Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, Vol. 107 No. 3 — page 111: what you’re looking at

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

THE SHIP THAT CRUMBLED. a sewage barge, and that I’d be looking out on the world in general through one- inch iron bars if I tried frisking the old hulk out of the bay, I paid a mighty im- portant visit to a ship-chandler who knows how to keep his mouth shut. ‘““T bought white block-letters; enough for the stern and both cutwaters. To-mor- row morning, when the sun comes up, this ship will have changed her skin, her name, her appearance.” “Everything but her rotten heart,” agreed Donn Riley. Captain Murdock chuckled. “ You’re right; everything but her rotten heart. What can change that—till she crumples up on the bottom of the sea? Well, her upperworks are now painted dirty white— the color of spring snow. You'll epen your eyes in the morning to find them a fine, ripe orange. She’ll be a fine-looking ship— if I do say it myself!” The operator considered. ‘‘ Theoretical- ly she ought to be,” he admitted. “ But in the morning, if sone ship fetches us at the crack o’ dawn—a destroyer, say— you'll find a blotch as big as a house that somebody overlooked.” Captain Murdock grunted negatively. “I’m going over every square inch of her with a pocket flash-light. A man will fol- low me around with buckets of paint. Can you think of any other loopholes I’ve over- looked ?’” 7 “How about the water-line? You can’t make paint stick over salt water. Be sides, any ship to leeward of us will be able to whiff this fresh paint a hundred miles.” The captain contradicted him with great emphasis. ‘“ We’re as high out of water as it’s possible to lift her by the boot-straps. All our tanks are empty. They’re paint- ing as close to the water-line as they can reach without. getting their brushes wet. Just before dawn we'll fill all tanks, fore and aft. She'll settle a good two feet, be- cause they built enormous tanks in her. That ‘ll put the ragged edge clear under. ‘“* As for whiffing her a hundred miles to leeward, I’ve got so much Jap drier in this paint that it’s fairly dry when it leaves the brush. You can rub your hand over it five minutes afterward without its sticking.” 453 “Even in this weather?” “Yes, Riley; in any weather. what do you think of my scheme?” “Tf you and I applied our talents to a legitimate enterprise,” rejoined Donn Riley with a chuckle, “we could corner the world!” “That we could, Riley! I'll never do it, not only because I’m no longer young, but also I’ve paid my last visit for a long while to the States. As for you—” He stopped. “As for me?” said Riley encouragingly. ‘““No one knows you, anyhow, in con- Well, nection with this undertaking. As for you? Why, you’re going to go back and settle down and lead a decent married life—and corner the world.all by yourself!” The sea captain, now that his desperate scheme was beginning to bear fruit, was keyed to his buoyant mood of the after- noon. He seemed exultant, revealing it by occasional nervous laughter. The worry seemed to have left him entirely. , But he spoke gravely: | “Yow had better get back to your in- struments. You have already shown me that you are a man of intelligence and— imagination. So I propose to leave the de- tails of the S.O.S.-ing to you—entirely to you. Shut your door. You'll not be inter- fered with; I’ll be prowling around outside, somewhere near by. In case’you need r me, use your lungs.” “Our false Position—” began Donn Riley. “Ah! We are sinking six to seven miles due west of the Devil’s Slide, which is about three miles to the south’ard of Point San Pedro. But bear in mind that every minute we can gain will add to our margin of safety.” “Had we best sink of ordinary causes, such as a boiler giving way, or—well, by a timed bomb in a cargo hold?”’ ‘IT leave such details entirely to your intelligence and -imagination. I am a man of no imagination.. We sink quickly. The naval men know this ship well enough to realize that once she starts for the bottom, it’s only a matter of seconds before she reaches it.” Riley started away from him. NOO = Co S Co mM