Adventure Trails, February 1929 — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

az = “3 = “Patriots,” he said slowly, his voice throbbing with the semblance of a great compassionate feeling. “My friends!” He stood there, a dramatic, even weird 1 ng red light of the = tre. clad in his symbdlic trappings ; stood - silent after his opening words, as though _ speech had been drowned by a flood of Se sheught. : ~ “T have called you here to-night,” he continued at length, and his great vibrant - voice rolled out as majestically as the lower register of a pipe organ, “to give to you a certain message. I have told you, or some of you, that I have come to lead ~~: you up from your present predicament; from the poverty and the wretchedness and the unhappiness which is now your lot. “Some few of you have seen my power, One or two of you,’—and the majestic voice was cold and very grim—*have felt that power. That it lies within me to : show you a way, I trust not one of you == “doubts.” ea He paused, serenely confident of the an- = st So af a — 2 - ee ae = = - -swer. It came: a fluttering whisper of : “Good! You are loyal; I have your confidence. Listen, then, to the message which is the message of the Scorpion!” Knowing the superlative value of sus- pense, Jarnoff waited a moment before = going on. Crouching behind him, gun un- = " ‘waveringly pointed at the bulking figure of the Scorpion, was Ted, and just at this instant, by way of impressing upon the speaker the fact that he should weigh his words carefully, Ted audibly cocked the revolver. Almost impereeptibly, Jarnoff started and wineed. It is not a pleasant feeling to have a very grim-eyed, determined, des- perate young man crouching behind you with a cocked and accurately aimed .45 bearing on the small of your back. “You have come here with hate in your —— hearts,’ continued Jarnoff just a trifle = hastily. “My lieutenants and myself have —— selected those of you whose hearts were most filled with hate, because you above all I wish to reach. ADVENTURE TRAILS “That hate you carry with you, that your heart distills into every drop of blood — that courses through your bodies, is not hatred of each other. It is not hatred of your country. It is not hatred of God. It is hatred of—the gringos!” A wild shout, unrestratned and brutal with savage feeling, rent the air. Jarnoff raised his hand in an angry,.commanding gesture, and silence fell on the instant. “Cease!” he commanded. “When the Scorpion has spoken, then, if it be your will, shall you shout. the word of the Scorpton. “This hate you have is poison. It strikes at you insidiously, ike a snake in the darkness. You must spew it out, you must rid yourselves of it, or else your condition of to-day is but a gentle fore- taste of that which is to come. The Scor- pion has called you here to hear his mes- sage. The Scorpion—has spoken!” OR a moment there was utter, as- tounded silence. Then, ike a wave But now listen to rushing for the shore, growing larger — every instant, there rose an incredulous whisper, shot through with angry mutter- ings. Someone, bolder than his fellows, cried out harshly: “To hell with the gringos!” and a loud, excited cheering greeted the words. There was the sound of a great commotion, and Ted, watching Jarnoff with unwinking eyes, wondered at the coolness, the effrontery, of the man. “Ceasef’ shouted Jarnoff again. “Do you dare debate the wisdom of the Scor- pion? Ha! Some of you have short mem- ories—some of you who have before now seen the will of the Scorpion done in the gray light of the dawn! Perhaps there be some among you who feel the Scorpion has lost his stinger? If so—let him stand forth! Let him stand forth and say to me that he defies the Scorpion and debates the wisdom of the Scorpton’s message!” Jarnoff delivered his challenge in a roll- ing, thunderous voice that fairly shook the earth with its power. His great body towered to its fullest height, his hideous, bearded face was thrust forward, the EComircboo <S) co : = . : 4, r ay eee SIS = —— ~ he ee a Ms, igh ane Ment Me ee gelnee Sgt 9 tap, ee le oe = FP ag ON ee te oma