Adventure Magazine Cover, April 1916 — page 188: what you’re looking at

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

186 of surprise on his face that made Miss Dem burst out laughing, despite the seriousness of the moment. All about them the passengers were scrambling to their feet. They were in vari- ous stages of panic—some in the cold stun that comes just before yelling. There was a rush for the doors. They were jammed. One heard glass breaking, voices raised appealingly, terrifiedly, in com- mands that no one heeded. Jimmy wrenched free the little red-han- dled ax that always looks so silly when the train is spinning safely along. He battered a way through the nearest window and helped keep order when the rush came for the exit. Miss Dem, as she climbed through, felt as if the whole thing had happened a hun- dred times before. Jimmy Squires dropped to the ground beside her, and finding her in no need of assistance ran forward to offer his services to the conductor. He was a helpful soul, was the Hot Dog, and glad to do some- thing to keep his mind from the gamut of unpleasant thoughts that had engaged it for the last few hours. Miss Dem, moving here and there, help- ing where and whom she could, saw a fat man carried out of the smoker. He was groaning horribly, and one arm hung limp in the ‘sleeve of his overcoat. She caught a glimpse of his chalky white face. It was Falworth. Quickly she turned and followed, while they laid him on the grass by the ditch. She sat down near by, and watched the doctor set and bind his arm in an impromptu sling. He still gave vent to blood-curdling groans, so that a little boy who had stood trembling quietly till then—rent the air with terrified screams. The doctor gave an exclamation of impa- tience. He bent over Falworth with an air of determination. “See here,” he said, “‘you’ve only an arm broke. Try and control yourself.” But Falworth groaned all the louder. Miss Dem’s lip curled. Nevertheless, since he seemed to be in pain, she stooped over him after the doctor moved on, and drew his overcoat closer about his broken arm. As she did so a roll of papers slid out of the pocket. All shapes and sizes and colors they were. And over them went scrawlings like the footprints of an ink-spider on a jag—the familiar fist of Jimmy Squires. jo Adventure With an exclamation of amazement, Miss Dem slipped them into her own pocket. Falworth opened his eyes. ““What—you!”’ he ejaculated, starting with unpleased surprise. “Yes,” she answered quietly, “Jimmy Squires and I came down to register his invention of fire-proof film.’’ She watched him narrowly. He started in good earnest. ‘‘Why—his film was no good. It blew up the safe. No one would look at his patent after that!’ “Oh,”’ Miss Dem remarked thoughtfully. “So it did blow up—and his notes too?” Falworth raised himself to a sitting pos- ture, propping his back against a fence. “Yes, his notes went too,” he told her. ‘But they wouldn’t have been any good to him. No one would have touched any film on that formula.” Miss Dem felt a hand on her shoulder. Jimmy had come up behind her. It was plain from the expression of his face that he had heard Falworth’s words, and felt hurt at the matter-of-fact tone in which he said them. Miss Dem held out the little bundle of notes to him without a word. He stared at it a moment in utter unbe- lief, then snatched it from her with a cry of y. “My notes! Where did you get them?” Before she could answer, Falworth sprang forward and all but wrenched them out of his hands, then fell back with a cry of pain. Then and there Jimmy wrung the truth out of Falworth, and in the heart-searching talk that followed, Miss Dem paused in sheer admiration occasionally, to hear the choice line of invective the Hot Dog, who was by this time very hot indeed, got off in extracting the sullen answers from the man who had deceived and robbed him. While they had it out, with the doctors hurrying to and fro, and the wreck-scarred people all about them, Miss Dem on her own initiative prepared a statement. It read thus: “J Joseph Falworth, declare to all parties interested, that I did wilfully and deceit- fully, for my own gain, discredit the inven- tion of James Squires for non-combustible film; and did divert the same to my own advantage, using his notes for registration at the Patent Office in Washington this day (November 10, 19=——-). Inow declare that the invention of the said James Squires is—” CoOMmicboooks CO