Adventure Magazine Cover — page 37: what you’re looking at

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

Yeliow Treasure 27 The doctor looked from one to the other of us, his lips working soundlessly, his hands playing nervously with the fringe of the table cloth. “T delivered the packet to Mo-fo-Goo,”’ he said. ‘‘He was down at the dock when the ship came in. He’d been warned a month ago that we were coming, and he’d got the gold out of its hiding place, all ready to be shipped. The packet was just a “deliver to bearer’ order. His plans were made. He said he would see it aboard.”’ “But nothing’s come aboard but those two pieces of machinery that are on the deck,” cried O’Day. We were clear of the dock, and our engines were Swinging our stern around to the rush- ing yellow current of the river. Now that we were away from the shelter of the pier- houses, the murmur of the crowd betore the machine guns of the soldiers ashore came to our ears as a low thunder that seemed to make the blue-black night-air tremble. “That was Mo-fo-Goo’s plan,’’ said the doctor, dropping his voice to a helpless whisper. “They are the gold!”’ O’Day took his cap off, stared at the lining for a moment stupidly and then put it on again without wiping away the sweat that had started to his brow. “Tf this crew knows it—”he began in a weak voice; and then, bursting into sudden activity, he clattered down the ladder to the deck, with me at his heels. - ~ A knot of Chinese was chattering around the cases as they lay one to each side of Number 3 hatch; and at our approach the blue-clad figures ‘scurried forward with un- natural speed. After that, there was little hope in either of us as, with exaggerated carelessness, we strolled past, glancing at the cases. They had been loaded aboard carelessly, as heavy machinery; and the iron corner- strapping of one had come adrift. On the deck by that corner, glittering under the cargo-light, lay five gold coins. Vil ees FIFTEEN minutes later, O'Day, aii the doctor, old Mackenzie and my- self were in the midst of a council of war. Fraser, whom on our return to the bridge we had found dead asleep standing up, had turned in. The pilot, it seemed, was not one of the regular men, but a Chinese naval lieutenant sent aboard specially, and he had blandly informed us that he was quite capable of taking the ship out unaided. O’Day’s instincts rebelled against this vio- lation of precedent, but there was nothing to be done. Fraser was played out, snoring heavily on the captain’s settee; Burns was disabled ; and I knew that one moment’s release from the tensity of planning against death would send me to sleep as helplessly as Fraser. The only member of the conference around the red-checkered cloth who was anything like fresh was old Mackenzie, and he had been fully alert only since O’Day had poured into his ears the details of our posi- tion. “TY wouldn’t mind so much,’ O’Day ended, “‘if the girls weren’t aboard.” “Girls?’”’ I cried, ‘‘is May-sing here?” ‘Where the do you think she is?” snarled O’Day, his nerves on edge, ‘‘back in that city alone? What were we going to do when her father disappeared chasing that white Chinaman, except bring her along?” ‘““Where is she?” I demanded. ‘“She’s in Burns’ room with my daugh- ter,’ said old Parsons, “looking after him. But if you’re going to break up like that at the thought of her, young man, she’ll very shortly be over the side with her throat cut. Don’t gape at me! Think!’ “Where are we going to put them if there’s trouble?”’ I asked. “They'll stay where they are,’ snapped O’Day, “‘this is the most easily defended part of the ship. There’s only one way up here and that’s the ladder, and ie “But shan’t we be down there defending the gold?” I asked. “What in ’s name would they want with molesting the gold?” saidO’Day. ‘‘The only thing they can do is murder all of us and take the ship back. Run her aground somewhere and get the stuff off her. They can’t pick up those crates and swim ashore with the things in their teeth, you fool.” “‘T’d sooner they did that same than mur- der us a’,”’ said Mackenzie gently. “But wilful men maun hae their way. How do ye propose to stop them, Captain O’Day?”’ “How do you propose to stop your fire- men from coming up?” queried O’Day bit- terly. His head kept dropping toward the table-top an inch at a time, and every once in a while he would give a spasmodic jerk 9 Ccomnnicloookks © inn