Adventure, November 1915 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

The Gold Lust by the lamp—“that you would have a share in it anyway. Will you come over here where I can whisper it to ye?” Peggy, with bright eyes, came lightly over and perched on the arm of the big chair. “Remember now,” said Fellowes, ‘it’s still a secret. Just between you an’ me. You’re not to tell it unless I say so or un- less something should happen to me. then tell it when you want to. Only don’ be in too much ofa hurry. It’s worth three- quarters of a million!” Addams and Winton stepped aside while the old man cupped his horny palm and whispered into the shell-like ear of the girl, who nodded her comprehension as he whis- pered the information. “T understand,” she said. “And under no conditions am [I to tell it to any one but you, Archer,’’ she said, blushing a little. “That lets me out, > said Jim. “TI see where I have to be a private in this expedi- tion.” “Then you are beginning to think serious- ly of it?” queried Archer not without em- phasis. “Oh, I’ve caught it,’”’ acknowledged Jim “the gold fever, or the gold lust, or what- ever you call it. I’m infected. Go on with the yarn, Mr. Fellowes. Havea fresh cigar.’ ‘“‘Thankee kindly, I will,” said the old man, and lit one. oe the figgers in my watch. Well, I tore out the sheet from the log, any- way. I rolled it into a spill, filled my pipe “LET me see. Oh, I’d scratched an’ lit it with the page. I burned it to the . end an’ smeared out the ashes with my foot. Then I shoved the rest of the logbook ’way back in the lazarette. I felt better then. I bumped into the skipper’s coat hangin’ by the door as I was comin’ out, an’ struck ~ somethin’ hard. It was a pistol, loaded up. . stuck it in my pocket and felt equal to Henley any time. Then I took the grub up on deck. “Between us, though Henley was so weak he had to sit down every little while, we got the dingey into the water an’ stowed the provisions. We got into it to test it an’ the gunnels were pretty low. I caught Henley lookin’ at me an’ shifted so he could see the pistol in my pocket. He didn’t say a word till we got the boat afloat an’ tied an’ was both in the cabin takin’ a last look ’round. An’ ‘ean. a ae 15 Then he stopped by the box of gold that had been broken on the trip. “‘ “We better bury the rest of this in the caves,’ he said. ‘We can take this along, I reckon, if we dump one of those kegs of beef. How far’s Hawaii, did Ellersby say? Where’s the logbook?’ “He started to look for it, me watchin’ him. Presently he turned and looked at me. ‘Where is it?’ he asked. “T had my hand on the grip of the pistol an’ I looked back at him an’ says, af ‘It’ s no use lookin’ for it. I chucked it away.’ ‘He watched me steady for a minnit. ‘You artful devil,’ he says. ‘You must have got the figgers somewheres. You're a fox, you are,’ he says. ‘I always knew you for a smart ’un, that’s why I made a pal of you. Let’s have a look at the figgers, Jared, an’ we’ll map things out.’ “T kept my hand on the pistol an’ my eyes close on his. I could see he was won- derin’ whether he should make a jump for me, but he was pretty weak an’ I reckon I must have looked as if I was ready for him. ‘The figgers is in my head,’ I says, ‘an’ goin’ to stay there.’ “He shook his head at me as if he was admirin’ me for bein’ smart. ‘Foxy, Jared, foxy,’ he says, ‘but foolish. You might for- get em. Better put ’°em down while they’re fresh.’ ““ “Not me,’ I told him. ‘Hawaii’s about eight hundred miles, due northeast. That’s all you'll get out of me. I'll play square with you,’ I told him, ‘an’ now you'll have to play square with me.’ “He kept lookin’ at me close, wonderin’ whether I was lyin’. Then he give it up. ‘All right, Jared,’ he said, with a smile that looked like the start of a bite, ‘I see I’ll have to take good care of you.’ “That afternoon we worked like steve- dores handlin’ the gold. It was hot, an’ we stripped. Once Henley said he was played out an’ lay down for a bit of a nap while I finished hidin’ the chests where we’d put "em away inside the cave. I left him in the shade of a rock an’ when I came out he was still there with his eyes shut, but, when I picked up my clothes, I could tell he’d been through ’em, looking for a paper with the position set down on it. He didn’t think of the watch though. “I’d packed my pistol with me so he- couldn’t take that. I hadn’t thought of it CS (EAAieloxexe) com