Adventure Magazine, April 10, 1924 — page 147: what you’re looking at

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

Carstairs Plays a Hunch “Half the time, he acts as if he wishes I’d quit her,” Hugh soliloquized, as he made his way to the cable-office to send a message to his father, ‘‘and the rest of the time he acts as if he were scared to death I might!’ When Carstairs emerged again from the cable-office his manner was changed. He sauntered along, whistling, and his eyes shone. He had dreaded cabling his father he was about to return home and “think of business,” until as he started to dig out his message, an inspirational line in the code- book caught his eye. As he thought of his father’s reading that message, now, he grinned, boyishly, disre- garding the stares of two giggling Haitian girls who ogled him in passing. All was well with Hugh’s world again. The days dragged now until the Balan- dra Head was ready for sea. Faney found it beyond his powers of resistance to “keep off the hootch,”’ and the crew in general took on as much as possible against their return to Mr. Volstead’s country. “Happy days!” Carstairs sighed as the little freighter started on her voyage home, every inch of space in her holds crammed with cargo. “If she doesn’t fall to pieces right away we ought to have an interesting Captain Merriweather, fresh lines about his face, was like an anxious mother with a sick child. He watched his ship. He listened to her. He went over her ceaselessly, on the alert for ailments. To his evident surprize, she seemed to get along as well as ever. But he shook his head lugubriously. “Don’t think much o’ them Haitian dock mechanics,” he grumbled to, Carstairs. ““We’re gonna cut corners and get to Noo Yawk as fast as ——’s hot!” “Some speeder, this tub!” Hugh derided, under his breath. Captain Merriweather glanced up at the second mate’s face. “You gonna quit her in Noo Yawk?” “Think she’ll ever get there?’ Hugh grinned in reply. To his amazement, the skipper did not rise to his bait. There was a new dignity to the Old Man as he replied, somberly— “‘She’s gotta, this trip!” There was a long silence. captain added, hesitatingly: “Course a young feller like you can get plenty o’ berths on better ships than mine. Then the 145 But mebbe we'll get us a better ship some day soon—an’ I ain’t sayin’ I won’t be needin’ a new mate, if Faney keeps on boozin’.”’ Carstairs shook his head. “T like Faney, —— him! If he’d lay off the hootch, he’d be a good man.” “Well, if he don’t, he’ll be a gone man, that’s what ’m sayin’! !” the skipper snapped. “T seen idjits like him before. They gets just so far and then they goes bugs! I’ve warned Faney—lI ain’t aimin’ to have no more holes scraped in my ship while my mister mate takes a siesty on the bridge!” “Did he bring aboard a supply in Haiti? But I don’t need to ask!’ Carstairs grunted. ‘“‘Well, here’s hoping for a good trip, any- way, Sir!’ he added, heartily, hoping to chase the gloom from Captain Merri- weather’s brow. Usd MUCH to the disgust of Mr. Beld- Gi) ing, the new chief engineer picked ~—““ up in Port Plata—his former ship lay, a wreck, on the edge of the shoal at the western side of the entrance to the port— the master of the Balandra Head insisted upon getting every bit of speed possible out of the old engines. | ‘She'll blow up or bust!” Belding de- spaired. ‘The darned junk-pile below won’t stand much strain.” “She’s gotta!” the skipper replied som- berly. And to every protest uttered from any quarter of his ship, he repeated doggedly— She’s gotta!’ Carstairs shrugged his shoulders over it all. As the old ship crawled up the lati- tudes, there were many things to occupy the second mate’s mind. Faney was one of them. On the trip south Faney’s drinking had caused Carstairs and the skipper to do double duty. Carstairs, swept by a com- bination of fever and anger, had found Faney’s liquor, finally, and had sent it over the side. He made up his mind to do the same thing now. But finding it was no easy matter, for the mate had hidden it well. The Balandra Head, for reasons known only to her owner and master, carried an extra life-boat. This boat was never used. It was in this, beneath the covering tar- paulin, that Hugh at last located Faney’s supply of trouble. He promptly sent it overboard and then sought the mate. cConmiclool G (©