Adventure Magazine, December 10, 1924 — page 181: what you’re looking at

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

The Pirates of Andrus Island brown men wandering about in the groves. He knew, by the dilly-bags which most of them carried on their backs, that they were hill natives drawn to the village by the news of entertainment during the cool of the evening. The word had been passed from mouth to mouth up into the hills to the most isolated huts that a white man’s schooner was in, and that there would be music and singing. Also, they knew the boat to be a floating mission, which meant that prayer-papers, as they called the printed tracts which missionaries always gave out, would be the reward for coming. These papers were popular, sometimes being pinned up in huts as charms against evil if they had pictures, or burned and the ashes put in water and taken as medicine. These charm papers were famous for their powers of curing, especially if combined with native magic. ' It was not very long before Wade heard a rustling in the brush on the side toward the village, but back in the heavier growths where there was a trail well off the beach. “That'll be Doxey,” he commented and, keeping still in case by any chance the per- son on the trail happened to be a native, Wade waited. In a few minutes Doxey, crouching low so that he would not be exposed to view from the village as he broke from cover, got round on low ground and approached the clump of bamboos from the other side. He crawled slowly until he lay beside Wade. “Tt’s all right,” he said as he wiped his streaming face after his run in the hot and confined trail. ‘I’ve fixed it with that old scar-face of a Parut. They’ll throw about twenty boats out on the bay by sundown.” “Jessup see you?” “He got a glimpse of me, but I didn’t mind. Made it my business to go first to the old woman for some medicinal herbs for you, so that gave me an excuse for being back in the native village. I didn’t hide from him, or make any effort to talk to him. Pretended I didn’t know he was in sight. He’s hob-nobbing with the old fellow known as the Benggala—that chap that’s from India or Ceylon that’s suspected of being an escaped convict from the Andamans. From what I picked up among the natives, the Benggala’s passing himself off on Jessup as the boss of the island, which is easy enough on account of his being up better on English than any of the others.” ' self,” said Doxey. 159 “What’s the program for Parut with us?” ‘“‘He’ll come over himself with his own boat and pick us up after dark. When the fishing boats start out, some’ll drift down to the end of the bay. Then nobody on the schooner can be suspicious there’s any game, or tumble to the fact that one boat is coming down this way for any special reason.” “Good work!” said Wade. ‘But wouldn’t it be a great scheme if we could get aboard while Jessup is singing his hymns?” ‘We'll have to watch out and try it.” “See anything of the mate ashore?” ‘‘No, and he hasn’t been ashore. Nota soul has been on the beach but Jessup; not even any of the crew. His whale-boat with the organ was towed in by a native outrigger.” “Tf that’s so, why can’t we keep Jessup from getting back aboard the schooner? Just have some of Parut’s men prevent any natives from towing Jessup back.” “Parut thought of that very thing him- “Leave it to the old scoundrel to have every move in the game at his finger tips. But he says it won’t be safe; natives friendly to Jessup might pick up the news of the plan, and the mate would come for Jessup with an armed party, or send an armed crew.”’ “Did you tell Parut we don’t want to show our hand until we’ve got the schooner so we can get at the crew—until we’re aboard without a fight?” “He understands that there’s to be no fight to get the schooner, except as a last resort. His job is to get us aboard un- known to any of Jessup’s outfit, and we do the rest.”’ “Right. But suppose we're discovered. on board while the schooner’s still at anchor tonight. Even if we wipe out Jessup and his mate, we’ve got to run the reef-openings in the dark, and we can’t make the breaks, even if we have the wind.” “Parut’s fishing boats’ll give us a tow out when we give him the signal.”’ “That would be nice,” said Wade, “‘but for the fact that Parut might hang us up on a reef higher than a kite, and cut our throats after we’ve wiped out the whites for him.” “T think I’ve got him cinched so he won’t try that little game. I’ve warned him that unless we get away with the Gospel Argo- naut, a trading station and missionaries Comiclhoolk Wh) C© 5}