Adventure Magazine Cover, October 30, 1924 — page 32: what you’re looking at

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

22 Adventure honest sea-knife. And the man that used it was disturbed at his work—had no time to pluck it free. Mr. Hampton, by my side. Leave this poor clay to be mourned by his daughter.” Gradually the flood of men receded, and the passage was emptied. As Hampton followed the captain on deck, Nelly Barnes and one of the other women came down the ladder, rushed past them, and disappeared in the red-smeared cabin. When Hampton emerged on deck, one shout of anger went up from the waist, then was quelled. The gold company was mustered there on the starboard side, the ship’s company to port. Hampton stood as in a dream, waiting, listening, watching. He perceived that in all eyes he was the murderer, and cold anger settled on him. Still, the affair was far from finished, and the owner of that knife must be discovered. He met with one cheerful grin from Job Warlock, but no other face offered him any hope. The captain stood knife in hand at the wheel, summoned the gold company oflicers and his own mates, then addressed the as- sembled men solemnly: “Friends, some one among us has mur- dered Mr. Barnes. Whether the murderer is one among you, or my third officer, re- mains to be seen. First of all this knife must be recognized. Let every one come aft, one at a time, and inspect the weapon.” Gravely, Adam Johnson called the roll of the company, who filed aft, followed by the crew. One by one the men came and viewed the reddened weapon, a most singu- lar and unusual sort of knife, and denied ever having seen it before. Hampton caught the eye of James Day, who stood at the side of old Nickerson, and Day made an almost imperceptible gesture of assurance. When it came the turn of the crew, and man after man swore that the knife was un- known to him, dismay came upon Hampton. It seemed impossible, for once seen that knife could not easily be forgotten. Vainly he searched among crew and passengers for any man who might betray signs of guilt or fear; vainly he tried to fasten on any man who might have been an enemy to Jed Barnes. Job Warlock came and stood be- side him stoutly enough. ‘“‘A bad business, matey!” he said, and Hampton nodded slightly. ‘Bad and no mistake.”’ The ship’s Bible was brought up, and the skipper, hearing a low mutter from the ranks in the waist, turned to them grimly. ‘None o’ that, my men! There’ll be justice done, but it'll be mine. I’m in charge here, and Mr. Hampton is my officer—so mind that. Now, who among ye had any quarrel wi’ the dead man? Come, speak up on it! Step up and swear to what ye know, and watch your words. Somebody here is a lar already, on the knife.” None moved for a moment, then old Eliphalat Nickerson came forward, pawing his whiskers, and laid his hand on the Book. “T’ll have to say what I heard yesterday,” he stated solemnly, and went on to detail what had passed between Jed Barnes and Hampton. Before he finished, Nelly Barnes appeared on deck again, tears on her face, the cther women comforting her. The cap- tain turned to Hampton. “Do you deny this Hampton?” “It’s quite true, sir,’ said Hampton stead- ily. “There is nothing to deny so far.” ‘Then, sir, kindly state just what hap- pened below. On your oath, sir!” Gravely assenting, Hampton related his entry into the cabin and what had trans- pired there. “You saw no one about before you entered?” “T saw no one leave that cabin. A good many persons were about, but I observed no one man in particular. Most of the com- pany officers were gathered in the main cabin.” ‘Then who can throw light on the last person to see Mr. Barnes alive?’’ demanded the skipper, and repeated the query. None answered, until at last Adam Johnson stood up. He told how he and Barnes had ben talking, and how Barnes had agreed to dismiss his vindictive hatred of Hampton; how Nelly had joined them, how he and Nelly had then gone on deck in search of Hampton and had found the latter. ‘‘At the outside,” he concluded, ‘‘not more than ten minutes could have elapsed since we left Mr. Barnes, to the time Mr. Hampton found him.” “Do you confirm this, Miss Nelly?” asked the skipper. Nelly Barnes lifted her tear-wet face, threw Hampton one look, and nodded. “Ves. And I want to say here that I testimony, Mr. comicbooks.c© inn