Adventure Magazine Cover — page 63: what you’re looking at

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

Yellow Men and Gold Carrol seated himself at the head of the table, forcing Bessie to sit at his right hand. Lichee, his eyes heavy with sleep, came next to his mother; then Kelsey, Brandreth, myself, the Doctor and Swigot. The place at Carrol’s left was for Carmen, but she did not at once take it. “T am waiter,” she said; “I pass them dishes, and pass that wine.” One by one we served ourselves from a tureen of bean soup that Carmen, laughing noisily, handed the rounds of the table. Then, stepping to a kind of sideboard that had been rigged, she took from it a bottle of wine, wrapped in a napkin, and went once more the round of the table filling the men’s glasses. “Good girl,” said Carrol. “And now, my happy family—here’s luck!’ He tossed off his glass of wine at one gulp, and held it out to Carmen to be refilled. Warmed by the generous liquor, he laughed aloud and, catching Carmen playfully round the waist, drew her on to his knee; she giggled, resisted, but went to him will- ingly enough, as it seemed. “That wine smells funny to me,” said the little Doctor. “Were you speaking to me?” I said coldly. ‘I didn’t taste it.” “Nor I,” said he, ‘it’s gone bad.” Swigot rose suddenly from his place. “T feel kind ’er giddy,” he said. ‘“‘It’s the smell of the lamps.”’ He went out into the fresh air. “Funny!” said Kelsey, “‘I feel sort of giddy—l’ve got a gripe in me stummick.”’ From her perch on Carrol’s knee Carmen smiled toward the speaker. “Maybe,” she said, “you take one, two drop spirit of lavender, you feel better. You not remember? You have little bottle label spirit of lavender?”’ Kelsey rose to his feet with a sharp cry of terror and anguish. “What’s the matter?” sharply. : “The matter!” cried Kelsey. “My God! —my God! the woman has poisoned us, and we are all dead men!” “Ts that true?” cried Carrol in an awful voice. He rose unsteadily, casting Carmen violently from him. “True,” she said, “it is as true as Roy Cunningham look down from heaven know cried Carrol 627 —you have drunk, an’ you an’ you, an’ now your dam’ soul go howling into hell!”’ Carrol caught up the empty bottle of wine by the neck and, swinging it over his shoulder, hurled it with frightful velocity into the woman’s face. She dropped with a sound of shattered glass and “Go first!’ he shouted. And the next second I had felled him with the chair upon which I had been sitting, and snatching a blunt knife from the table forced it some- how through his right eye into his brain. Then I rose, still howling like a wild beast with fury and indignation; but there was no need of any further effort. Kelsey and Brandreth were in convulsions on the floor; Swigot had not come back, and was un- doubtedly suffering his last throes, like a poisoned rat, in some corner of the ship. The Doctor alone, who had not touched the Wine, sat stiffly in his place. He was blue with fear. Bessie, holding Lichee by the hand, had backed against the wall. Carmen had not moved. Gradually the horrid sounds that came from my throat ceased, and I ran to Bessie, sobbing aloud, as a child runs to its nurse. “Buck up, Jim!” she said. ‘Buck up! We're not out of the woods yet. Never mind—there! You look out for Lichee, and T’ll clean the slate.” She darted around the table and caught the little Doctor by the shoulders and dragged him from his chair. “Now, my little bomb,” she cried, ‘“‘you’ve burst once on this ship, and done quite some damage, but you’ll never burst again! Overboard you go!” And she began to force him toward the cabin door. They disappeared, struggling violently, the strong, deep-chested woman and the weak, spindle-shanked man. One wild cry rang in my ears. A moment later Bessie, breathing hard, stood once more beside me. “Jim,” she said, ‘‘it’s all over now, and unless you and Lichee and I play each other false—why, all’s well. The money’s ours now—and there ought to be bright days coming to us all. Lichee, you monkey, you be fine rich Melican man some day. And Jim—Jim ” Here Bessie broke down, and sobbed, and I, catching her in my arms, had at that mo- ment no memory of any other woman. _ THE END COMMICOOCKKS.EO©