Adventure Magazine Cover — page 93: what you’re looking at

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

Shanghai Fried Chicken | he’d never sicked them Chinee cops on us, I'll leave off goin’ to sea. Bos’! Are you with me—do we git ’im?” Fhe Bos’ sat up m his corner. “We'll get ’im,” he answered, and they shook hands heartily. Deck drew back suddenly with an ex- pression of blank foolishness on his face. “Holy smoke, Bos’! he ejaculated. *“Ho-ly smoke! Suppose she sails before we get out of this glory-hole. She can’t be gonna stay much over a week longer now an’ we’re in fer tendays. We gotta get outa this place before she sails!” “* "Vast heavin’, Deck, ’vast havin?” * cut in the bosun. “Oi think maybe we moight get one of these here ugly lookin’ Chinymen I see litterin’ the decks as we was escorted into our stateroom, and maybe if we asked © him right he’d go and foind out for us jest whin she is leavin’.”’ He fetched a deep yawn and hauled him- self to his feet. “Fat. chance!’ came Deck’s scornful re- tort. “These Chinks ain’t doin’ nothin’ fer love, an’ I don’t know what in else we got after the cleanin’ out they gave our pockets before they shoved us in here. Just how was you figgerin’ to persuade any of ’em?” The Bos’ replied slowly in a tone of mock resignation. “T wish you wasn’t so hasty, Deck. If it wasn’t thot Oi know ye didn’t mean the tone of voice ye was speakin’ in, Oi’d never show ye what ye’re now about to see.” With that the Bos’ sat down on the floor and under the silent and scornful stare. of Deck, began removing his shoes. From in- side each shoe he drew a thin pack of some- thing very much resembling American dollar bills but smaller. Deck whistled. _ “Say, that ain’t money, is it?” he asked wonderingly. “Yer right,” said the Bos’, “it ain’t; that is, not in the United States. But this here is Chiny, an’ in Chiny if it looks like money, . then money it is.” “Cigar coupons?” queried Deck. The Bos’ nodded. ; “Oh, you foxy son of a gun,”’ the engineer clapped him on the shoulder. “Oh you ——” he broke off and rushed to the heavy wooden. door. _ Placing his face close to the small, barred. . opening he let out a shrill whistle between his teeth that rose to an almost siren shriek. In the darkness of the narrow corridor he caught sight of a startled Chinese jailer looking wildly about him to discover the source of the sound. When Deck called to him he approached with timid steps and refused to come within three feet of the door of the cell. Turning quickly. Deck ehispestd to the bosun, “‘Gimme some o’ them coupons, pronto, I got a Chink out here.” He snatched a - from the Bos’s out- stretched hand and waved it through the opening. ° “Look, Charlie—plenty money—money, you sabee money?” The Ceitarne moved slowly toward the door as if drawn by a lodestone. Deck’s wheedling voice continued: “See money? When ship sail? We don’t know! You find out when ship sail, we give you plenty money. Sabee?”’ The Chinaman opened and shut his. immense wide mouth and stared at the coupons with uncomprehending eyes. As Deck got a nearer view of the China- man’s face he chuckled and whispered to the bosun who was standing close beside him. _ “What do you know! It’s one o’ them Chink: cops that brought us here. He’s makin’ out he don’t sabee, but I’ll bet we can get him.” Pressing his face to the barred opening Deck began again to speak to the Chinaman. His voice fairly dripped sweetness— ‘Charlie, you sabee ‘ship’?”” 7 The flat, yellow head nodded vigorously. “You sabee ‘sail’?” This time there was a slow shaking of the head. “Sail -it! Look here.” Deck placed his flat palm, thumb up, in the window, then uttering a low “toot | toot!’ he moved it slowly across the space. At that, the Chinaman’s face split into a broad grm. Wfth sparkling eyes and quick, little nods he imitated the engineer’s motion several times, repeating. under his breath, *“Toot-toot, toot-toot.” Anxiously, Deck now put the crucial word— ce When?”’ For a moment the slant Oriental brows met-in a puzzled frown. “Does he undershtand?” queried the Bos’ in Deck’s ear, but Deck was too sae to reply. GEomichooks