Adventure Magazine Cover — page 104: what you’re looking at

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

98 to insist. But I can’t raise the ante. I gave you top-chop price right off, five thousand pesos for the plans of the Cor- regidor fortifications, and five thousand more for the design of That’s where I’ll have to muffle a few ‘words. Not that Muller knew enough to hurt—I didn’t either, and don’t yet—but even the scientific name for that thinguma- jig that Muller mentioned is best kept as secret as possible. I suppose it’s all right to say, though, that any air-fleet attacking Corregidor or Manila will meet with a sur- prize party as long as—well, as long as it’s kept a surprize. But nobody ever invented anything yet that there wasn’t a comeback to; and if - Muller got what he was after, the guns on Corregidor and in Fort Santiago and on the battleships out on the bay—well they’d all be about as effective against bombing- plane attacks as a bunch of Moro cannon. Martin and I hadn’t suspected that Mul- ler even knew that such an invention ex- isted—we thought he was just after the location of the guns and the like—and be- lieve me, I felt like thought-waving con- gratulations to Uncle Sam that we were on the job. Though Rounce did pull this line almost before Muller got through talking: ‘And you think I’ll tell that, for money! That I’ll turn traitor.”’ There was a sort of reproachful anger in his voice. But Muller just leaned forward and smiled more confidently than ever, and said in his purring, friendly voice: “Sure, you will. ‘Traitor’—say, boy, that’s a word for fools. “To thine own self be true’-—that’s the racket. Why, —— Rounce, who do you owe any loyalty to?” He was getting more serious now. “Your country’s cast you out! your friends have turned you down. Carmelita—well, of course—’ He waved his fat hand. “Think of yourself. Get the money, and you can have your choice of countries, friends, Carmelitas too. Ten thousand, eh! Why, to a man like yourself, that ought to be just a start.” If you'll notice, there was a bunch of right clever argument lumped in that little speech, and a good opening for Rounce to begin damning people as an easy excuse for giving in, and I expected he’d take advan- tage of it. But instead, though his face kept twitching every now and then, and his Adventure hands kept fidgeting, and his general look showed me how he appreciated that ten thousand pesos that Muller was dangling in front of him, he managed to keep his eyes steady and contemplative-like when he looked Muller over and answered with an injudicious amount of contempt: “T suppose you really don’t understand what you’re saying, Muller. To take the oath, and salute the flag, and fight for it, and see other men die for it—you simply don’t get what that means, do your If you did, you’d know you’re wasting time. You’d know that I’d sooner sd “No!” interrupted Muller, and all the friendship was gone from his voice now. “I don’t, eh? Maybe you’re right. But don’t get up on moral stilts too soon, my embez- zling friend. I’ve been telling you to think of yourself. I’m telling you now, there are two others to think of, if you’re one-tenth part of a man.” ‘“‘Two others! What do you mean?” But Rounce’s voice faltered and weak- ened; he knew what Muller meant all right; and I got the feeling that Muller had him at last. ‘Why, your parents, of course. Your proud and honest New England parents. That’s the way they grow back there, don’t they? So straight they bend back- ward. Like their virtuous son, eh! Well, they’ve scratched the rocky soil for you all their lives, and lately they’ve scratched it some more to get the money to come out here and visit their only offspring, their offi- cer boy. That meant so much to them, of course, his being an officer! And they don’t know yet that he’s been permitted to ‘re- sign’—he didn’t have the courage to tell "em. And by the time he got their letter that they were coming, they’d already started, so he couldn’t head ’em off.”’ “Muller ‘“‘And their transport’s due tomorrow. That’s why I’m here tonight. I got to thinking, it’ll be a sad landing for them to find you out of the service and disgraced and become—well, what you are, and a little money might help. And on the other hand, I got to thinking it’ll be a lot sadder for them if they found their beloved son in prison.” ‘In prison!” By his looks, Rounce was being tortured all right; the old Inquisition stunts couldn’t have been much worse; but I could tell that oO Comicloooks (©