Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine — page 79: what you’re looking at

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

GREEN SPIDERS. " 421 “No, sirree! I guess I never heerd o’ sitch a think! An’ who do ye guess rapped ye on the dome, doc? Ye must ’a’ see his face or arm or suthin’.” “No,” said I. “ It was too dark.” * “Tt couldn’t ’a’ been the hoodoo now, eh?” he suggested, digging the head of a match into his ear and twisting it with a look of ineffable relief. “I alwuz like to know the answer to that question. Nit! The hoodoo would ’a’ made a clean job of it, like it foxed-the skipper. Besides, I ain’t taking stock in that there hoodoo. That’s fo’c’s’le talk. That’s an excuse of them ignorant swabs of loafers when they gets tired of a ship. Then who was it rapped ye on the dome, doc? Why, I tell ye, that skunk UYquist. It was him done it an’ croaked the skipper, too.” ’ ~ Daniel Gaylord, who had been growing very restless, took this opportunity to leave us. Mankus was now absent-mindedly picking his teeth with the match that he had put in his ear, and Dorothy turned away and started to go on deck. ‘* Are ye worrited, Miss Dor’thy, over the absent heroes?” called Mankus. “ Aw shucks! no need to git so all-fired anxious over the likes 0’ them. Is it Falkens or George Bug-ketcher yer purtendin’ ye’ve tooken a fancy to now?” Dorothy had already left the saloon and did not hear this last remark. “Wouldn’t it beat ye, doc, wouldn’t it beat ye?” exclaimed Mankus, turning to me. ‘“ The way a female plays off one man ag’in’ another. It does ’em good to git worrited an’ weep over them that’s absent while spittin’ on them that’s under their nose! That’s the female of it. “Now, if 7 was absent instead o’ them she’d be a straining her two eyes down channel jist the same, her little heart a going like a donkey injine and a bouncin’ in her boosum at every ripple o’ brine. She’d crowd on full steam ahead and run after me, but if she was to sight my stacks or masthead light she’d back water an’ ware off, a showin’ as cool a pair o’-heels as ye please. Doc, females is like boats; they don’t savvy where they’re a goin’ nor why unless there’s a man at the wheel.” We now heard the welcome splash of brine astern, the rhythmic gurgle of water, and the hiss of foam as if the life-boat were returning, but though we listened we could not detect the creak of oar-locks, the drip of blades on being lifted from the water, nor the rippling sound of a prow cutting a ‘Xapid path up the channel. “That’s funny,” observed Mankus as we strolled out and joined Dorothy -on the after-deck. ‘‘ That don’t sound like no Ship’s boat.” He pulled at his lip nervous- ly. “But I guess it must be them, all right.” We strained our eyes into the darkness, but could see nothing. ‘“ Perhaps it’s the echo we hear,” I sug- gested. “Sure! that’s the answer to that ques- tion,” returned Mankus gruffly, but there was an uneasy note in his voice. One huge hand stole toward the revolver that Falkens had given him earlier in the day. ‘“‘ Them blasted, slithering, ghost-raising echoes. Stab my guts if I ever heerd—but Falkens he’ll turn up again all right. I knowed all along that he’d turn up. He’s so all-fired quiet ye wouldn’t never think he could take keer of himself, but he’s got arms like iron!” : From the way that Mankus gingerly rubbed one of his own elbows I deduced he must already have felt the force of that iron grip and-I believed I knew the reason why. Just at present ‘ the reason ” was leaning gracefully over the rail by my side, serenely unconscious of everything except the gentle plash of the brine astern and the rhythmic strokes that caused it. For more than a quarter of an hour we strained our eyes into the night. Each suc- ceeding moment but added to our per- plexity. Then Mankus cried: “Looky there! My soul! that ain’t no boat!” A small dark object near the base: of the walls to our left had emerged from the black of the night—-a man swimming! With powerful overhand strokes he drew quickly nearer. He seemed naked from — the waist up and wore no shoes. When still some two hundred feet from the stern of the ship he paused to get his breath. “Swimmer ahoy!” bawled Mankus. Conmiclooolks.conn