Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 6, 1923 — page 170: what you’re looking at

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

952 always, on their fishing up the Rio Boton, done at night with the glare of great bundles of burning bamboo making the bosque on either side alive with strange shapes of light and shadow, always was there one muchacho who carried ready strung an arrow that was not meant for fish, but for El Carnicero, for this devil of a pig, senor. There was one afternoon when I had been invited to drink with the officers at Gor- don’s farm, that Chief Augustin, of the little Negrit’ village up the Rio Boton, brought in one of his sons who had been gored by this El Carnicero. And all listened to the story, and were astonished much when they heard that El Carnicero: had departed unharmed after his raid upon the village, although a dozen bowmen had emptied their bamboo quivers of all their arrows. Aye, thus it ever was. The big pig was charmed, it seemed, and in league with all the devils. And Chief Augustin, who was a brave man, senor, although no bigger than a ten year old boy of my own Tagalog folk, wept as he watched Gordon put this iodine® on his son’s torn leg, and plead with the officers and with me to go out and kill the - baubui fiend that no arrow could harm. Now there was one officer stationed at the Navy Yard, sexer, whom no one called a friend. He was a paymaster, and you -who are a naval officer well know that _among paymasters there are some whom the handling of money has made so careful in all things that they are even afraid of - giving their friendship, lest they lose there- ‘by. He would play poker, of a truth, as the officers were doing this afternoon—but he never lost. Of such a carefulness, aye! close to the belly, senor, as I have heard the sailors say. And he would believe nothing that he had not seen with his own eyes. So it was that he mocked the chief when he wept and cried that El Carnicero was a devil, and that his village was bewitched by him, and must from now on go in fear. “ Bah!” cried this paymaster, whose name was Barlow. “ it is only a pig. What manner of men are you that you fear a : Whereupon Chief Augustin drew binsell “an iguana’s in the sun, glittering black "ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. diamonds. And he turned his back, and said nothing. And all of us were sorry for him, and had sympathy with his: trouble. And Lieutenant Douglas, from one of the destroyers, dropped his cards, and smiled. “Why don’t you take a try at this pig, yourself, Pay?” he suggested, with a soft- ness in his voice that made me feel glad. “T'll give you a rifle and ammunition from the ship.” . This last was a mean thing to say, be- cause it suggested that the hunt would cost the paymaster nothing. And it hit home, and this man Barlow flushed. “By Heaven, I will!” he cried. -And my heart jumped, for I had done no hunting for a week and was afraid of going stale. , “T will guide you,” I said. The paymaster. frowned at this. There- fore, because I respected the chief and had a great sympathy for his trouble I added: “My services will cost nothing, pay- master. But a few cartridges—” The paymaster looked at Lieutenant Douglas with a question in his eye. the lieutenant nodded quickly. “Tl furnish his, too,” he said. And the paymaster scowled; but uae the game we made our plans, {T. Now this El Carnicero, sevor, as I have said, had for many years been comrade of the devil. And truly had he earned his reputation; and truly, too, did he sustain that reputation in the days that followed the paymaster’s decision to hunt him down. Aye, I was witness myself to the first en- counter between that paymaster and this evil baubui! omened. The buen Dios sees all things, the priests have often enough told us. vengeance upon those men, and those beasts And of a truth was it ill as well, who do not heed all His commands. That I may say now, too; for as I said before, was I not witness to the first en- counter between those two creations of - the evil one? up, and his little black eyes became like | That paymaster showed himself a man who was not a man, but a thing without Eomicboo cS And — (E(6) And His is the ~