Adventure Magazine Cover — page 89: what you’re looking at

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

Pearl-Hunger “He owed me a hundred pounds, he did.” Another nodded heavily with— ‘“‘Me too.” “We got our rights!’ said Jenkins, “You might as well stop your lying,” said Heddon. ‘You are not going to be his heirs.” “Do you think you’ll be!” Jenkins de- manded hotly. “TI rather think so, yes. to stop me?” The law of the Kulicos was pretty primi- tive. The strongest took what he could get away with; and Heddon meant that there was to be no picking of the dead man’s man’s bones by these jackals. “Who’s going to stop me?” he repeated, straightening, with challenge in the way he stood and looked. “There'll be plenty to stop yel’ said some one. | : ‘You'll see, short off!’ Jenkins cried. Heddon put his hand on the back of the chair: “All right, out you go! All you. Clear out! I’m shutting up shop.” They had him outnumbered, more than outnumbered for one of his hands was nearly useless; and they might have put up a fight, but they remembered Yankee Saunders and what he had gone after. They could abide their time and win without having their heads broken. They stood up, one after another. , “Outside, get out!” said Heddon. Glaring much like animals that were be- ing whipped into a corner by a trainer they could have killed but were afraid to attack, the fellows shuffled awkwardly toward the door and, stepping outside, looked away across the sand. Heddon, behind them, looked too. People were coming. At a distance, he could make out the white uniform of sailors. There was a gunboat at the Reefs, in the bay, concealed behind a rise of sand topped with ragged scrub. These fellows had lied. Heddon felt relieved; then, at first doubt- fully, his feeling of relief began to go; and he lost it entirely as with certainty he recognized old Jeffries hobbling along with Who’s going 79 a stoop-shouldered swing of arms. He re- cognized Yankee Saunders too. Until he saw Jeffries, Heddon had prac- tically forgotten how serious a thing he had done in carrying off Margaret Cardan; but now he knew, and knew too that he was caught. There was no way out. Nothing to be said. But he felt that it was worse luck than was needed that the gunboat Dolphin should have guessed so accurately that he was coming to the Kulicos. Heddon nevertheless pulled shut the iron door of the store and snapped the heavy lock. ‘Give me the key to this lock,” he said to Jenkins. — “T ain’t got it!’ Jenkins answered defi- antly, but stepped backward, thrusting a hand into his pocket. Heddon made a jump at him. Jenkins threw the key. It fell on the sand, but Heddon stooped and found it. From a distance of fifty yards or more, old Jeffries pointed and squeaked: “That’s him, Lieutenant That’s him! He stole my bride Everybody on the Kulicos usually dozed through the mid-afternoon, huddled in the hot shade, trying to forget the heat in rest- less sleep; but now people, catching a glimpse of the sailors or being called by those who had seen them, stirred from their shacks and shanty bars. Men and a few women came straggling into view, then hurried along. “That’s him! He stole my bride!” Jeffries’ mouth hung open, his chin whiskers dangled. ‘“‘Bride,’’ sounded ab- surd, coming from such a mouth. He liked his importance in the scene and made the most of it, gesturing and squeaking until people looked at him wonderingly. With an encircling rush, just as if they expected him to try to run, though there was no place to run, the sailors formed a ring around Heddon and a short, chubby-faced young officer, with binoculars dangling around his neck, and now looking as mar- tial as he could, faced Heddon and said fiercely— “William Heddon, you are under arrest for the abduction of Miss Margaret Cardan.”’ Masters. >? TO BE CONCLUDED NOOK 1 @)