Adventure, June 1911 — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

220- the beach and made him comfortable in the boat-room of the Gilgo station. Then, just as Reynolds was about to leave, O’Donnell stopped him. ~ “Tf Billy’ll lend me his gun,” he said, “T’ll try to hold my end of that shootin’ up.” ‘But you never said you could shoot, & protested Reynolds. “If you think “you’ve got a chance, though “He never said he could swim, either!” broke in Saunders. ‘‘That is, he never said he could swim good. By Moses, Jim, let ’ him try it! them kind that don’t brag bout what they can do. If he’s willin’ to shoot, I say let him shoot!”’ Saunders, upon receiving a nod from Bennett, hustled about, took the gun out of its case, put it together, and handed it to O’Donnell. “Now, son,” he instructed him, “you hurry out there an’ do your darndest. If you get beat there won’t be any hard feelings ’bout it, anyhow.” When the judges were informed of Ben- nett’s accident they consented to O’Don- _nell’s taking his place, and immediately sent him to the trap. He missed the first bird and a despairing groan arose from the Zachs Inlet crew. Then he broke the next four, and that groan was changed into a joyful cheer. The shooting continued, and as Keeper Rorke broke bird after bird, and O’ Donnell did not seem to know what it was to miss after that first lost bird, it became evident that again this: “‘little runt,” as Bennett had called him, was the mainstay of their team. Then the Keeper micced one, but recov- ered and broke his last five cleanly, retiring with a score of nineteen broken, which was evidently most satisfactory to him, if you could judge from the smile upon his face. Now O’Donnell’s name was called. He was the last man to shoot and upon the result of those five shots hung the championship. Keeper Rorke was high man with nine- teen, and Howell and Pike of Napeague were tied with eighteen each. If O’Donnell did not beat the Napeague shooters, the Keeper’s score would do no good, as the five points would make Zachs Inlet but twenty- two, while Napeague, with a second and third, counting four, would total twenty- three points. I begin to believe he’s one of Adventure He was by far the calmest man in the crowd when he faced the trap. With four- teen breaks to his credit it meant that he would have to make a clean score on these next five birds to win the championship for his station. One miss, and he would tie the Napeaguers. Two. missed, and the cup was surely lost. ““Are you ready?” he coolly asked the trapper. “Ready!” wasthereply. ‘Pil!’ Crack! That target was broken into*a thousand particles. Again the question and-reply, followed by the sharp command, ° “Pull!” and another target smashed., Saunders was hysterically patting “Rey-" nolds on the back and muttering what-was J meant as words of encouragement to- the shooter. 3 Two more of the clay saucers were broken: by that impassive man facing the trap, and. now he was calmly loading his-gun for the final shot. ‘“‘S’pose he misses “it!” ‘whispered Rey nolds. “He ain’t a-goin’ to!”? Saunders réplied earnestly. ‘‘Didn’t I tell you so?” he shouted as the gun cracked and. the ‘ast. target was broken. But Reynolds did not hear him, for his shout was drowned in the: cheer that arose from-the others of. thé Zachs Inlet crew and their adherents. among. the spectators. There was an excited group surrounding: O’Donnell, who did not have to await the. judges’ decision. They knew they were the champions of Oak Island, and they also knew that but for this little man in their midst they would have lost. They were all talking at once, but O’Donnell listened with a composed countenance to their ex- travagant praises until Reynolds lifted his voice above the rest. “He don’t look like he amounted to much,” he cried, ‘‘but, boys, I want to tell you right here, we'll know better’n to pick a man by his size next time!” Then he was interrupted. ‘Say, Jim,” inquired the object of this flattery, ‘ “sure an’ there’s one thing I’d like to know, an’ that’s this: Do you think there’s a man on the island can beat me jiggin’?”’ And Reynolds, remembering his reply when that same subject had been intro- duced before, repeated it. ‘Oh, -——!”’ he said, but this time his voice did not. express disgust and annoyance. COmicClboooks (©