Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

‘Tides of Hate > Should we ha’ meekly asked meat and drink, when women aboard o’ her flashed jeweled hands at my rascals? “Blood an’ powder! I let ’em loose, Ed! We took food and drink, and a trifle o’ gems and pieces of eight—not enough to make song about, Ed, but we'll divide——’” “T want none o’ yer loot,” said Davies, rising abruptly. “Ye made a clean job 0’ the Don. Sleep well on’t. But about ye joinin’ wi’ me in this Nicaragua business, if ye do that ye’ll sail under my direction, and if ye fight as well as ye butcher ye’ll earn a share o’ the booty. But let me see sign 0’ ye forgetting my interest in yer spite against Cook, an’ I’ll set ye down hard, Swan, and well ye know I can do it!” “Blast’ my heart, then! All I want is Cook’s tripes stewed in’s own blood. To secure that meal Ill kiss th’ dog morn, noon, an’ evenin’ to please ye, Ed Davies, while yer business is afoot. But when we turn coastward again, remember, I owe ye naught. On them terms I sail wi’ ye, an’ be to ye.” So well did Swan play his part that when the Cadiz and the pinnace fell in with L’Fs- cuyler and Cook a scant three leagues out- side the harbor of rendezvous, the first amazed hail fromthe Scorpion was speedily changed into a shout of welcome. And when the ships had moored and the crews trooped ashore to stretch legs and make a barbecue in celebration of their arrival at the end of the sea part of their outward voyage, the only outward evidence that irritating elements found place among the expedition was the palpable jealousy exist- ing between the Frenchman and Cook. That was doubly apparent when Nell left both of them with a joyous greeting for Ed Davies as he stepped ashore. It required but a brief reckoning for Davies to understand that while he had cruised back and forth with the Frenchman waiting for Cook, after both had taken a wide western course to avoid giving the alarm on the coast, there had been ample time for Swan to make his astounding voyage. But even allowing all that, there was a depth of bitter hate, a resolution dire and unexampled, expressed in that voyage which boded ill for John Cook. ‘For mere safety it would have been easy for Swan to carry his remnants of crew north by the eastern coast and back to their own haunts. The vengeful spirit that 63 carried him stubbornly on to his original destination in spite of hardship too fierce for ordinary human endurance marked him as a factor to be reckoned with. “Nell, the pot almost boils,” Ed laughed with a comradely buffet on the girl’s back. “Let’s see. There’s— Oh, I can’t keep tally, girl, But Swan’s ready to clap a blister to John Cook, and ye say he and the fat Frenchman are at knives out o’er you. Oh, ’tis a merry band, o’ truth.” “AYE, Wes merry as ,’ laughed Nell with an expressive shrug. “Had ye not hove in sight when ye did, Ed, Nell Clark had been undone, belike- Three rascals I sliced wi steel aboard that ship, and threatened both Cook and the Frenchman. But each in’s turn pressed me to a point where I must act instead o’ threaten or submit. I fooled both, Ed. Each of ’em’s sure in’s heart I’m promised to him alone. “Well ye may say there'll be a boilin’ pot o’ devil’s stew soon. *Twould be well if ye lost no time on th’ march now, com- rade.” “We won't, Nell,” replied Davies, re- garding her with a new, softer gaze after hearing her relate her adventures with L’Escuyler and Cook without any of her customary brazenry. ‘‘At dawn we march to take San Juan del Sur at rear, to hold for base.” XXV yea] TWELVE miles of jungle-fringed gers! shore lay between the bay where =» the ships were anchored and the town of San Juan del Sur; a full day’s march for sea-legged sailors burdened with arms and munitions, iron armor, and, most arduous of all, the need for caution. At dawn the column started, and stumbled on through the blazing heat of morning, jovial at first at prospect of imminent action and the touch of booty; cursing as the jungle heat grew oppressive; snarling like wolves, snapping at each other with steel ever ready when L’Escuyler sharply bade them be silent. “Clack to yer own spawn, ye bleedin’ frog,” one of Davies’ men shouted defiantly. ‘“‘We’ll be ordered by y’r betters.” “Sang Dieul’” the man’s. nighest com- panion retorted, whipping out a long knife. ‘““Mon capitaine ees leader, no? Peeg!”’ Swift as a sunlight gleam, steel flashed between the two; there was a dropping of Go .TOO AMUGC SS (C@