Adventure Magazine Cover — page 96: what you’re looking at

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

gO with many uncouth noises as she gazed awestruck at the rich quill-cloth, and at the silver-gilt frame mirror the trader had given her. ; Maru watched her the long night through to see that she made no attempt to escape. With the sun well up the next morning one of the alarm-guns went off. There was a yell and a sound of many feet scampering for cover. The trader, who had been shav- ing, wiped his face off hastily, and seizing a rifle made for the veranda. Between the palms- he could see a host of dark little forms, queer wizened faces peering at him from behind scaly trunks, and strong fingers twitching upon the hafts of throwing-spears. As the trader had expected, the Little People had returned from the rout of the fleeing island natives and had taken up the trail of Maru again, following it to the cave and then back to the house. The trader called out the woman he had abducted and urged her to speak to her people. She hung her head and waited for permission, so the trader called for a chief to come forward and listen to the woman. There was a short heated consultation among the palms, and then three men, evidently chiefs, stepped forward and ad- vanced slowly toward the veranda. That they were nervous was apparent, for they cast frequent wild glances around and clutched their spears apprehensively. The trader halted them with a word when they had approached near enough. He was afraid they would upset another of the trip- lines, and the explosion, he knew, would send every last man back to the jungle, and the present golden opportunity would be lost forever. The foremost of the three, a somewhat fat, greasy-looking man, spoke sharply to the woman, and she raised her head and an- swered at length. She displayed the gifts she had been given and pointed repeatedly at the trader as the source of so much wealth. The trader let his rifle rest against the veranda rail, and stepped away from it as a sign of peace. He had a revolver hidden under his armpit, and Maru had the three chiefs covered from the roof. After the woman had ceased talking the trader threw a bolt of calico, strings of beads, a few penknives and other articles to the chiefs. They accepted the gifts courteously and with evident delight. Adventure The trader then made a neat speech. He apologized for drawing the Little People into the fight, he apologized for taking the wo- man. But he was sure the warriors had en- joyed themselves, and he knew that the woman had received no hurt, but rather had obtained a great deal of riches. He explained how both Karea and Lu had threatened him, and that he could not fight a thousand men at once. Wherefore he had had to get assistance, and he had worked out the only plan he knew. This last caught at the Little People’s sense of humor. During the speech the other warriors had come forward from the palms and gathered around their chiefs. As the trader drove home his point of why he had lured them across the ravine they started to chuckle, giggled for a space, and then burst into roars of laughter. The trader sighed with relief. He knew that he had won now, but for a while he had dreaded whether the Little People would forgive him. If they chose to declare war on him he would have to leave the island, or else they would get him all right. But the sense of humor the warriors possessed saved him. The very grove shook with mirth. High revel the grove saw that night. The trader distributed gifts with a lavish hand and supplied all sorts of tinned delicacies for the feast. He only put his foot down on the eating of the slain bodies of Karea’s and Lu’s men, but as there was an immediate outcry he gave way and had the pleasure and the experience of seeing “long pig” served up as it had been in the youth of the world. After all, it was not his business. Morals and ethics that were good yesterday were changed today. It was all according to how you looked at things. With the dawn the heavily laden Little People melted into the jungle, loud in their praises of the white man, taking the abduct- ed woman with them. Ever after they were the trader’s friends, and many the fine bag of copra he got from them when they passed the way of the house on their hunt- ing-trips. THREE days later Karea pre- w@ ¥ sented himself. The king walked Em with all humility to the veranda steps and rubbed his nose in the dirt. For nearly fifteen minutes he expressed his sorrow that a party of his hot-headed young GCOMIIGIOO S C@©