Adventure Magazine Cover — page 108: what you’re looking at

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

106 “Short-handed be —— to you!” and slapped his side where a big revolver was in a holster. ‘‘There’ll be no fight in these beachcombers! By ——! I’d like the ex- cuse to shoot ’em. It won’t take much ex- cuse. I tell you that—an’ them, too ”’ Scott too had a gun in his pocket; these days he carried it more as the result of habit than as a precaution. He looked pointedly at Walscher and at his flabby friend who too had a big revolver strapped about his belly: the very way their guns were slung showed that neither had ever been into enough dangers to learn to carry a revolver properly. Besides, both were even now a little drunk. Raeburn came up over the side after Madame and Po-Shu, and the first thing he noticed was the flap holsters belted on out- side of the oilskins. Bare hands against guns—with that snake loose. The boy was chilled, weary, exhausted by excitement and sleeplessness; from being teased, he had thrown away his tasseled bandage and his hair lay like a drowned man’s and his head hurt; his stomach was empty. The thought of overturning the snake box and spilling that great length of serpent out on the deck, right at his own feet, made his back prickly with goose-flesh. “So you are the treasure-girl, eh?” said Walscher, taking Po-Shu’s chin in his palm and bending down the better to look at her. She shrank slightly, but did not lower her eyes. “You poor little pigeon, all wet! We'll fix that. Woo Lung! Somebody get that —— steward!” Walscher, stooping over, swayed a little; the deck was not steady, neither were his feet, and he looked at her with searching appraisal. Bedraggled as Po-Shu was, she still was like a toy-girl, soft and quaint. Denasso, even as the Chinese steward came into view from the after deck-house, slipped on the wet deck and in falling dropped his box which he snatched at anx- iously. ‘Here—what you got there!’ Walscher shouted. ‘Scott, see what that fellow’s carrying. Maybe arms!”’ Captain Scott, not at all afraid that the box might contain arms, nevertheless jerked the box roughly from Denasso and roughly shoved the poor fellow aside as he reached out for it with a gesture very much as if pleading for his life. Scott opened the box, laughed shortly in Gordon Young disgust, and held out the open box for Wal- scher to see. Walscher looked into the box, looked at Denasso, said, “You —— hop- head!”’ then seizing the box, with a bluster of motion, flung it overboard. Denasso looked stupidly at Walscher, not in anger so much as seemingly amazed that a man could be so cruel; then he turned and stared at the water. He seemed to be searching for where the box had sunk. Those near by eyed him curiously for a mo- ment or two, but not longer. The expres- sion of pain on his thin face appeared to amuse them. He put both hands to his face and began to shiver. Without opium he could not live. “Now what’s in that box?” Walscher shouted as a rope fell from a block on a yard’s end to heave up the green box out of the boat. ‘More opium, I bet!’’—this sar- castically. ‘‘Well, there ought to be enough there to turn a pretty penny, heh? Fine salvage, boys!”’ This being meant for wit, some of Wal- scher’s men laughed, but not Captain Scott, who gave Walscher a long glance as if esti- mating how many glasses of brandy he had already taken. “Monsieur,” said Madame with a humble sweetness, ‘‘ze box eet is mine. Eet hold all zat I haf in zis worl’. Surely so beeg, brave man do not throw my leetle box over-z- board, eh? No? I sank yow oh so ver’ much!” Cleverly she had thanked him before he gave the least sign of not having the box dumped over the boat’s side; but having felt the soft stroke on his vanity, he called: “What’s the matter with you fellows there? Shake yourselves! Get that box on board, an’ get back over there. Can’t you see they’re pumping on that wreck, —— ’em! Idon’t want ’em todrown. I’d rather take ’em in an’ have ’em hung! Ha! Hal! Ha!” This also being a joke some of the sailors laughed. ‘‘An’ Scott, why don’t you send away another boat, as I told you?” Captain Scott lifted his eyebrows and pointed at the box: ‘“What’s the matter with you—or didn’t you see the show? There’s a snake in that box an’— “Snake!” said Walscher explosively. “Ah, monsieur! Not only heem, but my jewels—all zat I haf! I put zem in ze box for heem to watch. My jewels, monsieur!” COMIiCooOoks Cc (C@