Adventure Magazine Cover, April 3, 1918 — page 173: what you’re looking at

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

Two Strong Men Diego’s somber eyes lit up with interest. Here was the very opening he was looking for; moreover, the description of the strange Korean warship which had in- flicted disaster upon the fleet of Japan aroused his professional interest. So Diego went ashore with the highly pleased and very deferential ambassadors. By his own orders, none of his countrymen went with him; he wanted no witnesses to that which might occur. —— KURUSHIMA’S castle proved to ‘| be a huge rectangular enclosure of gray stone, hardly more than a crenelated wall twelve feet high, sloping outward in a massive escarpment, and pro- vided with wide, strong gates and a moat. Passing through the south gate with his escort, between two fantastically-armored sentinels in black war-masks, Diego was ushered in between bowing functionaries, and discovered himself in a court containing half-a-dozen picturesque wooden buildings, richly finished and grotesquely carved. His guides led the way into the largest of these, and departed. A powerfully built man with command- ing eyes rose from a padded mat at the further end of the hall, and approached him, bowing low. Though no word was said, Diego recognized that he was in the pres- ence of the Daimio, so obviously was this Japanese the master of the place. Ichio, entering behind his captain, confirmed his impression by prostrating himself with marked humility. Diego looked his host over with frank, though courteous curiosity. Kurushima was still young, plainly an athlete and a soldier. His gaze was lion- like and frank, his gestures those of a born leader of men. After tea had been brought in and served, with much ceremony, in handleless cups of gay Chinese porcelain, the Daimio began to talk easily and fluently, Ichio translating with a mounting air of impor- tance. Diego listened intently, without comment. As calmly as if he had been discussing an event of ancient history, Kurushima told the tale of the tortoise- boat, describing his own defeat in vivid, concise terms. ‘“‘And this is the ship,” he concluded at length, drawing a roll of stiffened silk from one capacious sleeve. seated upon a chest—the nearest ap- 171 proach to a chair in all Urado—Don Diego received the roll, unfolded it and gazed with great interest at a spirited painting of the tortoise-boat, drawn by Kurushima from memory. The Daimio was an artist of no mean ability, and had reproduced every detail of the monstrous craft with wonderful accuracy. “A new type—a galley with broadside guns as well as bow-chasers!”’ exclaimed the Spaniard. “In that point it resembles the galleasses of Don John of Austria at Lepanto—but those were no true galleys, for they were ship-rigged as well as oared. IT should like to see a squadron of these tortoise-boats built for the Mediterranean service, and sent against the rovers of the Barbary Coast.” ‘This curved deck, Don Diego, is covered with plates of iron,” explained Ichio. ‘The Lord Kurushima wishes to know if you have ever heard of an iron-plated ship before?” Diego nodded. ‘“‘When I was at the siege of Antwerp, the Hollanders sent against our blockading fleet a large galleon whose sides they had covered over, even to her cage-works, with plates of iron. They expected great things from this craft, and named her the Finis Belli, which signifies in Latin ‘The End of the War.’ But she steered badly, ran aground on a shoal, heeled over at low tide till she was helpless, and so was cap- tured by the ship which I then had the honor to command.” Swiftly Ichio translated this into Japan- ese, and presently put the Daimio’s next question into Spanish: , “Since you have captured one iron ship, Don Diego, could you not capture another? Could you fight the tortoise-boat with a galleon like the Sen Gregorio?” “Yes, in the open sea. Galleys are good only in sheltered waters. With her over- hanging topsides and narrow hull, this tortoise-boat would roll vilely in any sort of sea, so that good gunnery would be impossible. Her iron sheathing can not be more than quarter-inch plate; other- wise its weight, carried so high above the water-line, would capsize and sink her even ina calm. The San Gregorio’s culverins would smash her thin plating like glass.” “How much does a galleon like the San Gregorio cost?” “She was built at the Cavité shipyards, CORMCOOCKSs EO