Adventure Magazine Cover — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

74 a loon these three years. And him once chief officer of a crack liner.” - He shook his head sadly. Reaching into his pocket he drew forth a plug of tobacco, and after glancing warily up and down the Street bit off a huge piece. “He’s bad tonight, always is when it tains. Donno but what I aught to run him in for safe keepin’—guess he’s harm- less though.” IN THE restaurant, Dolan, with his food untouched before him, ye» was talking excitedly across the — table to Carrell. _~ Iwas the Penguin,” he was saying, “‘the old Penguin. Just north of Watling we hit a derelict, bottom up. Tore the bow com- pletely out of us it did. I was mate and he was master. I went forward and down into number one hold to look at the damage. She was down by the bow and settlin’ but there was a bulkhead still holding aft of the forward hold. It was weak and bound to give and I told the captain. I knew she was goin’. T'was two o’clock in the morning when we took to the boats. The captain was a miserable coward. He went wild with fear. Poor Jim Mullins—didja know jJim—and Iwere the last to start for the boats. ~The captain stood at the rail and trem- bled and couldn’t talk straight he was so scared. [t was rough, you know. He wouldn’t let Jim and I slide down into the boat. Said there wasn’t room engugh. He lied—there was room for a dozen. He was just a cowardly swine. Shot Jim, he did— through the head, then lost his gun and beat me over the head with a stanchion. Right here, see?” He leaned foreward and traced with his fingers a ragged scar that ran from his left ear half across his head. 1 fell in the water-way and lay there all night— Jim washed away over theside. The wind died down and it started to rain. It rained until morning and I lay there rolling around in the water way. Then the sun came up and it was hot—hot as gee wanted water—tried to crawl and couldn’t. No water—hot as | “Then=then-——” He was wandering. ‘’Then——” Then you were picked up by a——” “Yes, that’s right. I was picked up by a ship—a tramp. All red she was—red lead, you know. I think she was a tramp. Adventure Couldn’t see very well—my eyes were all full of blood, I’d been layin’ in it all night. It was in my eyes and—and— and-——” “Yes, yes. food.” “Oh, all right.” His eyes calmed and he fell to ravenously for a while, then looking up suddenly with the old wild light, he said: “°Twas north of Watling, dya mind? And it rained 7 “Will you eat?” The small man thumped on the table in mock anger. “Yes, but listen!” Dolan’s eyes were gleaming savagely. “I wanta tell you. Pm sailing tomorrow—on the Estrella del Norte —did you knowit? Bosun—bosun—forget his name—used to be with me on the Ta- boga—gave me a job—A.B. I gota reason, see? I’m gettin’ closer to him—oh, i can tell—feel it here, when it rains.’ He placed the palm of his hand upon the livid scar. . “When it rains like north of Watling, dya see? And the sun——” Forget it, old man—eat your IT WAS hot, with the sultry hu- midity that proceeds the short, Ai fierce squall of the tropics. In the oy a stuffy forecastle, reeking with the stench of sweating men, the sailors in the double tier of bunks rolled restlessly in their sleep. A boy, with the pale skin of the city dweller, lay fully clothed in a bunk, on his back with his legs dangling sidewise into the narrow aisle. A stocky, blond-mustached man, bearing the marks of a true sailor, stepped over the sill and into the forecastle. He stared about for 2a moment in the light of the smoky oil lamp bracketed on the after end of the quarters, then seeing the boy sprawled in the bunk he strode over and kicked roughly at the dangling feet. “Up, ye scut,” he said in a low growl. “Break out of it!’ He kicked again at the feet. “Huh?” said the lad, and he sat up and rubbed his lids apart. “Get up, ye.” The man grasped the boy by the arm and yanked him to his feet. ‘“Mate wants “is coffee.” “Yeah?” The boy stretched lazily and stamped his feet to start the circulation in his legs. “What time is it?’’ he asked. Gomiecbooks.co