Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 25, 1924 — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

74 the government to have you conveyed thither on an armored cruiser, which will be accompanied by two gun-boats, thus assuring all that the landing will be free from annoyance.” “ Which is something, after all,’ admitted Paradou. “To say nothing of the immediate as- sistance from the native troops, whe should be drawn up on the docks when you arrive. The young females of the island, whose beauty, I understand, is beyond compare, although perhaps their morals are not al- ways of the best when they are confronted by a handsome white man of a handsome cast of countenance—”’ ‘“And practically imperial physique,” added Tallien. ‘“‘ Because they are so attracted by the uniforms of the military—” “ Especially those with gold lace—” “Say no more! Say no more!” cried Paradou. ‘I will go! France looks to me in this most serious crisis. After all—” “ After all,” said Tallien, “La Besse lived to be ninety-five years, six months and seven days old. There is a good chance. And the palm trees and coral sands are not to be forgotten. The moonlight on the lagoon. Beautiful maidens—well, let that go; that is not official business.” ‘‘ And after .all,” thought Paradou, “I owe too much here in Paris; a man might as well die in battle as be hounded to death by his creditors.” ‘“‘ And there is no law against a man do- ing a little transaction in pearls now and then,” suggested Dumont. “And may I not, perhaps, be a fighter, after all?” Paradou asked himself. La Besse, what was he when he went out there but a clerk in the Bureau? At least I have been a tram driver. I may not be as scared as I imagine I may be. And— a man can die but once.” “ Then—?” asked Tallien anxiously. “JT go!” said Paradou firmly. “ Here I have made a little draft of the uniform I would like made for me. The trousers, as you see, are red; the coat is sky-blue.” “TJ think I have heard somewhere,” said Dumont thoughtfully, “that the native ladies prefer indigo blue as a color.” “This - ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. “The coat, on second thought,” said Paradou, “should be indigo blue, to har- monize with the scarlet of the trousers.” Til. As Tallien and Dumont left the steamer’s dock at Marseilles to take the train back to Paris after seeing Paradou aboard they said little. They had maintained their air of careless levity until the last, but now they felt an honest shame that they were sending this man to his doom. That it had been done to save their official berths only made them the more silent. “* And, in the meanwhile—” said Dumont. “Exactly what I was thinking!” said Tallien. “At the moment I know of no one to succeed him,” went on Dumont, “ but we may be able, before Paradou—I mean to say, old one, we must find another and gradually work him up to a longing for a South Sea life.” “Some youngish one would be best,” said Tallien. “If the sad news of Paradou’s demise comes soon—” “Even if Kakaua should, in the first battle—”’ “Tt will be some months before the news arrives,” Tallien reminded him hopefully. ‘* And in the meanwhile we will be look- They did not say “another victim for the unconquerable Kakaua,” but that was what they thought, for Paradou was no hardened fellow, as La Besse had become. Neither was Paradou going, as La Besse had gone, to an island where peace reigned. La Besse had, as the earlier reports showed, found the King Kakaua harmless enough thirty years ago. It was only grad- ually that King Kakaua had come to feel that he must exterminate the whites. And by that time La Besse knew his way about. He knew the savages and their ways. An expert, La Besse, if ever there was one, and fit to cope with this monster that Kakaua had become. But Paradou! A Parisian spouter of words! Poor Paradou! Almost, when they reached the Bureau in Paris, Tallien and Dumont expected to see the facade draped in black for Paradou! COMMICLOOOKS (C@) Newly, Ye LY NS