Adventure Magazine Cover, April 3, 1918 — page 169: what you’re looking at

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

Two Strong Men Spain. Born of the most ancient and im- poverished house of de Torres, my captain, Don Diego, thinks never of gain, but always of honor. The Spaniards in his crew boast of the many battles he has fought with the English, the Moros and other pirates. So great is his skill and valor that he has never lost a ship entrusted to his care. And so wonderful is his honesty that, though he has had charge of whole cargoes of silver | and gold, he is still poor.” “There can be no question, then, of bribing such a man,” said Kurushima, with much satisfaction. The idea had been utterly repugnant to - his straightforward, hard-hitting nature; but Hideyoshi’s commands had been ex- plicit. Now, however, the Daimio could go ahead after his own methods, with his conscience free. Obedient to the dictator’s will, he had proceeded with the utmost caution. No sooner had the San Gregorio entered Urado harbor, early that morning, than he had seen to it that certain effective but unob- trusive methods had been taken to bar her exit. Moreover, out from the mist- shrouded shore had darted a dozen chal- lenging guard-boats, crammed with picked swordsmen, ostensibly to demand the reason for the stranger’s intrusion. Had there been evidence of panic or unpreparedness on board; the galleon, she would have been boarded and captured then and there. But a culverin had roared from a lower- deck port, and an eighteen-pound solid shot struck the water so close to the bows of the leading guard-boat that the column of spray it raised fell on and drenched the startled rowers as they instinctively backed water. So there was a halt and a parley, in which Ichio served as interpreter. And when, as a result of that parley, the guard- boats withdrew and some of the galleon’s crew rowed ashore as the sun drank up the mist, to begin the all-day task of filling the water-casks, Ichio came with them and presently slipped away to the castle to make his report to the Daimio. “It is true that Don Diego can not be bought with gold,” he said regretfully. “But he has one weakness: he is in love. “On the last voyage from Acapulco to Manila, we had as passenger the Lady Ysabel, daughter of the Governor of the Philippines. Never, oh Lord of Tosa, have T seen so beautiful a maiden. All on board 167 worshiped her—the very Lascars made verses in her praise, which the lookout sang as he walked in the bows at night. And from the high poop, Don Diego and the Lady Ysabel would look down together at the moonlight on the sea. Long before we reached Manila, we knew, from the way those two looked at each other, that they were in love.” “What have this captain’s private affairs ~ to do with me?” Kurushima inquired. “This: there is in them a means for getting this ship into your hands, Most Mighty One.” “Go on then,” the Daimio commanded. ‘When we reached Manila,” the spy continued, “we found no fleet of trading- junks from China, as there should have been, with silks and porcelains for the galleon’s return voyage to Acapulco. The fierce Moro pirates from Sulu had frightened them all away. Great was the clamor of the Manila merchants to the governor, who talked loudly but did nothing.’ It was a great calamity to all in Manila, for in the China trade lies all their wealth, and they live but for the fat profits from the sale of those goods in Acapulco. ‘“‘As soon as we had discharged our lading of Spanish goods and Mexican silver, Don Diego went to the governor and offered to sail the San Gregorio into the Sulu Sea, destroy the pirates, and re-open the China trade. This was a voluntary service on his part, for he is not an officer of the governor of the Philippines, but of the viceroy of Mexico. Overjoyed, the governor bade him name his own reward; and Don Diego asked for the hand of the Lady Ysabel. This was overheard by one of my comrades, a servant in the Palacio. Nothing is said or done in Manila that we servants of Japan do not Know. “Now there was in Manila a cunning rogue who called himself Don Feliz de Arruego, and who had grown rich by secret speculation in billetes. These Obilletes are pieces of paper, each entitling its bearer to ship the fourth part of a bale on the yearly galleon. They are distributed among the merchants of Manila, according to the wealth and standing of the merchant, and their value fluctuates greatly.” ‘What do I know or care of merchants and their papers?” interrupted the impa- tient Kurushima. “What has this to do with capturing a ship?” Co 1 OOOLK (C@