Adventure Magazine Cover — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

The Web of the Sun The promoter eased his sweetheart to the ground, after the manner of dignified men when discovered in an unconvention- ality. He stood with one arm, consciously —one might almost say conscientiously— around her waist, because not to touch her at all would admit a fault. The newcomer proved to be Nunes. Whether he had been spying or simply passing by, Lassiter could not be sure. However, the tone of Nunes’ conversation a little while before suggested the former. A certain woodenness seized all three as Nunes passed by. To touch Tilita’s waist became an effort. Likewise it was clear by the way the Colombian walked that he wanted to stop and say something, but he could find no leg to stop on. He bid fair to be carried past by dint of his own mecha- nism, Then the ludicrous quality of the situa- tion came, to Lassiter’s relief. Certain lines from ‘‘Hamlet” twinkled into his mind and seemed to frt the Colombian: ‘where be your jibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment?—quite - chop-fallen——”’ Then the absurdity of treating like this a man who had goaded one of his mules across the Andes thawed out Lassiter. He calied— “T thought you were going around the lake with Birdsong, Nunes?” The Colombian whirled around and went through a great show of having seen them for the first time. “Ah, Sefior Lassiter—and the seforita, too!” Lassiter removed his arm with a certain sense of relief. “T was just thinking of you,” proceeded Nunes, continuing his air of discovery, ‘‘I was just thinking of you, sevor. I wanted to say, I do not follow my dear brother Birdsong im condemning you.” ‘““That’s very good of you, Nunes.” ‘Indeed, it is a matter of principle with me, sevior. Between ourselves, religion is a lonesome thing—I don’t blame you at all—I—”’ All this while he had kept his eyes painstakingly off of Tilita. Now he glanced at her, shivered and forgot what he meant to say, for he repeated emptily, “Yt don’t blame any one for—for any- thing § ‘Are you going to assist Birdsong in his 99 work?” inquired the New Yorker to help him out of his difficulty. “N-no, sezior. I—er—I am working on— I’m working on a fishing boat now—that’s how I came to be passing by here—I’m working on a fishing boat now.” He was evidently manufacturing the explanation of his presence out of thin air. ‘So you are going to fish?” DENG cs ‘Where is your boat?” Nunes nodded vaguely up the lake. ‘Are you building it yourself?” Se The situation was beginning to develop into a comedy. “Td like to see it.” Balthasar spread a deprecating hand. “Oh, it—it’s an ordinary boat——” ‘*Just to see what sort of a boat you could make—Would you like a look, too, Tilita?”’ The girl was curious at once to see Bal- thasar’s boat. Both of them started toward the muleteer. “It’s a long way through the sun, sefio- rita,’ warned the saddle-colored man un- comfortably. Lassiter bit his lip. He was not sure whether the girl saw the joke or net. “Oh, Tilita likes the Sun—she soaks it up.” Balthasar shuddered. “T am complimented if the se#erita cares to see my poor boat——” He saw they were going to follow him and he moved vaguely off up the sand. a io my, THE promoter followed his. rival with unsmiling mirth. Then, he was still more amused at Balthasar’s plan out of the difficulty. The Colombian proceeded straight up the shoreline through | the sun and hot sand. Necessarily they would find a boat sooner or later. Presently they did come in sight of something far away on the sand. After a little while Nunes called over his shoulder. “T was just revamping an old bolsa, senor.” When they reached it, sure enough, there -was an old boat for which some one was making a sort of reed cover. SBalthasar’s eyes had been better than Lassiter’s. The promoter looked at it idly. “What are you going to do with such a cover, Nunes?” Nunes looked at the cover. “Tt will keep in the fish, sefior-——” MICLOOOK C@