Adventure Magazine Cover, December 18, 1919 — page 53: what you’re looking at

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

~~ Set Ut ee = Ya ' ae —— i nate TY ae ot eee, Saal ae $k el as A Prejudice against Suicide ment was of no value for reckoning. All he really knew had been gathered from his last look at the compass three hours earlier, coupled with the sound of a cer- tain very familiar bell and his expert judgment as to the speed at which they had been. running since he had got that data. He might be a mile or two out of the way. He knew they were not ten miles from land in three directions. He was soon adding to those miles as best he might in the face of the wind, but he was none of your timid liars who can not look you in the eye and lie convincingly. Hasting said nothing. His eyes sought the water-jug once more. They were growing bloodshot. He was uncomfortably aware that he had not eaten since noon of yesterday, but the hunger was forgotten in thirst. Purdue waited until Hasting’s eyes came back once more to the jug under the seat. “Better take a swallow of the water,” he suggested. “We got to drink some- times.” Hasting needed no second invitation. The jug was at his lips. He trembled . with eagerness—still more with a fear that he could not control the desire to drink the last drop the vessel contained. “Hold on,” Purdue interrupted as he tilted the jug at his lips. “I didn’t get any yet,” tested. “You—you didn’t?” the seaman man- aged to falter. ‘Well, that’s so much the worse. Don’t swallow more’n a tea- spoonful. Hold it in your mouth as long as you can. Who-o-up! drink none now. I’m used to it. look here, mate He broke off until Hasting croaked an encouraging— “Well?” Hasting pro- Say, OU got to sail this boat in yourself,” Purdue said in a tone that indicated an approach to a subject rather than the main statement of it. “Why—why—what for?” Hasting had given a single glance forward. Now that they were running with the wind on a forward quarter, the weather seemed almost appallingly rough to him. He shifted his glance to Purdue and failed to see any signs of such ina- - a x - at « g - ~~ Sey ite hee fj : ~ ~ . 6 tt te OE et i ee Ae a es Oe me 2 fo or No, I won’t 4 ag bility as should make it necessary for him to risk his inexperience. Purdue nodded at the jug. “Water,” he began enigmatically, Then he explained. “It’s goin’ to take not less than four days to make port. It looks now as if we was goin’ purty fast, but remember we got to beat it back and forth and we’re not covering our course near half the speed we’re goin’ through the water. Four days ’d mean nothin’ short of miraculous good luck. Gettin’ picked up anywhere near Here would be another miracle. We're off the ships’ path and away from all the fishin’ grounds. The truth is that the chance of gettin’ water in four days ain’t wu’th the torture of waitin’ for it. “They’s about a teacup of water left there. Well, it’s about enough to: keep a man alive four days; if he don’t take more’n three teaspoonfuls a day. <A man can keep alive doin’ that if he’s as strong as you are to start the game. It ain’t no pleasure trip—nothin’ like it— but it’s better’n bein’ dead. “Two men, though, couldn't pull through on it, so there you are. We can’t both live. Since I’m the captain and you’re the passenger, it’s up to me to pervide for you as best I can. You take this here wheel and Ill give you all I can of sailin’ knowledge in a couple of hours, then I’m goin’ overboard into plenty of water. I won’t be thirsty no longer, and you won’t die of thirst if you’re careful.” Eagerly he watched Hasting’s face. He saw at least half of what he had hoped to see and he heard: “The deuce you say! Do I get you right? You mean that you’re going to drown yourself in order to leave me with enough water to last until I can get to land? The you will!” ‘Nothin’ else to it,” Purdue came back stoutly. “I wouldn’t live through the sufferin’ of makin’ that jug last two of us two days on the chance that I’d have two days on top of it with no water at all.*' “Well, I would,” Hasting spoke posi- tively, ‘ a long sight sooner than “Say,” Purdue hastily interrupted, “you ain t never been real thirsty. You think you’re pretty thirsty now. Well, I’ve seen just twenty hours more of going CORMIC OO KS ee Te =e * ~*~ ae ~ i eae (eC)