Adventure Magazine Cover — page 61: what you’re looking at

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

Yellow Men and Gold —that’s all. God knows I’ve enough mur- ders on my conscience to last me, and I don’t want another. So, Jim, any time you don’t like your company you can either get a prescription from the Doctor or—jump.” “Thank you,” I said. “And meanwhile,” said he, “you will be free daytimes to go and come as you like; to eat with us, and to steep your sense of the picturesque in such bacchanalian scenes as are liable to occur from time to time. Boys will be boys!” said he. ‘And now let us bury the dead!” CHAPTER XXVIII WAITING ce CE I was allowed to come and go as I pleased, I passed the rest of the day with the women and Lichee in the cabin. They were no longer bound, but had been forbidden the deck under pain of death, it being the intention, I suppose, to reduce them to quiet submission by this and other bullying methods. And woful as was my own perspective fate, I am happy to think that at this time my thoughts were mostly for them. I was to die, before very long, by my own hand, according to Carrol’s calcu- lations; but Bessie and Carmen were to furnish sport before their necks were wrung for them; and dreadful as that thought must have been to them, yet I think it was more dreadful to me. And I was resolved that when the time came, when the first violence was offered to one or the other, I would choose that mo- ment for my enforced act of suicide. But it should not be a meek and sheepish finale. Man of peace that I was, I was determined to go warlikely out of the world, with blood upon my hands. “T tell you,” that man long time ago. an’ now I say, ‘I tol’ you so. “We were fools!”’ I said. “And now what become of us woman, I ask?” ‘““Now look here,” said Bessie, her face haggard and white with grief, but the luster and shining quality of her eyes undimmed, ‘one thing ata time. We’re not threatened at the moment, and won’t be as long as this wind holds. no post-mortems, or ante-mortems. -Let’s either get together and think a way out, or said Carmen, “for to kill You not do it, y aS) For God’s sake let’s have’ 625 let’s pass these last hours cheerfully.” ‘“T think sometimes,” said Carmen, ‘‘I run out and jump into the water.” ‘T think of that, too,” said Bessie. “But so long as they don’t hurt Lichee I’m going to hold on to life as hard as I can—no mat- ter what happens. What difference does it make? I’m low enough by all human rules; and I’m ready to step lower—yes, smiling—if only there’s an off chance that they'll sicken of me and not hurt the boy and put us ashore somewhere.”’ ‘““There’s no chance they do that,” said Carmen, ‘not me. They let us go—we tell on them pretty quick. They not let that happen!” “No,” said Bessie, ‘‘it’s just a pipe-dream —but my little boy—he can’t hurt them— he can’t bear witness against them— He couldn’t, could he, Jim?” ‘Not legally,” I said. “But don’t you worry about him, Bessie—we’re full grown and can stand anything, and must, I dare say; but there must be a white spot in every man; and I believe that Carrol’s got a speck of a one. Honestly, I think he won’t hurt the boy.” The cabin floor was strongly pitched to port, owing to the deep keeling of the Shan- tung. Its angle was as a barometer of dan- ger or safety. Let it but keep its pitch indefinitely, and the women were indefi- nitely safe, for our captors would need every man among them to sail the ship; but let the wind fall and the cabin floor swing back to the level, then, I made sure, other mat- ters would at once occupy their minds. But all that afternoon of waiting and thinking out desperate and futile stratagems the boards maintained their sharp slant, only varying it with the pitch and roll of the ves- sel; but toward sundown the general angle began sensibly to diminish, and it was evi- dent that the wind had begun to fall. “Wind ’s falling, Jim,’’ said Bessie. ‘““Yes, Bessie,” I said. “Well,” she controlled her voice with some difficulty, ‘dear old Jim, we’ve been good pals. You’ve liked me in spite of the black marks, and I’ve liked you, God knows how much!” Carmen rose, walked to the cabin port and stood looking out upon the sea; in a corner —that same occupied by Chang in his coffin—Lichee lay sleeping and curled into a ball. “Jim,” said Bessie, ‘‘we’ve all got to die Gomicbdookseeo