Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 4, 1922 — page 115: what you’re looking at

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

FORTUNE UNAWARES. Francis O’Rourke, M. D. I had long ago discarded my own clothing for the more comfortable and sensible Chinese garb, though my facial disguise had not been renewed. Still, in the dark, I passed easily enough for an Oriental and it was no won- der that O’Rourke spoke as he did, fortu- nate perhaps that I was the only one able to understand what I did not either inter- pret or transmit to En Sue and Li Yuen. I was watching the beam of the search- light, idly enough, when it suddenly halt- ed, wavered and then focussed on one spot, cepressed to its lowest practical angle. In the ray I saw a man swimming, coming along hand-over-hand at a good clip. He had a crop of white hair and beard that gave him a weird and ghostly appearance as he plowed along for the Little Dragon. I admired his nerve, for sharks were as plentiful in those waters as gold-fish in Li Yuen’s fish-pond, and I wondered at the vigor he showed. The flailing arms were thin, almost fleshless, but they worked like steam-driven pistons. He was appar- ently a Malay, by his color, though his long beard puzzled me. As he neared the ship, about to get out of the zone of the ray, some one standing close to me aimed a rifle. On the instant, though he could not have seen the action and must merely have been waiting for the right distance for shouting, the swimmer called out: “Don’t shoot! I’m Irish!” That he chose to say “ Irish ” instead of announcing his color was typical of O’Rourke. But it would have done him no good if I had not acted. I put aside the barrel of the rifie and used the best Chinese I could muster to make the watch under- stand. The only words I could think of were not overcomplimentary, but they were effective. ““ Vang-kwei-tze!” I shouted. “ Yang- kwei-tze!”’ They meant “ white man” as the Chinaman puts it—“ foreign devil.” The men beside me got the inference and agreed with me. Two of them lowered the companion-ladder while another produced a pocket-flash and used it as a guide. The swimmer came up, his body ghastly with its winding sheet of greenish phosphorescence, grabbed at the ladder and emerged. He 425. was six feet and some inches and his ribs looked for all the world like a cage wrapped in brown oilskin. His elbows and knees were knobs. Being stark naked we got the full benefit of his emaciation. The long white beard was wisped with the water: and trailed to his waist. They turned the searchlight toward us for a moment and he steod hideously, piteously revealed, blink- ing, avoiding the direct glare and staring at us with a drcpped jaw. ‘“ By the Bell and Book of St. Pathrick,” he said with the delicious brogue of an edu- cated man, “ they are all stinking Chinese haythens. Well, damn my luck!” I laughed and he turned sharply, the water tapping the deck as it dripped from him. ‘“ That’s not a Chink’s laugh,” he said. “What are you?” He was eying my gar- ments suspiciously. “ You can't judge by appearances,” I answered. “ Yrom your skin you should be native, but you say you're Irish.” “Shave my armpits and you'll find I’m white,” he said. ‘ White and Irish. What are you?” ‘* American.” “Then for the love of Mike get me a slug of rye,” he said. “If you’ve got any. If not, I'll make out with samshu.” He was beginning to shake all over, from weakness more than the immersion, and he slopped half of the cup of spirits that some one brought him. ‘“ Come down to my cabin,” I said, “ and I'll get you some clothes. “ Another shot of samshu first, if you love me. Then some grub. Then your clothes and a pair of shears and the loan of a razor. Then I'll talk first, seein’ I made the call. After that you can tell me what the. devil you’re doing with this ship and that crew in these waters. You look like an auxiliary cruiser, on deck.” I took him below and followed his sug- gestions exactly. I am over the average height and my clothes fitted him fairly well. I slipped into the main cabin and announced his arrival to Li Yuen and En Sue, which was quite unnecessary, but I explained— with some amendments, what he had told me. COmiclbooks.Gom