Adventure Magazine Cover — page 102: what you’re looking at

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

100 eyes. The rest yelled, too, with alarm and away from the plank, it go in their haste; and it slipped from the deck and trailed alongside by its rope. That put a stop to that effort for a while. Men ran about again in a frenzy and shouted orders at each other, each urging the rest to do: ing while he himself scurried for sheltered position. Some of the hired bravos fired shots in the general direction of our sound. But I laughed again. ‘They could see nothing at all to shoot at. We were safe. I called to the Pelloroxo to take it easy; I a hold them. And he answered cheer- ully: “Righto. Hold them just a minute yet.’ I fired again, as a reminder to the venture- some ones, and hoping besides to puncture the boiler, the round top of which protruded from the middle of the lower deck. But in this I failed. And then, suddenly, before I was well aware of it, the steamer gave a great heave, as if struck a heavy blow. A confusion of shouts came from the adobe hut; and a great serpent of cable lashed back hissing and coiled itself about the beat’s bows. i leaped up to shout with the rest—and then ducked down again in haste; for one of the bravos still retained presence of mind enough to fireat me. But that was the last. After that all was confusion and cursing; calling upon the name of —— and of all the patron saints. The steamer’s bows slowly swung away from the bank as the current got beneath it. Faster it swung and faster as the strong outer current got its grip. From the farther side of the steamer arose more shouting and imprecations as those dateleros who had made fast to the favorable position cast off and furiously to get out of the way. On its stern, as on a pivot against the mud, the steamer swung in a grand arc till the bow had passed the middle point. Then slowly the stern, too, left the bank and swung iree, and the boat was in the full grip of the current. Decrepit and rusted and lacking paint though the thing was, it looked almost majestic as it drifted off with- out steam, swinging and waltzing to the whim of the currents. Round the shoulder of the | place it floated; and the crowd followed = the bank; some shouting futile advice to those who hung helplessly over the rail; some run- hing aimlessly like ants, as if they might Adventure But the outcome was sure, as every batelero knew. current, down stream and ; meters from the shore, the sand spit of the Peccary waited. In less than half an hour came the crash. Sooner, indeed, than any one had expected; for the dry land was still quite a distance away, and I for one had mever suspected that the shallows of the spit extended so far out. Yet, crash, 1s not the right word; for that was no hard landing. The boat, driving three-quarters on, was seen to lurch once, stagger and halt apparently in its stride; then its momentum seized it, and it ground slowly on to a stop, sending a veritable tidal wave before it te scare the sand crabs. Well aground—and lucky at that. For the good Lord he knows why He made a sand spit at that splitting of waters where there should have been bare rocks as at the head of the other islands lower down. Some curious shifting of the undersurface currents doubtless caused it, and thereby the life of the ship was saved, For beyond a slight list, it seemed to be otherwise unhurt. From the crowd on the bank came a loud, “‘Aa-ah!” as the boat remained stationary and did not swing off to float on to sure destruction on some one or other of the lower islands. With the loosening of the tension came time for comment. Much of it was ribald; much, jesting; and all was careless. No maa in that crowd had any particular stake im te fate of that steamer. They stood about for some time to see what further interest might happen. But nothing did. “The shouting and the confusion died down on the steamer; and presently it was apparent from the furious smoke issuing from the funnel that they were getting up steam. “Sol” said some. “She is unhurt. They will pull off and proceed.” So those who had busimess to attend to gradually went away. <A few stayed and waited to watch. As did the Pelloroxo and I. No words passed between us. Our coup had been played. But what now? What would be the final outcome? Our cargo of tagua was still in the hold of that ship. An comicbooks.com