Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 112: what you’re looking at

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

o4 OSE Lee ere r} 1 ‘Ita sary iia § 422. _ The sea had assumed a pale gray color mingled with masses of foam. The boys had looked for waves “ rolling mountain high,” but instead they saw just a ruffled surface, not so different in appearance from the ripples on a millpond except that each ripple was many feet in dimensions instead of many inches. - Looking: down on the ocean from the high sides of an ocean liner it is difficult to appreciate just how heavy a sea is run- ning. Had they been upon a sailing vessel of moderate dimensions they would have known they were in a storm, but the Du- rania, despite her rolling and pitching, gave the effect of being rather indifferent to what the wild waves were saying. Every now and then she pushed her bow into the crest of a mound of water, most of which came on board and drenched the forward deck and the officers on the bridge. But so well had they sheltered the pas- sengers that only the spray on the windows of the shelter deck indicated that the bil- lows had lifted their white fingers a dis- tance of forty feet above the surface. The motion was sufficient to dispose of the passengers, for the most part. When dinner time came there was hardly a corporal’s guard on duty. Racks had been _ placed upon the table, for the first time in a dozen voyages according to Campbell’s steward. Rod had overcome his reluctance to going into the dining saloon as a result of his chat with Gertrude. She represent- ed the passenger list to him. With her countenance assured, he no longer took in- terest in the views of his fellow passengers. It was a curious experience for the boys to sit in the big dining saloon of the ship during a storm. Every now and then the floor would just drop from under them, a sensation similar to that felt in a speed. elevator when it starts. Again they would be carried upward unexpectedly. Nothing remained horizontal. The dining saloon looked as if it were trying to balance itself on its ends. ~The steward, bearing trays of food, navi- gated the room with the skill of experience, but a crash of crockery indicated, every now. and then, that some one had lost his balance. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, Rod had a plate of soup in front of him. The rack was an inch and a half board which was placed all the way around the edge of the table to prevent the dishes and silverware from sliding into the laps of the customers. Rod’s plate suddenly left him and slipped across the table where it bumped against the rack on Howard’s side of the table. Howard’s plate had also gone on a journey. The two inlanders looked up. Each no- ticed that the other looked pale and drawn. Simultaneously they decided that dinner was not worth the effort. Rather painfully they made their way from the dining saloon and crawled to their cabin where they un- dressed and got into their berths. “T’m not sick,” explained Howard; “that is, seasick. But I ate too much at lunch, and this motion interferes with the digestive operation.” “Well, I’m feeling darn’ funny, and I don’t like it,” grumbled Rod. ‘ I wish this ship would get quiet again.” Social intercourse was intermittent where it existed at all on the Durania that eve- ning. Gertrude had found Mary Norman and cried in her arms while both were feel- ing rather indifferent to further existence. Mrs. Potter-Dunlap forgot the loss of her jewels in the loss of her dinner. The bridge game which Mr. Higginson had played steadily was suspended for lack of players, and the quiet little man sat almost alone in the smoke room with a drink in front of him and pulling on a long black cigar. Wind and wave, however, mean nothing to the wireless, and a message had leaped from the poles on top of a station in New- foundland to the Durania in midatlantic, which was delivered to Captain Brown as he took his dinner in his own cabin. It came from the detective in Kansas City who had been at work tracing Howard Campbell. It read: Howard Campbell, son of a carpenter. in Kansas City. No visible means of support. Graduated from the university, but has had no employment since. If posing as wealthy man, did not secure funds in Kansas City. Has no police record. The captain read the message through two or three times and. wagged his head = Comichbooks (S@)