Adventure Magazine Cover, November 10, 1924 — page 174: what you’re looking at

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

172 “Hey, you, come ’ere!” And then, to Captain Mac: ‘Here he is, Cap’n! He did it! I knowdurn well he cut that lashin’ and run the hawser over the stern! Y’ought to lock ’im up.” _ “YT didn’t!’ protested Coleman. didn’t! You old fool, I tell you I didn’t!” There was a wild, desperate gleam in his eyes, and his weak mouth was quivering with fear and helpless anger. Over and over he protested his innocence. “T didn’t throw over the rope. Why don’t you leave me alone? I never did anything to you. You’ve been hounding me ever since I came to this ship. I don’t want to be hounded! First you, and then Breen, and then the captain and the mates. I needed help, but I never got it. You didn’t help me. The captain didn’t help me. No- body helped me! Everybody’s against me! How can a man do what’s right when everybody is against him? Tell me that, you—you old fool! And I tell you I didn’t throw your rope over. I didn’t! I faked the time signal, yes, because I had to—had to, d’you hear?—but I didn’t throw over that rope!” “You did, too,” insisted Tenny. “You been no good ever since you come aboard, and you on’y needed somebody with more brains than you to put ye up to things. Ye ain’t never done anything but sneaky, mean things since ye been aboard.” “T haven’t? I haven’t? How do you know I haven’t? Maybe I did something good just a little while ago. You don’t know everything!” “What did you do, son?” asked Captain Mac, holding up a hand to the wrathful Tenny. ‘What was it?” “T’m not telling. You wouldn’t believe me. But I did something good all right. You’re all the same; you all think ’m no good; but I’m just—just sick! Sick—that’s all. I never knew a man could be so sick and miserable as I am!’’ He gulped, and bit hard on his lower lip; then, his unbuttoned coat flapping in the wind, he shuffled off. “Y’oughta lock ’im up, Cap’n,” said Tenny. “No; let him be,” said the little captain, with a slow shake of his head. ‘He’s right about one thing—he’s a sick man.”’ “Hey, One-Two Mae!” called Breen, his face in a port. “How about me? This tub’s goin’ to hit in a little while, and she’s eT Adventure liable to break up or go over on one side; you ain’t goin’ to leave me locked in here with my hands chained together, are you? How ’bout it—goin’ to let me out?” Before Captain Mac could answer, there came a hail from the bridge: ‘“‘There’s a ship over there, Cap’n! She’s headed this way!” Tommy Downs stood pointing to the north; and turning together, the three men below saw a white ship low on the herizon. ‘‘What’s it look like, Mr. Downs?” asked the captain. xa “Kither a fruit boat or a coast guard cut- ter, sir. Maybe it’s one the wireless man picked up with his SOS.” “Like !? snapped Tenny. ‘He ain’t been sendin’ out no SOS.” Captain Mac gauged with his eye the dis- tance between the ship and the Hawk and between the Hawk and the reef. ‘“Tt’ll be an hour before she can give us a line,” he said thoughtfully. ‘No one can say how long it will be before we’re on that rock!” The boatswain came from forward and reported that the anchor had struck bot- tom; and the captain and the mate went to the forecastle-head. The warm trade wind had strengthened to a moderate gale, and the Hawk, her decks streaming water, was rolling heavily in a broken sea. Each wave-thrust added its power to wind and current and increased the freighter’s speed toward the waiting rocks; now they could hear the snarl and roar of the combers among the jagged peaks. They felt a slight jar, and another, and then a series of them; they looked over the bow and saw that the anchor chain was be- ginning to lead to windward. Soon the stern began to swing to leeward, slowly at first, but faster as the ship got into shal- lower water and the anchor dug deeper into the sand of the bottom, the anchor chain getting a better lead. But at short inter- vals, as the ship straightened out, there came muffled rumbles as the anchor lost its hold of the sandy bottom and slid; then the chain would sag and the ship wallow to lee- ward until the anchor got another grip. “Take your men aft, Mr. Tenny,”’ said Captain Mac, ‘‘and have them stand by to go over the stern with their axes as soon as they can.” The white ship was coming for them with CoMmichoook< Wy) (© 5}