Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 145: what you’re looking at

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

THE FOURTH CIRCLE. a right into the storm! Hell of a hurry to get aboard his schooner! I’d have stayed ashore. But you never know what’s in the mind of a Chinaman!”’ Denham walked away to avoid further parley. It occurred to him that the storm had temporarily paralyzed the Chinaman’s wits. But where was he now? The voice of Bill Lane, an old pearler, snapped on the morning air. His big hand fell with a slap on Norry’s shoulder. ‘“Where you been, lad? Ain’t you heard?” he demanded in rough but kindly tones. ‘ That little old girl of yours was picked up safe an’ plucky yesterday. She was at the wheel, holdin’ the Witch up to the hell smother! Old Ty Foo’s tug butted in when it looked as if David Jones was going to get her!” “Ty Foo picked up Elean!” Norry’s, voice cracked, but the warm blood leaped to his cheeks. ‘““T guess there was no one else afloat to do it!’’ Lane told him quietly. ‘ That old Chinaman fought through weather that would have bent an ironclad. He’s got your little woman safe and trim, lad. Your lugger’s on the beach, none the worse for it either!” A pause followed. Then Lane, noticing the young pearling master’s agitation, drew him towards the pier steps. “T got a bit of a launch over here. I reckon you’d like to see your wife! You helped me wunct, an’ by the holy I'll stand by you now, lad!” Norry followed him blindly to the launch, clambered aboard with stiffly groping hands. He almost missed his footing and would have fallen but for Lane’s friendly grip on his arm. “Steady, lad! I know how it feels to have your little girl back from the dead! Easy does it! And don’t forget the old Chinaman next time you’re at prayers!” One thought flared in Norry’s brain as the launch worried through the storm swell toward Nadir Point. The Chinaman had him at his mercy. And after what had hap- pened the mercy would be applied in a way known to Chinamen and timber wolves! All the ghastly tales he had heard of Chinese devilry assailed him now. Yet— 617 he must go to his crucifixion if need be. He could not leave Elean in the hands of these yellow men! The launch swung under the bows of the Plum Moon. The big trading schooner ap- peared none the worse for her fight with the wind and sea. A cable’s length away rode the big tug, her crew alert and watch- ing Denham’s approach. Lane steadied the launch and called out to Norry as he clambered up the gangway, “Vl stand by, lad! There’s no hurry. Plenty of calm here!” A terrible silence struck Norry as he reached the deck of the Plum Moon. Not a hand showed on the poop or cabin stairs. He recalled in a flash the story of the providore’s wife, decoyed aboard a China- man’s yacht in the Samarang Roads. The providore had robbed and cheated the Chinaman. True to his nature the Celestial had bided his time. Then, one day, under the guns of a patrolling de- stroyer, he had kidnaped the white man’s wife. Months afterward they found her on the beach at Apia, her speech and mem- ory gone! , Norry stood at the cabin stairhead, the Stark silence gripping him by the _ hair. Where was Elean? Where was the China- man who had dragged her from the shoals of death? VI. From the ghostly silence of the cabin be- low came the shuffling of sandaled feet on the polished teak floor. The voice of Ty Foo came up through the open door. “Your husband is safe, Mrs. Denham! He is now on his way to this schooner! Even now I hear his steps on the gangway. How can I repay him for his noble efforts on my behalf?” ‘What has he done?” It was Elean’s voice, pleading and tremulous after: her recent experiences. The Chinaman ceased his shufflings to and fro. His words touched Norry like whip strokes. ‘He has done everything for me io avert misery and ruin. Yesterday, before the great storm fell upon us, he took my check for six thousand dollars to the bank. oO COL, Giook CO