Adventure Magazine Cover, November 10, 1924 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

22 even if my old man is the sixth generation in this country, And I had hell served up on the table with my meals, so I don’t like to mention it. Strict stuff, Jake. I’m not kidding you. Church three times a day on Sunday and prayer-meeting once a week, and grace said for every meal. Twenty-one years of that give a man some good habits.”’ “Do you drink?” asked Jake, grinning. “Huh!” grunted Eadie. “Well, that’s wors’n swearing, isn’t it?” “Look, Jake, there’s ten commandments about all sorts of things, among which is one that says something about not swear- ing. Well there’s nothing there about not taking a drink for the sake of one’s liver once in a while. I'll tell you though, Jake, I’m careful who I drink with. Some men just get merry and full of song and want to hang around some one’s neck, and others get mean and sullen, and all the bad that’s in them comes right to the surface. There’s a lot of things can be said in praise of liquor and one is that if you want to really know a guy, if you want to really see what kind of a man he is, go out and get all torched up with him. Well, I haven’t had any- thing since I was in the Army, except down in Shelby when I’d just come out of the hospital. A civilian invited me to supper at a hotel and he offered me a drink out of a flask he had. And as long as he paid for my supper I didn’t want to refuse. Boy, that was powerful stuff. One shot on my poor weak stomach did for me. I got right up on the table and offered to lick any one in the place. I bet that guy won’t be so free offering drinks to soldiers any more.” “Well, as fer me,” said Jake, removing his blouse and leaping into a bunk, “TI can swear to make the hair on your neck curl.” And to prove it he said a yard or so of words that bid fair to raise blisters on the paintwork. “You tell ’em, Jake,” said Eadie. “I’m tongue-tied. While we’re waiting for din- ner, I guess I’ll shave. We’d better leave our stuff down there, except our overcoats, because it’s so warm here we don’t need our blankets. And as long as our stuff is on the bunk, we won’t have anyone chasing around looking for us.” That afternoon Jake and Eadie spent in luxurious sleep. The food was good and they ate heartily of it. When the library -Clared himself Adventure opened, they secured books and read. After supper they sought the deck, watched the sunset, smoked a little, and back to their stateroom again. In this manner they killed the first four or five days at sea. ON THE evening of the sixth day they sat dangling their feet from the pile of life rafts, when there was a Ey great clattering of feet on the deck above and quite a crowd pushed down the ladder, headed by the social worker who kept the library and whose duty ‘it was to issue writing paper and keep the soldiers cheer- ful. He was a gray-haired man un- doubtedly a country minister, a well- meaning man enough, but hardly one to mingle with rough soldiery. His touch with the world, if he had ever had any, had been lost for some time. His chief idea of recreation was to go up to two soldiers who were talking together and, shoving boxing gloves into their hands, implore them to fight each other. This is one way to be- come unpopular. This social worker, then, appeared with his inevitable boxing gloves. Behind him, flanked by an officer and.a sergeant, was a man in professional fighting togs, trunks, ring shoes, broken nese and cauliflower ear. “That’s the guy,” said Eadie, “that’s been boxing every night with that coast artillery outfit aft. They probably brought him up here looking for fresh meat.” This seemed to be true. Cosmoline slingers poured down both ladders and hung over the rail from the promenade deck. The social worker led his prize into the center of the well deck, where he mounted the hatch and announced that Jess Willard the Second was aboard the ship and de- champion thereof, over sailors and soldiers. After this announce- ment the social worker smiled upon all. The alleged champion stood with folded arms and calm countenance. “Any one like to take a chance,” smiled the announcer. “Come, just a little fun, boys.” 3 | The boys did not seem eager to step up and be hammered by this bruiser just to please the social worker. There was some excitement at the suggestion that the sailors’ champion appear but after a period of hunting, and a few attempts on the part of the sporting men in the crowd to place bets, it appeared that the sailor champion Comicboool< A) (© =