Adventure Magazine Cover, October 1911 — page 120: what you’re looking at

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

1066 osity by thus retarding the action of his tale. I spoke up rather impatiently: “Orr, I wish you’d throw your patter into the high gear. What were you and the cop with a souse up to?” “The cop,” he said, “was not up to any- thing. I was up to adventure.”’ And then he plunged into the story of a most remark- able happening of the night, wherein rang the scream of a woman, the barking of pis- tols and the hoarse cries of fighting men. Orr lived in the “seventies,’’ occupying a luxurious bachelor suite. ‘The policeman on post there was an intelligent young fellow named Martin. Orr often saw him while returning home late at night, andfrom | a friendly nod an acquaintance grew up. Martin was much like Orr in physique. Both were men whose backs required wide coats; they were deep chested, strong fel- lows. Orr, however, had the long, firm face of the Englishman; Martin looked Irish. As the time wore on, Orr fell into the - habit of talking to the officer—chatting for five minutes or so whenever the two chanced to meet. And he learned much of interest about the man. He found that his new friend was studying law, also that he held in great esteem a certain Miss Kate Grady, a fascinating saleswoman in a big depart- ment store. She has nothing to do with this story, save as she created a motive for a deplorable circumstance. You'll generally find a woman at the bottom of wo., | ONE night in June, Orr was return- y ing late from a delightful little ses- ==l) sion at his club. He didn’t go much into details excepting to mention the fact that, when he left, everybody was sitting on the floor in a circle, singing; and while most of them were fairly good singers, a surprising number were off the key and couldn’t carry the tunes very well. Which is of no importance, other than to suggest that some peculiar influence must have been in the air that night. As Orr approached his home he saw a figure of a man leaning against the house, in the shadow. Now New Yorkers usually keep moving at night, especially when it is very late and the street is deserted. There is something suggestive of quick, dread doings about a silent, deserted side street when darkness has settled down. One’s steps echo like the pounding of a night- ’ For an hour he lay there. Adventure stick, the street lights blink weakly, the houses are dark and one can picture every- thing from late suppers to murder going on behind the silent walls. At least, so it seemed to Orr. And that is why he won- dered what the fellow leaning against his wall might be up to. Approaching the man, he said, ‘‘ What’s the matter?” There was no response. Orr went closer and to his surprise made out the uniform of a policeman. And that uniform covered the frame of Officer Martin! Again Orr spoke: “Why, Martin, what has happened to you?”’ You see several things are likely to hap- pen to a lone policeman on a dark night. The notorious New York gangs don’t like the police and often say so with automatic pistols. Pursued highwaymen also shoot. But Orr soon discovered that Officer Mar- tin had run afoul of none of these perils. The man held up his head with an effort and managed to drool: ‘“‘Sh-h-h, no’ so loud. I got a brooful bun.” Orr looked at him. This was a serious business. Here was a police officer drunk on post. If he were caught in this condi- tion things would go hard with him. So Orr did some quick thinking. He had a sincere liking for Martin and wanted to help him. So he grasped a limp arm. ‘“‘Come, Martin,” he said, “I’m going to take you to my rooms and straighten you up a bit. Come!”’ The man staggered along unresistingly and Orr soon had him in the apartment. And under the light he got a firm impres- sion that the policeman was distressingly drunk. There was no life in him; he slumped down on a davenport and began to snore, leaving Orr to save the situation. Orr finally suc- ceeded in awaking him to administer hot coffee. Then he asked; ‘‘ Why did you do this?”’ Martin gazed about him blearily. “The lady,” he explained, “threw me down!” “Oh!”’ exclaimed Orr and understood. Martin was still in no condition to ap- pear on the street. And his friend thought busily. From time to time his eyes wan- dered over the policeman’s uniform,.then, in a long mirror, over his own proportions. CO MICLOOKS CO