Adventure Magazine Cover — page 83: what you’re looking at

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

Jungle Business SI and demanded with some asperity whether he thought that Manaos City was such a town of pioneer savagery. You must remember, Senhor, that Ma- naos City, while situated indeed at the exact verge of civilization, possesses modern electric lighting and water and tramway systems; a ten story brewery; a two-million- dollar opera house with a capacity of four thousand; and a system of floating docks capable of accommodating the largest ocean liners. So the local patriot’s indignation can well be understood. But to his ques- tion your lad must needs reply with wonder - in his eyes, and somewhat indignant himself at the brusk interruption. “Why—we, yes. I kinder thought that I'd see some excitement way out here.” Well, qué carramba, what happens when youth argues with hot youth? Words make more words; and many words make blows. I have regretted that I was not present to witness that fight. But the tale ofit made good telling in the cafés for a " week or two. It began with the interchange of such in- effectual blows as men may deal in the half- dark over the backs of benches, and_pro- » ceeded then by mutual consent into the passageway between the seats where there was more room. Who struck whom or how hard could not be seen; but in a moment the theater was in an uproar. Women, of course, shrieked—as they do on all occa- sions, whether of mirth or of fear. Men shouted; some for quiet; some demanding that the belligerents sit down and permit them to see; some calling for lights and the guard. The fool of an attendant, instead of throwing in the switch, rushed first to sepa- rate what he thought might be no more than a little argument. Somebody, whether friend or foe, struck him under the ear, and nobody thereafter seemed to know where the lights might be turned on. The uproar increased. Partizans sprang up from all sides in response to the shouts of our youths and lent impetus to the fray by climbing over the seats to join in. Your gringos, of course, called for no help, being imbued with your customary arrogant conviction that each one of them could conquer ten foreigners, as you term us in our own country. They fought si- lently—except that they cursed horribly by ihe name of God and of the as they dealt each blow. Yet others must have come to their assistance; for no three could have stood against the mob. The thing became an international riot; and it gravitated, of course, down the slope of the dim passageway till the combatants surged into the space of the orchestra and beat each other with the instruments of the musicians who} wretched ones, had no means of escape. In the meanwhile those who struggled to get out at the upper end by the door ham- pered the guardia civil who struggled to get in. So it was not till fifteen minutes had passed that they finally gained entrance; . and then, as is always the case when the law arrives, the rioters ducked this way and that and melted away in the dark; and there remained when light was eventually restored only those who were incapacitated for flight. One of these was your son, who lay with a ~dark trickle oozing from his fiery hair. With him another gringo, a blond youth who be- longed to a respectably established English house of the city. Three of our lads groaned among the wreckage; and—ho-ho! spice was added to the tale when the police- men extracted from among the wires of the piano the Senhor da Sylvestra, a man of substance and position in the city, who had no right to mix himself up with the brawl ings of hot-headed youths. One result of that affair was an ordinance ~~ of the fire guard that all such houses be pro- vided with at least one exit in the rear in addition to the door of entry. ‘The result to your son was what was to be expected. They were taken up, all of them whom the policemen caught, and thrown into the cala- bouco together to reflect upon their foolish- ness in disturbing the peace. 2 LATER, in the course of a couple of days or so, there were fines to be paid before the judge and much anguished running about on the part of your harassed consul to get a his countryman, the instigator of it all, off with no worse than a wholesome fine. The youths, what with comforting each other in the lock-up and helping each other with their hurts—and having acquired a certain respect for the weight of each other’s blows—became friends. Da Sylvestra. For he was by way of be- ing a pompous man; the wits of the cafes ecomicbooks.com All except the’