Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

446 Gibbons frowned. Decision was hanging in the balance. With a light- ning draw he produced a revolver and emptied its six chambers into the body of the man who didn’t want to be hanged. Jake fell, and Captain Gibbons put one big boot on his body while he han- dled the gun suggestively. “Anybody else got objections?” he demanded. “T’s satisfied,” said the one-eyed negro. ‘“ How about the rest of you?” “It’s all right with us if we get twenty thousand apiece,’ said one of the Americans. | | “You're all in this now,” continued the master. ‘‘I can’t give anybody a chance to get away. Jake, here, would have got the rest of us hung if we let him go, and I don’t want anybody hung. You men are all broke, and your share will make you rich. “This boat is going to Gascon, and we're going to raid that house, and that means that every one of you will get hung if you’re caught. You knew it was business when you left Gun Key. “T'd a lot rather take the jewels and the coin and leave these people live, but if we do they'll catch us sure as fate. We got to wipe ’em out, women and all; nobody left to tell the tale. And I got it all fixed to land us in Rio after we leave Cuba, where the gals are peaches and money talks,” “Bravo!” shouted an enthusiastic Portuguese. “Hurray!” cried. the facts -Saxon element. “And now,” said Gibbons, “ have some drinks.” He stooped, lifted the body of the martyred Jake, and tossed him over the side; then. he strode back to the after-deck, followed by his lieuten- ants. “T congratulate you,’ said Pedro. “Your gun play turned the tide. They will go through now all right.” ‘The cockney grinned. “If five or we'll “ £ to 7 - = € a To ee eae ee ee ; erie ee ee oe Oe ee ee ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. six of ’em will only get killed on the island it will save us a lot of trouble.” ss Bah, ” growled Gibbons. “ We'll get ’em all drunk after we leave and toss ’em overboard. Say, I hope none of these dames is very good-looking.” “It’s a pity,” sighed Pedro, ‘ Lov- “ering’s daughter is the most beautiful little creature I ever saw in my life, a blonde.” “Yeah? We couldn’t take her along with us to Cuba, I suppose?” “Cut that,” snarled Watson. ‘“ No women. ‘These has got to be snuffed out, no matter how beautiful they are.” “ He’s right,” agreed Pedro regret- fully. “ But it’s a pity.” HEY approached Gascon Jsland about nine o'clock in the eve- ning, and as the moon would not be up for five hours at least, they ran close in and circled cautiously. From the sea a double row of lights on an elevation were visible, and indicated that the household was active. At the same time the wind rose, and the waves began to rise with it. They put out to sea, and were soon making heavy weather of it. There was no rain, and there were stars visible, but the gale was increasing in violence. After an hour and a half of buffeting Captain Gibbons held a conference. “We show no lights and it’s a pretty big island,” he said. “I think it’s safe a slip into the lagoon and get out of this.” “Tm afraid our engine may be heard,” said Pedro. = Well, we'll stick it out for another hour and then take a chance.” Shortly after midnight the motor- ship crept around the island to the point where the chart indicated a pas- sage into the lagoon. The wind had gone down and the sea was subsiding, but it needed a skillful navigator— which Gibbons, with all his faults, cer- tainly was—to venture close enough to the reef in the dark to locate the en- trance. Ss Cun G hoo cy com . hs ee Oe - a - =e = a . . =A a. oo toed et he ie