‘“He— Don’t you see, you may have hurt him and—and [I think he was rather drunk too. I shouldn’t have come here with him. But I thought—orfather, I didn’t think—about it at all. No; please, Mr. Carnell, please, don’t say a word; will your” “As you wish, Miss Kelvett. Beautiful women have privileges—and owner’s sons, too, I suppose,” he added bitterly. CHAPTER IV V7 LAY recovering from the moist excite- ment in the long chair which she had dragged along the deck. The longer she thought over the incident the more vexed she became with the “clumsy fool,’ as she called him mentally. He would probably sulk or do something foolish which her uncle would be bound to notice; and worse than that she feared that if he really were such a cad as apparently he had proved himself to be, he might seek to revenge himself upon her uncle through the firm. When her thoughts turned to the other man she again became vexed. She sup- posed that the fellow would consider that she was under an obligation to him and therefore that she would have to be nice. Association brought the memory of his statement at dinner that he did not drink. Was he merely swanking? she wondered. At the same moment she recollected that although Selwyn drank all the time it had never occurred to her to remonstrate with him. Perhaps it was because the one had money and everything life could give him— or rather everything he could take from life —whereas the other had appeared to her to be ruining a career that was necessary to him for his welfare. Yet that was queer reasoning. “Must have appealed to my maternal in- stinct,” she decided lazily at last, ‘“al- _ though I didn’t know I had one.” Presently she heard a step and saw Selwyn emerge from the companionway. A dread that he was coming over to apologize to her-faded as he deliberately*dragged his chair, which. was already some distance away from hers, right across in front of her to the other side of the deck. A flare of a i. ~ a et Oe mr ea a; = Se et eee a ~ <= Sr Sat om Oe PeS a meat ro : match as ee lighted Need showe a su lenly angry face. Oh, —— ma thought. How “perfectly dreadful that! Next morning Selwyn did not appear at breakfast, commanding Chi Loo to serve him in his cabin. Vi sighed when she saw her uncle frown, for the Old Man resented extra work’ being put upon the steward by anybody who was not ill. After the meal he rose and made for Selwyn’s cabin. “Oh, Lord!” groaned Vi. She sat still and listened. “Good morning, Mr. Selwyn!’ “Mornin’,”’ growled Selwyn. “Are you ill? Is there anything I can do for your” “No, there’s not.” “Well, Mr. Selwyn, the steward has more P] than enough to do without —— “T don’t carea what the steward has to do!”’ snapped Selwyn’s voice. “In future I intend to have my meals served in here, whether you like it or whether you don’t. Thisismyship. D’you understand, cap’n?” “The ship,’ came the Old Man’s voice quietly after a moment’s silence, ‘“‘belongs to the firm of Selwyn, Meredith & Com- pany, and I am in command of her.”’ ‘You won’t be long, cap’n!”’ “T shall give orders to the steward that he is not to serve you here unless you are ill. Please understand that, Mr. Selwyn.” “You do and you know what will——” The closing of the door shut off the last words. Captain Kelvett walked across the ‘saloon toward the companion with a wrinkled brow. Vi rushed after him. “Uncle, I heard. Don’t take any notice of the cad.” , He looked at her, frowning. “What’s the matter with the man?” he grumbled. ‘He won’t and can’t do anything. He’s probably half-drunk and threatening non-— sense.”’ “No, it isn’t nonsense, Vi. You don’t know. Old Selwyn thinks the world of this boy of his; and after all it’s my bread and butter.”’ “Oh, but ey wouldn’t; they couldn’t, uncle!” “But they do, Vi. the war old Belknap was thrown out of the Chisholm to make place for a youngster of fe 3 cooped up on a boat with a creature like aot. . “New, for it!” Only the year before ? sty eo” a ~ t. - - A aN Dts eg ~