Adventure Magazine Cover — page 69: what you’re looking at

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

Pearl-Hunger mouth, astonished. He had thought Hed-- don had taken her because he wanted her. He looked nearly blank for a moment, then faced toward Margaret and was sud- denly self-conscious. In a lifetime of wild living he had never before been anything like embarrassed. Margaret was watching him with a frozen steadiness. “Senortta—”’ he bowed with all the courtesy of one who was to be Don Salvador —‘‘you will come with me. I have your picture. Before that I had seen you. I knew no other woman but such as you would be the one I loved. To honest man or woman I never broke my word, sefiortta——”’ He had come to the rail of the Loftus Mark, near to where she stood. His great arm reached out. She drew back quickly, looked anxiously toward Heddon, took another step back, ‘staring, shaking her head as if unable to speak. “Now see here, McGree—’ Oxenham began. “You, make your mouth shut!’’ McGree roared at him, swinging up a fist. He was furious. He had a vague sense of having had another joke played on him. He had spoken fair words, hopefully, and the realization that he had made a fool of himself stung hotly. “You,” he shouted at her, “I'll come on board and take you—as other men have done!”’ He made a start to climb to his rail and jump. Heddon shouted, his voice hard with menace: “Back, McGree! Stay back!” Raeburn, his rifle resting against the mast, held a level aim. McGree stopped, looked about, saw Rae- burn, saw old Wateman, their guns at readiness. “Ho,” he shouted scornfully. There was hardly such thing as fear in him. “Ho, what chance have you if it comes to a fight, Will Heddon!” “None, McGree. But that won’t keep us from making it a fight!” ‘“‘Where would you be now, Will Heddon, if guns cracked from behind my bulwarks?”’ “In ——, waiting for you to come.” “‘Why there when I am here now?” He thumped on his chest, straightening his massive shoulders. “And I am waiting for you to come— if you dare!”’ 99 9 ‘And now I will have what I want or——’ “Or what?” With sudden thunder of voice McGree roared: “T will fight you on your deck, Will Heddon, toe to toe, and if you win ['ll shove off and let you go. And if I win, Tll take what I want—” he looked mean- ingly at Margaret—“what I want from pearls to anchor!” Oxenham stammered a shocked protest. This was unreal and barbarous. Old Wateman yelled— “Ve'll take off naught but a sore head with ye!” Heddon stared moodily, glancing from him to the women and back to McGree. It would be like him to take both girls. McGree was the better man; Heddon knew it; he knew too that if McGree got a beating he might still take both girls, and what else he wanted. “T could lay aboard and clean your deck in two flops of a jib, Will Heddon, but I'll fight you, fist or knife, and toe to toe!’ He said it loudly. In a fight he would beat down this Will Heddon, crush him before the woman, show her how much the better man was Salvador McGree. That he had fought Heddon before without doing so meant nothing. This Will Heddon was a tricky fighter who had used the whole beach to dodge about on. A deck would be different. Heddon understood. He could fight McGree all day, be safe or nearly safe, hit him almost at will, when he was tired clench with him, jeer him, even trip him—but he did not believe that with his fists he could beat the giant Spaniard into submission. The man was too big, too toughened by sea-life; it was lke fighting a sand-bag. McGree loved a fight; he was built to give and take blows; something deep within his tremendous body was satisfied by the lusty joy of flesh to flesh struggling; and if McGree got him down, or got over one of his power- ful blows delivered with a bull-like rush, Heddon knew it would be the end of him. “Tf you win, you keep her. If I win, I take her. What is it you say, Will Heddon?”’ Heddon eyed him in scowling thought- fulness. McGree was proud and powerful; no man could whip him—he knew it; and Heddon himself more than half believed it. ‘““You’H swear to that?’ Heddon asked. “IT swear!” said McGree, and flung a hand Go NOOK 1 @)