Adventure Magazine Cover — page 99: what you’re looking at

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

to remind his companion of a change of front. “Well, there might be, same as you said about that escort over on Cebu when I said the same thing.” “Can’t tell, of course.” “In case there was, don’t know but I’d think the same as you.” **You’re only talkin’, I guess, same as I was.” “T am if you are; if you ain’t I ain’t.” “Is that straight goods?” “Uh-huh.” “Then shake on it.” And thus they sealed their compact. After a thoughtful silence the brown-eyed one asked— ““How would we get it, though?” “Well, in any case, the gu-gus would see to it that the ambulance didn’t- get far away. We'd just have to watch our chance an’ stick _ together.” ‘‘An’ then, s’posin’ we did get away with it, what then?” : “Bust the padlock on that old Spanish safe, _ stow the money an’ get away to Hong Kong. We could make Cebu this time o’ year on any o’them native boats.” “Uh-huh.” “No trouble at all to get some cits clothes in Cebu, an’ then for a steamer; eh? Cebu’s an open port now, you know. Nobody knows us there, neither. Anyway we’d be supposed to be dead. No one ’ud be lookin’ for us.” “Uh-huh.” “Oh, well! What’s the use o’ talkin’? No chance.” . But each dreamed his own dreams of the life he would live with his wealth, until the somber prospect of continuing the bitter ‘present into a dark future became intolerable. They looked now upon the lurid glow of riches and then upon black poverty and the painful labor for daily bread of penniless old age. Desire passed through visions to necessity and evoked the primal law of possession. “‘An’ there it™is, right there, felluh, waitin’ for us to take it.” “Uh-huh.” “Well, we could take it, you know.” ““Mebbe so. How, ‘Lanky’? I won’t stand for no rough work, though.” “Don’t have to. You know where the trail turns to that slick wet clay, that red stuff, just this side of Allegria?” “Uh-huh.” ; “Well, there’s one place, y’ mind, where you can just get a wagon past the edge of a meaty — slope.” “Well, even going slow, a rock chucked under the nigh hind wheel would slip the whole end off the trail, wouldn’t it? Just like that es- cort wagon did last week. An’ how long d’ye think it would take that old box to slide out an’ go end over end down that incline into the Not Wholly for Pay 89 jungle, eh? An’ while the major was wakin’ up an’ climbin’ on to his feet an’ Joe was pullin’ his team out I guess it’ud be up to us to chase after it, wouldn’t ite” i Th.. nish: ») ‘“‘An’ I guess ’twould be pretty durned hard to find it when we got through with it, wouldn’t it? Lift yer feet an’ step up, boy; it’s as good as done.” And yet, though the hard, hot road should’ - have sprung from under them like a soft car- pet, though the delights they had conjured should have blotted out the glare of the cop- pery sun, there was still a weight in their hearts and a drag at their heels. 5 = - “~ = 'y At the next halt the mule-skinner joined | them for a smoke. He was unusually gloomy on this particular day and overwise, as mule-~ skinners ever profess to be. ‘Why so glum, Joe?” “Say, Lanky, an’ you too, young felluh, have you stopped to think that this is the first time a paymaster has ever gone over this road? No? Well, it is, an’ what’s more the whole whole town of Bato knew all about it for the simple reason that our men got paid off yester- day an’ they seen this outfit pull out this mor- ning. You don’t have to tell a gu-gu any more than that. I seen them in their doorways when we was leavin’ town makin’ out they was asleep or jest wakin’ up. “Mark me, we ain’t got "to Allegria yet.” An’ the C. O. sendin’ two men fer guard ’stead of a half a comp’ny!” ‘“‘Ain’t everything peaceful, Joe?” Lanky ventured. “These natives round here? Peaceful? Huh! Nothin’ to make ’em anything else, up to now. I wish we was through that’s all.” “Oh, we'll make it all right, Joe. Nothin’ doin’ yet.” But he nudged his companion reflectively. “Did y’ hear him?” he asked when Joe had returned to his beasts. “Uh-huh.” “Luck comin’ our way, mebbe.” ““Mebbe.”’ The major ceased his sleepy droning and peered out. “What are you hanging around here for?” he demanded. ‘““Got to rest the mules, sir.” “Ye-ah! How long you been resting the mules, eh?”’ “Bout ten minutes, sir.’ “Yeah! How much Fathes is it to that town?” ‘Bout an hour an’ a half, sir.” “Resting plenty, eh? You’d rest here all night, I suppose, if you could. Get ’em going!” He withdrew into his concealment. Lanky ground his teeth. He cursed very softly and carefully. (C@ DOO (C@ =~ i “ < pe bm ee = ty - x Ss » nh he hi na a Meg Ree r ' ay » & * a! he « F * ;