Adventure Magazine Cover, April 3, 1918 — page 105: what you’re looking at

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

A Shift into Reverse the men by him. Maybe it wasn’t right to wait for Reasoner. ‘“There’s a man down in stateroom twelve,” he blurted out, “he’s hurt ne “Twelve, you say,” interrupted the man. “Why, I wouldn’t go back into twelve for all the money in the world. It’s next the refrigerator plant, and the ammonia pipes are breaking. Not for me. How do you know there’s somebody there yet?” Weber did not answer, for Dick Rea- soner’s boat was alongside. ‘“‘Where’s Dugan?’ asked Reasoner. “Things are looking mighty bad, and we want to get all our men off. The passen- gers are all accounted for, and the rest of it is up to the Senator’s officers.”’ “Dugan’s hurt,’ said Weber, taking the easiest explanation to save time. ‘‘He’s in stateroom twelve and can’t get out. I can’t lift him by myself.” “All right,” said Reasoner cheerfully. “Jump out, half a dozen of you, and follow Weber.” Not a man of the second division moved. They did not intend to undergo even a slight risk for the sake of the hated Dugan. Reasoner had feared this. His first thought was that if the men of the division would help Dugan the man might feel grate- ful enough to relax a little in his severity. But the feeling against him had gone too deep. The second did not care what became of Dugan. “Come now,” persisted Reasoner. “IT know how it is, but this has to be done. I would go myself if I didn’t think it would do more good to have you go. There’s no danger.”’ “No danger!’ exclaimed one of the men on the gangway, and just ready to step into the boat. ‘Number twelve is right at the fire, and word has just come that the passage is filled with ammonia gas from the ice-tanks. The whole blooming ship is likely to go fluey any minute!”’ “Out you go,’ insisted Redsoner. He was sorry now that he had issued the order, but once given he felt that it must be obeyed for the good of the division. His tone was sharp, incisive, the men re- spected and liked him. “The two forward thwarts,” he directed. “We'll do it for you,” said one of the men, as the four stepped on to the gangway. Weber ran in front of them. “The more we hurry, the safer it will be,” 103 he encouraged, but those following did not increase their pace. | ‘We'll see how it looks,’”’ muttered one. As Weber plunged into the smoke they hesitated, ran after him for a few paces, and then slowed to a walk. A man with his head tucked into his arm and dragging a hose, bumped into them. “Get out of here!’ he directed. tain’s orders. don ship!” The four stopped. Weber had disap- peared in the smoke down the passage. ‘“What’s it to me about Dugan?” said one. ‘I’m for taking the safety-first route. What do you say, fellows? We can tell Reasoner that we couldn’t make it.” ‘“‘Where’s Weber?” asked another. hate to let the kid go on alone.” “When he finds out he’s alone, he’ll come on out,’ said the first speaker. “We couldn’t find him now if we went on.” And so it was that the four men trailed out into the clearer air on deck, and at the suggestion of the leader decided to wait a few minutes for Weber before they reported to Reasoner. ““Cap- Take your places for aban- Lak ¢ CAIN DUGAN only lapsed into | complete unconsciousness for a few CN Minutes. The shock of the two steel-jacketed bullets, the first one through his upper body, and the other through his right arm and shoulder as he extended his arm to catch the gun, wore off quickly, and as he sat up on the deck he saw that he was alone. “Left me to burn,” he muttered, ‘‘but T’ll fool ’em yet.” Then he sought to pull himself to his feet against the wall. Half-way up his unin- jured arm gave way, and he sank down. ‘The kid did shoot,” he said weakly. “T thought I had him busted.” Both of Dugan’s wounds were bleeding freely, and he could feel himself losing strength. To reach the fassage outside and get through the smoke to the upper deck, he must lose notime. With his unin- jured hand, he bound a part of his blouse around the arm, wadded the remainder into a pack over his body wound, and started to crawl to the door. Twice on the journey he stopped to rest, but kept on doggedly. The smoke interfered with his breathing, and the injured arm dragged uselessly, making his progress difficult. a) COnniclooo SCO)