Pulp Fiction, 1928 · page 50 of 68
10-Story Book, February 1928 — page 50: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is page 48 from "The South Sea Island Number" of a pulp magazine. It contains a black-and-white photograph on the left showing actress Mary Mallon in minimal clothing, with a caption explaining she took sun baths on a deserted South Seas island for a film and followed medical advice about sun exposure. The right side features prose narrative describing a character named Halcyon who was forced into marriage with Chief Talua's son but escaped by canoe, choosing the sea over her fate. The story mentions she hopes Talua will search for her, and ends with dialogue about sharks and a character named Sebastian. The text appears to be adventure fiction set in the South Seas.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE SOUTH SEA ISLAND NUMBER She Decided to Burn All Over did Mary Mallton, this movie actress who was advised by her doctor to take daily sun baths over as many square inches of her fair self as she could. So Mary went to a deserted island off a larger island in the South Seas, and with a few novels, a gasoline stove, and some canned goods, proceeded to follow doc’s advice. She got successfully over the pip or whatever mal- ady the old medical gentleman was fretting about, and when Bert Hedspeth of Denver, Colorado, who took the picture for our Tropical Number climbed out of his launch on the beach of her island, Mary hastily donned the only garment she had for re- ceiving company. This is her party dress. fro the Tropical Number of 10 Story Book, otographer Specially via Bert Hedspeth, Ph and Photo Dealer, Den- ver, Colorado, ess of some island or other; than ‘an epidemic had pretty well wiped out her own tribe; that when the thing was at its worst her mother had dressed her in her best toggery and shoved her in a canoe, and told her to paddle off to safer quarters ; that she’d landed at Yam Island and stated her case, and that they’d re- ceived her with anything but enthusiasm. “Tf Talua, the chief’s son, had not so badly wanted to marry me,” she said simply, “I think I should have been eaten.” To escape which she consented to be- come Mrs. Talua. And the wedding—al- ways, in the case of blood royal, a fairly gaudy and elaborate affair — had been fixed up for to-day. But at the critical moment Halcyon had jibbed. When I saw the bridegroom-elect I didn’t blame her. That, of course, was unpardonable. When, as a special and final concession, they granted her an extra half hour to de- cide whether she’d figure among the wed- ding announcements or on the menu, she repaid their kindness by wriggling out of the bamboo cage in which they’d fas- tened her and making a dash for the coast. She had a wild hope of finding her own canoe again, but it wasn’t there, and in less than no time the whole tribe were sprinting after her. It was literally a case of being between the devils and the deep sea, and she chose the sea. I’d have done the same myself. “Presently,” she said, “I think Talua will‘come to look for me.” She stretched herself and yawned, showing all her small, white teeth. “And then?” says Sebastien and me in a sort of chorus. “Then you save me again, or I jump back into the waters again. Where there are mostest sharks,” she added calmly. We left her drying her finery at the gallery fire. On deck, Sebastien was un- COMICOOOKS.CO mn