Adventure Magazine Cover, October 30, 1924 — page 70: what you’re looking at

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

60 entrance of Dofia Hermana’s residence in Panama. The Yaqui struck a large bell, and the door was opened by a silk-clad Chinaman. “Follow,” said Ramon, and stalked in. Hampton obeyed, keenly alert and not- ing every detail. Since the previous day he had become a new man—himself again, the seaman, the man of action. Outwardly he was the same sullen, silent person beaten down by the whips of misfortune; inwardly, the deathly despair was gone. He could have laughed aloud as he entered the house of Dias. True, there was no escape in sight, but there was at least the prospect of striking a blow and going down like a man instead of as a beast. Inside the house, he was astounded be- yond words by what met his eye. As in all Mexican houses, the heavy ceiling and roof were formed of logs painted in bright hues, covered over with tules or rushes, inter- laced and plastered with adobe, and these in turn with the upper surface of stone- worked adobe. Aside from the logs, how- ever, Hampton might have imagined himself in any splendid mansion of a great city, for the interior finish of the place was admirable. Aside from this, its sheer luxury was incredible. The rooms were filled, crowded with all manner of objects which spoke eloquently of loot and piracy— carpets of Spain and Turkey, jeweled and bedizened images of saints, oil paintings, furniture of all descriptions. This brief vision past, Hampton found the patio opening out ahead, another China- man holding the door ajar for the command- ing Yaqui. Two of the rifle-armed guards appeared; awnings were stretched, and bubbling aceguias conducted water from the creek to irrigate the flower-beds whose gaudy splotches of color softened the blind- ing white morning sunshine. Across the patio was working a, slave-gang, building up the far wall of the enclosure and working on a small structure which was nearing completion. It was not at these things that Hampton looked, however. After the first glance around, his gaze came to rest on the little group of people beneath the awning. There was Dias, smoking and laughing heartily at some jest of the guard at his elbow; there was Dofia Hermana, picking deli- cately at a dish of fruit—and, standing beside the sefora, staring at Hampton Adventure with eyes wide and incredulous, was Nelly Barnes. “Here is the gringo dog, sefior,’”’ said the tall Yaqui, who deigned to call no man master. ne), , ae, Hampton dared not look again at =" the white face of the girl; she took a step forward, then paused and glanced at Dofia Hermana. Deadly fear lay in her eyes. She wore the same simple blue dress in which Hampton had last seen her. This vision of her, standing here in the patio, brought a swift heart-stab to him. He looked at Dias, and in those glassy, arrogant eyes he read death. He felt suddenly afraid; it came to him that there must be no delay, no hesitation. That very night he and Eli must act, must make their desperate at- tempt—if he lived until tonight. It was then, in this minute of silence, that the whole thing flashed across Hampton’s brain—the terribly simple outline of the night’s work. As Eli had said, escape was III AFTER that first recognition, out of the question, for the mere idea of. reaching the schooner and getting away in her was too absurd to consider, while the desert spelled death; this death, however, was better than the Valley of Mercy. There remained only to get Nelly Barnes out of this hell, strike a last blow, and go. Pro- vided, of course, that Hampton lived until night; for in the eyes of Dias, in the slow smile of Dofia Hermana, he read terrible things. ‘“‘Welcome, Sefior Hampton,” said Dias, leaning back in his chair and puffing his cigaret. ‘I believe that you came in search of a man named Winslow or Dias. Well, you have found him! You have also found the lost brother, whois one of my most valued friends. What, then, have you to say to me?” Hampton stood silent. A thin smile curved the lips of Dias. “What! Have you no word even for this fair seforita from your own country? Speak to her, my dear sefior! Assure her of my benevolence, and congratulate her upon having found as a friend and protector my most charming sefora! Indeed, Senora Dias has even arranged a marriage for her with a man of high position and much wealth, so that her future is assured.” Hampton caught a slight shrinking move- ment on the part of Nelly Barnes, but he micloool C© in