Adventure Magazine Cover — page 36: what you’re looking at

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

22 their being mistreated. I am cruel and at times cold-blooded, but I don’t want to see anybody cruel to women, children or dogs. JI was never put to the test, but I believe that I could without troublesome regret shoot a man who beat a dog. I know I would if it was a stray that had ever poked its nose into my hand. And dogs are third on the list—though perhaps children are first—of the things it is not wise to abuse if my gun is not empty. In fact, I might be tempted in that case to overcome a strong aversion to using my fists on somebody’s face. I reflected that it was perhaps well that I had been on deck when the search was made. Somebody might have found me in the steward’s hole—though I later heard that the steward had made his own report, and reported nothing. I judged that I had better get out of the way in case somebody might take enough interest in my presence to carry a tale to the captain; though, I understood later, most of the crew knew T had taken Thomp- son’s place. I went to the bie It was dark. I struck a match and lighted the lantern. It was a cubbyhole of a place. The bunk occupied almost a half of it. The lantern was smoky and dim, and flickered. I stood for a moment listening at the door. There was nothing to attract attention. I closed the door and sat down and fora moment, rather fascinated, watched the lantern. It was spluttering away as if embarrassed. I loosed my _ shoes and placed them carefully by the chair. I am methodical. J removed my collar and tie and reached forward to the little shelf under the lantern. I unbuttoned my vest— and stopped. There was some kind of a noise—only it wasn’t loud enough to be a noise. My muscles became tense and the cold, rigidly icy contraction that always grips my body at the first whisper of alarm, and makes me appear so nerveless and calm, took hold of me. “YOU can’t stay here! Please. 3 I’m here!” aAN I jerked my head back over my shoulder. A woman’s face peered up out of the shadows from under the covers of my bunk. I turned around in my chair and looked Adventure | at her. I could not see her face very clearly. I said nothing for a few moments What is there one can say in a situation of the kind? I could not gallantly offer to withdraw myself. I had no place else to go on the ship. I had as good reasons as she for wishing to keep out of sight. So I looked hard and long and my eyes cleared a little and became accustomed to darkness. She was in that bunk with the covers so ingeniously arranged that it would have taken more than a casual glance to tell that anybody was in it. There was no outline of the body visible. The covers had been drawn and _ bolstered evenly. Only her face showed and she only just before had drawn the cover from over it. Obviously she«could not have made so ingenious arrangement of them herseli— even if she had blundered accidentally into the room. 3 ‘Who put you there?” “The steward.” “That Chinaman?” nl There is no telling anything about a Chinaman. A pause. I looked at her hard. My back was against the light—what there was of it. At last I was convinced. So I said— “Well, Miss Curwen, how did you come to be on the Jesste Darling?” She flung off the covers and sat upright, agitated, partly fnghtened: “Then you are that man! but—but you are in jail!”’ “Let us not get excited,” I said sooth- ingly—or tried to say it soothingly. “‘You’re supposed to be overboard and I seem sup- posed to be in jail. How do you account for 1t?” She told me. . I have found that it is usually wisest to show surprize when you don’t feel it; to pretend ignorance when you haven’t it— and the reverse, too. So I did not seem surprised or appear to have heard anything not already very well known to me. Miss Helen Curwen was of the slim dark type that are full of passions and wilfulness. All women like to do things they have no business to do; but not all of them lack discretion, or, as a woman might call it if she is one of the kind that does do those things, the courage. The average woman I asked. I thought so— ecomichbooks.co nm