Adventure Magazine Cover, October 30, 1924 — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

South, West and North 29 on the morning air, there was shrugging and shouting and swearing on all sides; brown men gazed placidly at the excite- ment; the Frenchmen, each of whom had brought huge quantities of baggage, rushed madly to the town again to find their car- riers, only to discover these missing; then back to the beach, to see that a good half of the remaining goods had mysteriously dis- appeared. Grinning Indians and mestizos regarded the confusion with appreciation. The two castaways stood on the hillside above the river, surveying the boats and the wild turmoil along the beach. One of them, whose cool gray eyes gleamed like ice above his half-grown fair beard, turned to his swart companion. “Let ’em work out their own salvation, Job. They’d never be able to get all their stuff to the isthmus, anyway; the less they have to carry, the better. Had we better look up our boatman and get off? Wish I could shave these whiskers.” Job Warlock tucked a big quid of tobacco away and grinned. | “Never mind your hankerings, matey— stick to business! Our job is to get to Panama and pick up news of the company. If that Dias is what we think him, you may be sure he has posted men here to watch for us, and our only chance is to slip along unknown. Yes, we'd better find that Indian and get moving.” ‘“There’s the fellow,” said Hampton suddenly, and pointed. “Bargaining with those three Frenchmen. I'll go and attend to him—you grab his boat, that big canoe with the second man in it. We’ll take along that French chap who was white to us, eh?” “Right,” said Warlock, and swung off down the slope. Dick Hampton approached the group of three gesticulating men who bargained with the swarthy half-Indian boatman. The latter had on the previous evening agreed to take the two friends up to Gor- gona for eight dollars per head, and had been paid half the sum in advance; he now totally ignored Hampton and attempted to wave him away. “So that’s your game, eh?” said Hampton in Spanish, and reached out. A howl broke from the boatman. Hamp- ton gripped him by his long, greasy hair, bent him around, and kicked him vigorously, then, using the hair as a bridle, guided him toward the boats, amid fervent wailings and protestations. Job Warlock, meantime, had taken possession of the big canoe in even more vigorous fashion, and the as- tonished crowd of Frenchmen beheld the “savages” subside into meek and frightened obedience. Hampton summoned a bearded son of Bordeaux who had given them many kindnesses aboard the Veronique, got him stowed in the canoe with his luggage, and in five minutes the long craft swung off up- stream. Catching the idea of how to handle the natives, the French Company at once went to work, and Hampton looked back to see carriers at work and boats being laden. He laughed grimly, serene in the knowledge that their kindly guest knew no English. “They’ve lost their awe of the bare-footed soldiers in the ruined fort—well, we’ve a good start on the crowd, Job! We'd better rush our friend here right across to Panama, and pass for Frenchmen.”’ “And meantime,” added Job sagely, “do our durndest to get in touch with El Hambre.” Very cautious inquiries, the previous night, had elicited the information that the Hannah was a week ahead of them; and, apparently, Dias had made good his prom- ises as to transport, for the company had gone forward without delay. Delays at Chagres were not desirable, as Hampton had already discovered, for the two wretched hotels were filled with non-paying guests, while native huts or tents were rendered terrible by clouds of mosquitoes, together with scorpions, snakes and millepeds. The old town abounded in all manner of insect life, and there were no sanitary conditions whatever. All this, however, now mattered nothing to Hampton, as the canoe slid up the river at good speed, and the jungled walls: on either hand opened up new vistas with every moment. Like Chagres itself, the river was at first glance beautiful, with its vivi@ green walls, its numberless monkeys, darting toucans and parrots, splashes cf gay flower growths. It soon palled, how- ever, for mosquitoes swarmed in clouds, there was no breath of wind, and a mias- matic vapor clung to the edges of the stream. The Frenchman was supplied with rifle and shotgun and several small arms of various makes, including two revolvers; and late in the afternoon he succeeded in cCoMmicbooks.c© in