Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

a aa e Se _ z > ey = Fo a 3 = oo we . be ; ‘ q a a = i: ae a Be ed = - 3 a eo Se i. ? = - ‘ f . 500 ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Gerald said nothing. He knew that, in a case like this, women banded to- gether, and he wondered how soon Uncle Jethro and that horse-faced pal of his would return. After dinner Gerald slipped out the back door and looked over his estate to make sure that all was snug. There was a storm in the air. Lightning licked along the horizon, and the low rumble of distant thunder came to him. He went inside and found Susan seated before the fireplace with a book in her hands. She laid it aside when he appeared. “‘T suppose you’re aware,” she told him, ‘‘that I’m every bit as mad at being here as you are to have me.” “‘T—I gathered that,” Gerald polite- ly admitted. She had changed, since he had seen her last, from the bell-bot- tomed sailor’s trousers to a long white skirt. He wondered if she hid her legs because she was ashamed of them. She was, he presumed, either exceedingly bow-legged or pathetically knock- kneed. “T might as well relieve your curi- osity,”” Susan went on, “as to why I was dumped off here—like a bale of old rags. It seems that they thought it would be awfully nice to put you and me together so that we would fall in love.” “ How childish of them,” murmured Gerald. | “‘T suppose,” the jones girl added, “ there is nothing to do but to make the best of it until they return.” “Vou mean—we ought to fall in love?” said Gerald. Her brown eyes sparkled hotly at that. “ Don’t be absurd!’ she flashed. “ As if I could ever fall in love with a man like you!’ Gerald snorted. ‘“‘ What do you mean—a man like me?’ “ Please don’t pretend,” Susan said impatiently. ‘“‘ Knowing the kind of man you are, I don’t see how they dared put me ashore on this island.” Gerald looked worried. “ But what kind of a man am [?” “You certainly aren’t the kind of man I’d willingly trust myself with on a desert island! You—you’re a hard drinker; you're a—lady killer; you— you're fast; you’re—just all round bad!” “TP” said Gerald in hurt tones. Whoever in the world put such ideas into your head?” “I knew it the moment I saw you!” ‘“ Appearances are certainly deceiv- ing. Honestly, a new-born lamb is a roaring lion compared to me. I am as shy as a gazelle. The very thought of a woman frightens me.” “T don’t believe you!” “Wait till you know me _ better. Among my friends | am known far and wide as Gentle Gerald.” Well,’ said Susan, “I simply wanted to have a very distinct under- standing with you. I am not going to fall in love with you. I could never fall in love with you. You are not the type of man I could fall in love with.” “ What,’ Gerald wanted to know, “is the type of man you could fall in love with?” “The man,” Susan replied, “ with whom I can really fall in love will be tall, dashing and black-eyed.” “ Unfortunately,” sighed Gerald, “ I am tall, dashing and blue-eyed. As far as that goes, you are not the type of girl with whom I could ever fall in love. My ideal is a tall, stately, gray- eyed blonde, and you, unfortunately, are short, plump, brown-eyed—” “T am not plump!” “ How do I know?” Gerald retorted. “Tam only judging by appearances.” Her eyes were flashing again. In spite of himself, Gerald liked Susan. She had spirit, and he liked girls with spirit. She also had quantities of gumption and spunk. : “Tt will relieve you to know,” she told him hotly, “that I am engaged to be married.” 3 This was the purest fiction. ~_ ye Soom cbo oks.com ~ Ot et Fe Se