Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

SO bundle into Nell’s hands, then followed the man into the forest after making a dart like a swallow and placing her flat palm on Nell’s forehead in salutation. “What o’ yer wound?” Nell laughed uneasily. “T ha’ endured it so far, Ed, an’ can carry it on,” she said. “’Tis but a flesh wound, and looks worse than ’tis. So may yer for- tunes be, an ye but stiffen yer guts, man.” Of a truth Davies saw little of promise in his fortunes. dugout canoe with nothing of seamanlike apparatus such as he was used to, but only a stout, thick paddle in his hand, the coun- terpart of one grasped by Nell, and nothing beside but water-gourds, dried meat, and a banana-leaf bundle in the boat’s bottom. He gazed back toward the lake longingly, fixedly; but, bold though he had often proved himself to be, he saw nothing but suicide in an attempt to alter the rolling course of Fate. It required far less intelligence than he possessed to decipher the riddle of the many recent happenings. His country and Spain had declared peace; that was proved by the story of Steve Carr, telling of the king’s ship joining in with the Spaniards to recap- ture the fort of San Juan del Sur. The few words of Spanish, or Indian he knew had enabled him to realize that some reason, which had induced the legitimate owners of twelve ass-loads of gold to keep it in hiding while Spain and England were at each other’s throats, had now departed, and, with peace, the treasure might be taken down to San Juan for shipment without fear. Any qualifying amendment to that reason, as Davies conceded with a grim laugh, had vanished bit by bit, and finally, utterly, vith that charge of Spanish horse. ‘He ‘spoke to Nell of his thoughts in a low tone. She turned to face him with a softer look in her fine eyes than he had ever seen. He was seated in a shallow. ‘ing his lips. Adventure “All ye ha’ lost, Ed, is something ye never possessed, or if ye held it ’twas but for a minute. Here ye ha’ life, and—and Bravo, and ~The parrot fluttered to her shoulder at his name and pecked at her lips, giving her opportunity to conceal the color ‘that per- sisted in mantling her cheek. | She fumbled at her feet in the canoe bottom, and un- covered the circlet of gold the Indian had given her. This se held up, and with it another piece, a belt, or girdle, formed of golden plates; together. not a fortune, but the value of a score of seamen’s working lives, and insurance against many sorts of ill luck. The sight of it whetted the rover’s appe- tite. He felt at belt and side for arms, lick- All were gone, all of his arms except a well-notched cutlas. He glanced at Nell; she laughed in his face with a light - of deep wisdom in her eyes, and tossed the girdle to him. “Tt seems to me that here’s treasure enough, Ed. D?’ye think I ha’ spent eight years 0’ life among th’ sort o’ dogs ye found me with, and made ’em treat me as a man, wi out feathering a nest 0’ my own? [I ha’ gold o’ my saving, and ’twill serve, wi’ th’ profits o’ these gauds, to start me in life as an honest woman, and “Woman?” Davies queried with a whim- sical smile. “I ha’ a few bits o’ pelf o’ my own, lass <f Above the nodding fringe of the river reeds a soft yet penetrating whistle sounded. It was repeated in a shriller note, as if to emphasize its message. Nell seized her paddle; Davies mechani- cally followed her lead; and the canoe stole out into the stream, bound for the distant blue Carribean, while just beyond the jungle fringe, where lay the trail by the lake-shore to the Pacific, was heard the mellow, musi- cal tinkling of a laden leading ass’s bell. Go NOOK = a (C@