Adventure, August 1917 — page 178: what you’re looking at

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

176 O’LEARY and Hop reported at the commandant’s office promptly = at ten the next morning. After waiting a few minutes in an outer office a sentry showed them in. Neither of the two sailors had thought to inquire who the commandant was. Their minds were so busy with the arguments they were going to use to save the dye, or a part of it, for themselves, that they failed to consider this important question. “Tt’s Humpy!” gasped O’Leary in an undertone, as the man at the desk swung around and faced them, receiving their — salutes coldly. ‘““You do the talkin’,” he whispered, and Hop, the burden of the interview thus unexpectedly thrown upon him, gulped a couple of times and blurted out— ‘“‘We’re from the Panther, about the dye we found.” ‘‘What about it?” snapped the official in the tone most likely to freeze the marrow in the bones of a sailor. Hop looked at O’Leary helplessly but received no aid. O’Leary stood immovably at attention, his face a little pale, but entirely expressionless. “‘We’d like to get—to see about our share of it,”” Hop finally managed to say. Captain Humphrey allowed himself the luxury of a smile of derision. “Your share,” he said, slowly, enjoying every word, “your share will be a court- martial for disobedience of orders. As for the dye, a tug attached to this yard salvaged it from the high seas. Since you two men are in the employ of the Govern- ment, you have no claim whatever upon 1 “We should have half,”’ blurted out Hop. ‘‘Nonsense,”’ said the other. ‘I have neither the time nor the inclination to discuss the matter with you two men. I am the commandant of this Navy Yard and will do as I see fit in the matter, one detail of which is to see that you, O’Leary, and this man with you, get the limit for disobedience of orders. ‘That will be all,”’ and very abruptly he turned back to his desk. “Mr. Humphrey,” spoke O’Leary for the first time. almost conciliatory. ‘If anybody else had found the dye, two merchant sailors, say, would it have made any difference?”’ Humphrey was so full of this long-waited- His tone was very humble, | Adventure for opportunity to get even with O’Leary that he forget the unusualness and impu- dence of a sailor continuing an interview after it had been closed by his superior. ‘““You’re getting to be quite a sea lawyer,” he said sarcastically, turning again to face O’Leary, “and I don’t mind telling you that half of the dye would have been yours under the circumstances you mention. Also according to a report here on my desk, the dye is worth approximately ten thousand dollars.”’ Then O’Leary did another very unusual thing. He laughed insolently in Captain Humphrey’s face. ‘“Humpy,” he said, using the other’s nickname boldly, ‘‘you think you’re a high and mighty aristocrat, but instead of that you’re just a plain fool. You’ve been waitin’ a long time to get me, and now you think I’m all sewed up, with a union jack at the head and achunk of iron at the feet, ready to be hove overboard. But you’re fooled, Humpy. Take a look at that’’— and pulling a paper from his pocket he spread it before the startled officer’s eyes. “You will notice,’ he continued while Humpy took in the paper’s contents, “that I was discharged from the United States Naval service two days before we dis- covered the dye. My friend here, Mister Flynn, has one out of the same bottle of ink. I guess we’ll take what share of the dye is comin’ to us. And as you remarked before, ‘that’ll be all,’ Humpy, now you can turn back to your daily task of browbeatin’ flatfeet. But don’t ever try to put one over until you’ve got your man in irons.”’ Beckoning to the astonished and startled Hop the two walked out, leaving Captain Humphrey very red with impotent rage. *‘He’ll fix you when you ship over,” said Hop fearfully as they hurried back toward their ship. ‘“‘No, he won’t,”’ assured O’Leary. due for retirement in two months. never get another chance at us.” “But Mike,” said Hop, ‘‘how’d you know to get Captain Black to give us our dis- charge at sea? I forgot all about it in there.” “‘T followed a hunch, son,” said O’Leary. ‘The day our enlistments expired was the very day six years ago that Humpy and me ““Fe’s He’ll had a little set-to down in Mexico. [I'll tell you about it some day.” Comicoooks.conm