Adventure Magazine Cover — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

CSiipere Teo ite FLATFOOT ¥ STRATEGY TN by Charle 5 Ueetor Kishor eee rae he ide ina} 4 | ah Bi Author of ‘Over the Hump,” “Snootful, Gullets and Hawkeye,’’ etc. T BEGAN about ten o’clock one morning, coming back from Mar- » seilles, France. We had just joined the battleship fleet off the Azores Islands, where we had parted to scatter over the European coast, sight-seeing, a month before. *“‘Snootful’’ Bennet had the forenoon signal watch, and stood out on the starboard bridge-wing, pointing his telescope at the flag-ship’s bridge. At his elbow stood little “Dixie” Witherby, Snootful’s recorder, a pad of signal-blanks in hand, a pencil be- hind his ear. A little inboard, along the flag-board, were Snootful’s three bunting- tossers—‘‘Hienie’’ Schmidt, ‘‘Scotty’’ Howie and ‘Frenchy’? Pardue—all very much on their toes, ready to bend on and shoot up a hoist the instant their boss, Snootful, sighted it going over the flag-ship’s rail, and called it out. For there was nothing that gang would rather do than beat the flag- ship to the yard-arm with a flag hoist. I stood in the center of the bridge, within the mast, looking wise and feeling very important. For I was temporarily acting as chief, you see—our former chief having gone to the hospital ship at Marseilles. The tension was suddenly broken by the voice of Snoots. ‘“‘Answerin’ pennant, half-way up!” he barked. ‘Stand by to write, Dixie!” This meant that the flag-ship was about to send us a message by semaphore. So I eased out on the wing. Snootful called it out and Dixie wrote it. 76 Your radiogram 21206. How many cases have you on board? No signature meant that it came from the fleet admiral—the “Big Noise.” “Two blocks!” Snoots sang out—mean- ing, run the answering-pennant all the way up to the yard-arm, this being the way we acknowledged receipt of a message. ‘“‘Haul down! Awright, Dixie, chase that over to the orficer o’ the deck.” | Snoots then turned to me and said— “What do yuh make o’ that, Breeze?” ““How many cases—cases—”’ I was guess- ing hard—‘“‘Cases of what, I wonder.”’ His broad, freckled face spread out in a grin that was hideous. He spat over the rail and replied— “Looks to me like the admiral’s gullet is a little husky, an’ he figgers our old man might have a little stock o’ that dollar-a-quart champagne from Mar- seilles.”’ He stuck out his tongue and licked first one ear, then the other. Then running his big, gnarled fingers through his thick red hair, he went on— of a thing fer the Big Noise to be doin’, ain’t it—comin’ right out flat-footed an’ lettin’ half the fleet know he’s got hot coppers.” Little Dixie returned, having delivered the message. “Say, fellahs,” he drawled tiredly, ““‘what do y’all reckon that message could mean? Do you s’pose the adm’al could be askin’ ou’ captain how many cases of wine has he oO cComicloooks (©