Adventure Magazine Cover, October 30, 1924 — page 40: what you’re looking at

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

30 bringing down two wild turkeys. Hampton forced the boatmen to keep at work, in- stead of landing immediately, and not until the sun was nearly down did he let them seek a camping place, for he was deter- mined to make Gorgona by the following night. With the turkeys cooked as only Job Warlock could manage, the discomforts of the night camp were forgotten—but Hampton slept in the canoe, to make cer- tain that the boatmen did not decamp. With a bonus promised for making Gorgona, the two mestizos worked more cheerfully the next day, and managed to accomplish the usual three-day trip before the second night set in. The sun was not yet vanished when the canoe drew in to the bank and the voyageurs stepped ashore at Gorgona—a large place containing nearly a thousand souls, nestling under a hill. Here began the trail to Panama, twenty five miles away. By the time the three paid off their men, hired a hut fcr the night and cleaned it, and got something to eat, darkness had fallen. They were sitting about their fire, smoking furiously to daunt the mosquitoes, when an American voice lifted out of the night: “Hullo thar, pards! Heard a boat had come in, and come along to pay a visit.” Into the firelight emerged a thin scarcrow, shaking with fever, a ragged serape flung over his shoulders. He shook hands de- lightedly, with a storm of questions. ‘Where ye from? What company? An- other ship come in? My gosh, now thar’ll be another rush acrost to blue water and more tents on the Panama beach! Me, I’m just back. Goin’ home, you bet. Been over thar three months and nary a berth to be had. Got enough o’ pelicans and bugs and niggers. Where ye from, anyhowr ‘Tom Smith, Hartford, is my handle.” Hampton explained in Spanish that a French company had arrived, and Smith was properly disgusted at finding no English speech among the three. He understood and spoke a little Spanish, however, and informed them that Panama was crowded with gold-seekers, and the only chance of getting to California lay in shipping south to Callao and catching a north-bound ship there. Every such ship was crowded by the time it touched at Panama. “The last company acrost had a tough Adventure time,” went on Smith, in a mixture of Spanish and English. ‘Beverly men, and most of ’em are stuck in Panama now. I hear somebody ran off with their money, left ’em stranded here at Gorgona or in the jungle beyond. Some got through and went along in a schooner that was waiting for 7em 9) “Were there any women in the party?” demanded Hampton, catching a swift look from. Job Warlock. Smith nodded. ‘St, sefior, some few. One senorita, muy hermosa, you bet! About thirty of them poor are stuck in Panama now. The others got off all right. Say, could you sefiores lend me enough dinero to get me to Chagres?”’ Warlock produced a gold coin, Hampton another, and Smith was overjoyed. He gave them advice on securing mules here, and on behalf of the Frenchmen who were following, Warlock undertook to arrange for these. Their French companion was only too glad to stay in Gorgona and keep the muleteers under constraint until his friends arrived. So Job went out with Smith, and in half an hour was back with a number of peons. Matters were arranged promptly, and after shaking their blankets for stray scorpions, the three rolled up for the night. “You and me,” said Job softly, in Hamp- ton’s ear, “can light out in the mornin’ afoot, since we ain’t got no luggage. Smith give me a tip. All these greenhorns are bound and determined to ride, on account of snakes; but it’s a heap better and quicker to goafoot. Them mules are razor-backed, savvy? Mostly half-dead, too. All the carrying is done by peons. We can pack our blankets and make Panama tomorrow night with luck. Ain’t that news about our Beverly company, though?” ‘Bad news,” said Hampton. “Just as we thought. Dias robbed and left most of them, and took the others along. I’m beginning to think that if he’d brought me and placed me in charge, I’d have suffered for it.” ‘“Sure—he’d have left you to swaller the blame, and most likely the police at Panama would have jailed you, while that skunk slid off with the loot. But say!’ and War- lock’s voice became suddenly tense and eager, “I got a line on that Hambre Injun! He’s comin’ in from Panama tomorrow, and we’ll meet him sure. Heard a couple micloool CO in