Adventure Magazine Cover — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

18 hoarse shout of “Boarders away!” poured over the rail at the head of their crew, firing their pistols, swinging axes and cutlases, thrusting madly with their pikes. Avary, keyed to a pitch that linked bra- vado with cold dexterity, fired four pistols with deadly aim and ran through a turbaned Moor who rushed him with raised simitar. He saw Horton smite a man with his cutlas so that the heavy steel clove through the skull to the eyes, wedging in the bone while Horton tugged at it fiercely, cursing. A giant negro rushed at the mate with a long knife, and Horton kicked him in his groin. The black collapsed in agony, and Horton, wrenching free his cutlas, pinned him to the deck with a thrust through his heart and passed on roaring down the alley opened up by Avary. It was a massacre—not a fight. A slaugh- ter—as Horton had foretold—of a flock of sheep, falling back from those ravening wolves of pirates, jammed together, fright- ened, not a quarter of them armed, crying for mercy, praying to Allah, their supplica- tions mocked by the imprecations of the triumphant pirates who butchered them at will. The Moorish mariners had been di- vided to defend the attack of the sloops and were pistoled or cut down to a man. Only on the poop was the issue ever doubtful. There, forced down the ladders by the weight of onslaught, joining others who were ranged in front of the entrance to the main cabin, a group of men fought with desperate, effective valor. Their mien as well as their clothes and weapons and the manner in which they handled the latter proclaimed them to be of high rank. They-wore spiked helmets of light steel that had neckpieces. They wore mail and carried circular shields. Their swords were curved and each sword had drunk the lifeblood of at least one opponent. _ Chief among them was an old warrior with the eyes of an eagle and a ropelike gray mustache in strong contrast with his brown skin. As he fought, covering himself with his shield, his tulwar flashing out like the strokes of a fighting panther, he shouted a warcry in his own language. Horton made for him with bludgeon strokes that failed to beat down the guard of the ancient, whose blade licked out and brought the blood from the mate’s shoulder. Horton, roaring like a bull, snatched a - round shield from one of the knightly group Adventure who had just fallen, hamstrung by a pirate whom he had run through. Holding the shield—which had a.sharp horn at the boss —the mate hurled himself clear of the deck and crashed full tilt and full weight upon the other, who gave ground to the on- slaught, staggering back, tripping over a prone body, crashing against the wall of the ‘cabin. The way was clear to the door that they had guarded. Avary, rushing through to the cabin, saw Horton hold steel to the old fighter’s throat and bid him surrender. yaaa IT WAS time for quarter to be “Si begged and granted. The dhow was a pandemonium of blasphemy, of groans, threats and prayers. The pil- grims were leaping overboard to escape the ~ victorious pirates. Avary’s one thought was the Mogul’s daughter whom this honorable and devoted guard of Rajputs had sought to save. The fight, was practically over, the dhow cap- tured. He left the handling of surrender to the mate. To slaughter more than a thou- sand helpless pilgrims would pall the desire of the most bloodthirsty and hold up the chief purpose of their attack—loot. The essence of all that booty, Avary be- lieved, lay in the person and in the personal ornaments of the Mogul’s daughter— though he thought only of the woman for the time, mflamed with the afterlust of fight and brandy. The cabin was floored with magnificent rugs and hung with Oriental draperies, set about with silken divans and cushions. It was empty, save for two negro guards—giant eunuchs—who stood with drawn simitars in front of an inner door. Their eyes rolled in the dusk as Avary came leaping in, a terrible figure enough, besmeared with blood, bringing the con- fidence of triumph with him through the opened door that let in the full flood of the raving, ramping noise of battle. It was dying down. Battle-cries were changing to shouts of glee as the pirates began to pillage individuals and spread through the dhow in search of booty. Horton had given quarter, and the looting had commenced. The eunuchs were picked men and Avary was alone. Their wide blades swung up as they shifted position to let him come be- tween them. Avary had two pistols yet unfired, retained for an emergency like this. comiclbooks (C@