Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 40: what you’re looking at

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

hin hy ae oe ny ¥ 38 Adventure surprize; for both Nell Clark and Ed Davies were regarding him with friendly faces. “So ye’d start proving that ye’re worthy by murdering my mate, hey?” Davies accosted him. “We'll pass that for the while, Carr, till ye tell what of the cruiser. How is it ye re here, first of all? Cook left ye. on Aves.” “Ave, may his soul hang wi’ his body! And the king’s ship came. *Twas his plan when he started that bonfire. And she carried off me and Rando and Doggett, and fifty good lads from the sinking sloop as put back. The dog! ‘Tried to drown ‘em, that he did. And there was the weepy wench he wanted for himself, as Mistress Nell cheated him out of.”’ Carr grinned at Nell with a humor that seemed ghastly, coming as it did into a face already suffused with passion. “And her father, and the men from the brig we last took. And all came into Port Royal, where the sand spit is avenued wid gibbets, each wi’ a comrade o’ the Jolly Roger swingin’ aloft high and handsome.”’ “But what of the bulldog now?” put in Davies impatiently. ‘‘Here we are, a fine ship, high and dry for ten hours more yet, and ye prattle o’ swinging pirates in Ja- maica! Give’s the meat o’ thy yarn, man! The rest’ll keep.” “Gettin’ to it, cap’n. Ain’t no good get- tin’ oneasy since ye can’t stir, is there? Well, cuttin’ it short to please ye, me and Doggett and Rando concludes we ain’t much chance of ever gettin’ even wi’ John Cook if we swings in chains to a Port Royal gallus, so we turns king’s evidence, we do, and offers to guide the king’s ship to Cook’s rondevoo. “Oh, we was smart, but them king’s lads was smarter! Couldn’t see why three hangin’s should be postponed, they said, when one of us would sarve the turn. So we pleads as one of us knowed about the sea rondevoo, anothe®? where we was to meet the Frenchman, and t’other where the fleet was to land their men on the West Coast. So they says all right, me lads, says they, we’ll take ve all along and hang ye as we go if we find ye’re lyin’. And by the horns o’ Noah’s cow ’twasn’t no good judgment as saved us so far! ‘““Sure Rando carried ’em to the rondevoo, and we sighted a sail or two, but lost ’em by night, so the bulldog’s cappen don’t know yet whether Rando told truth or not. Anyhow he give him the benefit. Then twelve days ago, just afore the big breeze, we sighted ye again in a calm, and had boats out to tow arter ye when down come the gale. But that saved Doggett awhile; and then we has to run in to careen, leakin’ four foot above the pumps in a watch, and passes this ship by night. Only that we was sinkin’ fast the cappen meant to try for ye wi’ boats, for he seen as ye were fast aground on one o’ these heads and guessed ye’d have to wait ontil new moon for spring tides to float ye. “But while we lay in Mossoro River, hove down, the officers has a big talk, and they decides to swing off Doggett and Rando anyhow, for the fools have started grumblin’ among the men. I gets wind o’ this, and helps them two to steal a boat and get clear. “But then I hears from the cappen’s stooard as I’m to be next, ’cos they ain’t seen nothin’ o’ the big fleet we told ’em about. So I drops down a line five nights ago, found the boat the others had left when they bust into the jungle, and put to sea. I’m here, cappen, to join ye like a true man, if ye’ll ha’ me.” “But, Satan wither ye! cruiser?” “She was to be ready to float off yester- day, cappen.”’ What o’ the As if to prove Steve Carr no liar, the lookout aloft bawled down at that moment: “Sail ho! Ship to the nor’ard, standin’ east on larboard tack!” XV 929, THE Cadiz lay helpless as a sheer ale hulk before the menace of that #223 distant cruiser, and the tide dropped steadily. The sun rose to meridian, send- ing down a sizzling heat that the freshening wind was powerless to alleviate; and men, already uneasy and weary of unusual labor, cast scowling glances aft at Davies and Nell, while they listened avidly to the barely cloaked counsel of the humiliated Kestral to seize the ship and deliver her up to the war-ship. Steve Carr, cleansed and clothed, eating as he watched, stood beside Davies and told him all he knew of the cruiser’s men and metal. The king’s ship passed out to sea until it seemed as if she were leaving Gomichbooks (C@