Adventure Magazine, December 10, 1924 — page 193: what you’re looking at

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

The Pirates of Andrus Island uttering little squeals of rage as he clawed Jessup. “That fool Chink mistook the parson for a stranger who had made the trouble,” thought Wade. So he held his revolver’s muzzle up with a hand that was weakening, ready for a sure shot when the Chinese discovered his mis- take and shifted his attack. The lamp was burning now with a high flame that flooded the cabin with a yellow light. And other figures came pressing into the end of the passage to see what was happening; brown faces with staring eyes. Wade turned his head as he heard some movement at the door where Doxey had disappeared. He saw something come creeping over the high brass-shod coaming. It was a hand, feeling for a grip on the edge of the coaming; then Doxey’s face, twisted with pain and chalky in color about the eyes. His head lifted slowly from behind the coaming as his hands tried to pull him across the barrier and out into the main- cabin. “T’m—I’m done for!”? he croaked chok- inely. “You——" His head fell forward over the coaming and his fingers splayed out over the brass threshold. He coughed out a spatter of blood over his white hands, and he lay silent. The Chinese cook had seized Jessup by the middle, and struggling to his feet, threw the missionary with crashing effect back upon the transom-seat. Jessup’s head struck the boarding with a hollow sound, and the missionary crumpled up on the cushions, his legs sprawling out over the end of the seat and his arms swinging limply with each roll of the schooner. The Chinese turned and glared back at the brown faces in the end of the passage. He waved his hands over his head and cackled something in Chinese in a shrill tone—scolding them, it seemed to Wade— for invading the sacred precincts of the cabin. But they paid no attention to him at all, continuing to stare in at Wade and chatter to one another. Jessup rolled off the transom-seat, and lay motionless on the deck—dead. At once there came a howl from the crew looking in. It was plainly a howl of satis- faction. Kwan-po turned and looked at the limp figure and broke out once more in his high-pitched screaming. Twisting his loose queue about his neck, 171 he turned toward the passage and called something. A brown man, lean to emaci- ation and wearing a breech-cloth and a red turban, clawed his way out of the sailors and leaped into the cabin. The brown fellow carried a belaying-pin in his hand. Wade swung his revolver round to cover the man, who was certainly bent on mis- chief. XII “AHAB got serang!”’ yelled Kwan-po to Wade. “You see! Boss felle, this! No shoots him!” The serang, instead of making for Wade, dashed past the Chinese, grinning down at Wade as he passed. When he had come to the limp figure of Jessup, he picked up the missionary’s feet, while Kwan-po took the shoulders, and they hustled the body out through the passage. The crew broke before them, and from the fore deck Wade could hear shrill cries of delight, and a splash overside! Sudden understanding came to Wade. The ship’s company were mad with delight that the missionary and his mate had been destroyed! Instead of being in danger of attack from the sailors, the serang, or the big Chinese cook, Wade was regarded as a man who had rescued them from tyrannical masters. “Why, they were ripe for mutiny all the time, if we’d only known it!” he told him- self. ‘“That’s why not a single man of ’em was allowed ashore at Andrus. Even the whale-boat was towed ashore by is- landers. Not even one of Jessup’s crew was allowed to go over the side with the dingey! Oh, if Parut had found that out, how easy it would have been! Doxey dead and my leg drilled with a bullet, we could have had the crew on our side! Rotten luck!” ‘Yet he felt lifted up with hope. If the crew were glad to be free of the mission- ary, certainly they would do anything Wade asked. He would have medicine, treat- ment, food, rest, time to let his wound heal, and then escape from the schooner in any place he desired. The serang came bounding back through the passage, and the whole lot after him. The main-cabin became a bedlam. Kwan- po, in a frenzy of joy, danced about the cabin through the throng of brown-skinned seamen. eI . wath CoMmicbook Wh) Instead~ef— © 5}