Adventure Magazine Cover — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

8 ; Adventure — owners of other voices piped up at once from the shadow, ail together; croaking out of tune: “Bhig mangi shahebil Bhig mangi sha- hebil”’ (Alms! Alms!) “TI can see wild swans,” said Theresa. “Come and look—five—six—seven of them, flying northward, oh ever so high upP” “Put some clothes on, Tess!” - “T’m plenty warm.’ “Maybe. But there’s some skate looking at you from the garden. What’s the matter with your kimono?” However, the dawn wind was delicious, and the nightgown more decent than some of the affairs they label frocks. Besides, the East is used to more or less nakedness and thinks no evil of it, as women learn quicker than men. “All right—in a minute.” “T’ll bet there’s a speculator charging ’em admission at the gate,” grumbled Dick Blaine, coming to stand beside her in paja- mas. ‘Sure you’re right, Tess; those are swans—and that’s a dawn worth seeing.” He had the deep voice that the East at- tributes to manliness, and the muscular mold that never came of armchair criticism. She looked like’a child beside him, though he was agile, athletic, wiry, not enormous. > “SAHIB!” resumed the voices. “Sahib! Protector of the poor!” They whined out of darkness still, but the shadow was shortening. “Better feed ’em, Tess. A man’s starved down mighty near the knuckle if he’ll wake up this early to beg.” “Nonsense. Those are three regular bums who look on. us as their preserve. They enjoy the morning as much as we do. Begging’s their way of telling people howdy.” “Somebody pays them to come,” he grumbled, helping her into a pale-blue kimono. Tess laughed: “Sure! But it pays us too. They stn other bums away. I talk to them some- times.” “Tn English?” “T don’t think they know any. learning their language.” It was his turn to laugh. “T knew a man once who learned the gipsy bolo on a bet. Before he’d half got- ten it you couldn’t shoo tramps off his door- I’m step with a gun. After a time he grew to like it—flattered him, I suppose—but de- cent folk forgot to ask him to their corn- roasts. Careful, Tess, or Sialpore ‘ll drop us from its dinner lists.” —. ~“Don’t you believe it! They’re crazy to learn American from me, and to hear your cow-puncher talk. We’re social lions. I think they like us as much as we like them. Don’t make that face, Dick—one maverick isn’t a whole herd, and you can’t afford to quarrel with the commissioner.” He chose to change the subject. “What. are your bums’ names?” asked. “Funny names. Bimbu, Umra and Pinga. Now you can see them; look, the shadow’s gone. Bimbu is the one with no front teeth, Umra has only one eye, and Pinga winks au- tomatically. Wait till you see Pinga smile —it’s diagonal instead of horizontal—must have hurt his mouth in an accident——” “Probably he and Bimbu fought and found the biting tough: Speaking of dogs, strikes me we ought.to keep a good big fierce one,” he added suggestively. “No, no, Dick; there’s no danger. sides, there’s Chamu.”’ “The bums could make short work of that parasite.” “Ym safe enough. Tom Tripe usually looks in at least once a day when you're gone.” “'Tom’s a good fellow, but once a day— A hundred things might happen. Id bet- ter speak to Tom Tripe about those three bums—he’ll shift them.” “Don’t, Dick. I tell you they keep oth- ers away. Look, here comes Chamu with the chota hazri.” Clad in an enormous turban and clean white linen from head to foot, a stout Hindu appeared, superintending a tall, meek un- derling who carried the customary “little breakfast” of the country—fruit, biscuits and the inevitable tea that haunts all Brit- ish byways. As soon as the underling had spread a cloth and arranged the cups and plates Chamu nudged him into the back- ground and stood to receive praise undi- vided. The salaams done with and his own dis- missal achieved with proper dignity, Chamu drove the kamal away in front of him, and cuffed him the minute they were out of sight. ‘There was a noise of repeated blows from around the corner. he Be- comicbook (E(0)