Argosy, Vol. 85, No. 3 — page 120: what you’re looking at

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

462 I emitted a sort of choked spasm of a chuckle, which was more or less hyster- ical. But the girl thus flattered or honored as she might choose—looked highly indig- nant, and spoke: . “The nerve of him! Say, I’d just like to ask you ’—and she turned on Louie— “if them glasses of yourn was so good you could see all these bewitchin’ charms hanging onto me, if I didn’t hand you as many signs to beat it as a person could hand out who didn’t know the deaf-and- dumb for ‘scat ’—Gawd knows I didn’t aim to act invitin’.” “You certainly didn’t,” Louie admit- ted. ‘ But your actions failed to out- weigh your good looks.” ‘“‘Freshie!’’ she uttered in deep scorn, and stuck out her tongue at Hartmann in dead earnest. Whereupon the pink-faced lieutenant cleared his throat for action again. “This is hardly a time for jesting,” he asserted with that deep solemnity one has to use, if he isn’t going to give up being solemn altogether and laugh. ‘“ While I shall not take any hasty action, there be- ing plenty of time, so far as I can see, for full consideration of details, and consul- tation with the superior officers of such vessels as are supplied here—it must be quite patent to both of you that a much more rational hypothesis to account for your presence than the highly whimsical one you have given, would be to the effect that you represent your government in having entertained some suspicion of this island and in attempting to satisfy that suspicion’ under guise of an innocent yachting cruise—”’ “Representing my government!” gasped Louie. “Why, my dear — er— lieutenant — that is preposterous. That yacht of mine is absolutely private prop- erty. I’m -no more a member of the United States army or navy than you are. J—” “Ah,” coldly rejoined the lieutenant, his mild blue eyes growing sharp and hard —‘ perhaps there has been a mistake. any question that they formed it. THE ARGOSY. Perhaps it is another Louisa II and an- other Mr. Louis Hartmann who owns the yacht listed as a member of the United States Power Squadron of New York, which was Number Ninefy-Six in the practise maneuverings held in New York Bay last September!” There are times when one can get through more thinking in thirty seconds than he could accomplish in thirty ordi- nary hours of close application. My first thought caused me to give one startled glance at Louie. I was afraid he’d blow up and say things unbecoming a quasi-naval officer made prisoner by a German Herr Baron. If there’s one thing calculated to get Louie started, it’s the United States Power Squadron. He was enthusiastically in that effort to give amateur owners of pleasure vessels the proud feeling that they were practically commanders in the U. S. N. He was in it at the start. He had stayed in it up to this extremely parlous moment. Most of the members of the U. S. P. S. are ready any minute to swear that they were aSked to form their association by the authorities of the navy. There isn’t They trained themselves like anything. Those of them who were rich enough got new boats that looked as warlike as a deck- cleared battleship. And then—the navy didn’t take them on. It was a great disappointment. It was worse. It was an outrage. It was an un- speakable act of ingratitude to the high minded patriots who had spent themselves and their hard-inherited gold. The thought that, after all Uncle Sam’s unappreciative, ungrateful failure to recognize his pet society, he should be here, actually accused of acting as a spy, in danger of being summarily shot for be- ing a spy—this thought was enough to get Louie started.. It did, then and there. Louie forgot the lady. He forgot his own danger. He forgot everything but the raw deal suffered by the United States Power Squadron at the hands of the comicloool C©