Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 139: what you’re looking at

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

Snappy’s Promotion explanation or even an enlightening word. ‘Hope you’ll come out of this scrape all right, Snappy—but you might have done a better job of it,” he laughed sympathet- ically. ‘You’re about the last man on board this tub that I thought I’d have to lock up when they told me that somebody plugged Whiting. Well,. Snappy,” he added mischievously, ‘‘good luck—but you deserve bread and water in your craw and a steel deck to cork off on the rest of your days if you couldn’t do a better job killin’ a man than that.” “Well, Dinny, I’m tellin’ you straight— I didn’t shoot that bird.” A puzzled expression came over Dinny’s face. “T know it, Snappy,” he said, “but the evidence—all the facts—point your way. It leaves you in a pretty bad light. Well, boy,” he said, as he started to leave, “I’d better be gettin’ on now. [If certain persons saw me here very long at a time I might have to explain why I was entertaining a prisoner. I’m goin’ to keep my lamps trimmed, Snappy, and if I hear any more about this shootin’ I'll let you know.” Snappy smiled grimly as-the footsteps of the redoubtable master-at-arms, plugging slowly up the ladder, reached his ears. Then he walked over to the farthest corner of the brig and sat down on the steel deck to think. But although he rummaged his mind for some kind of explanation he could not figure the thing out. Of course, it was true that he had been shooting in the ammunition passageways! That was a serious offense in itself—he knew that only too well. But he was sure that no one could have possibly heard those three shots when both of the water-tight doors had been closed. It was the gunnery officer’s inspection of the gun—the three empty cartridges, the warm barrel—that had cinched his fate. If Mr. Whiting had been shot in the pas- sageways, how could it have been by one of his bullets? He knew that it could not unless one of them had somehow pierced the steel bulk-head, which, of course, was an impossibility. It puzzled him and he cursed his fool- hardiness for ever shooting in the passage- ways,/and then, as he remembered, cursed the man who was indirectly responsible for it. He recalled that it was the gunner’s mate, “Mosquito” Slade, who had started 137 these little revolver practices in the pas- sageways. Dg] MOSQUITO who was the gunner’s Nagi mate on watch that night two months before, had met Snappy, who was the corporal of the guard on watch, in the port passageway. It was after they had talked several minutes and discussed the sound-proof character of the water- tight doors that Mosquito suggested a private revolver match. At first Snappy had refused, but after Mosquito assured him that he had been doing it successfully and “gettin’ away with it,’ Snappy hesitated no longer. The temptation was too great. Both petty officers were expert revolver shots and dur- ing the night watches of the weeks that followed they matched their skill at every available opportunity. Nor did they worry over the ammunition they were shooting away so freely, for Mosquito, as gunner’s mate, had free access to the vast magazines arid he kept Snappy always well supplied. In fact Snappy had intended to go directly to his locker to replace the empty cart- ridges as soon as he had made his report to the officer of the deck. But being inter- cepted by the gunnery officer spoiled all that. Snappy shook his head discouragedly and was in the act of giving up the puzzling situation in despair when he heard keys rattling in the lock of his cell door, and the next moment, as the heavy door swung open, Dinny Hard, the master-at-arms, stepped inside quickly and closed the door behind him. “Well, Snappy,’ he said abruptly, “TI was just talking to the gunnery officer and he gave me the story that Whiting told when he came to. Whiting, you know, was the junior officer of the deck and was making his rounds—said he was going through the port ammunition passageway when the bullet connected up with him. It seems that he had just pulled the switch and the electrically- driven door was just beginning to open when the shot struck him. He fell forward through the opening door and although dazed he caught a glimpse of the back of the disappearing fellow that fired the shot as he was going through the opposite water-tight door. He noticed, however, that the man wore a black. belt Sy & pan\ COmMicloooks (E@)