Adventure Magazine Cover — page 111: what you’re looking at

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

Treasure a crazy man,” said Scott, quite calmly. “Now stand—” Walscher was leaning over the rail and bellowing, and at that moment there were alarmed cries from the water below. Sandys had got nearer, and in looking away toward him, trying to understand what he was yelling about, Mr. Blake and his men had let their boat hang off, about as far as the boat-hooks would reach, from the side of the Jack-Girl. Heddon, who guessed very well what Sandys was yelling about, had no time to lose, and so stood up to jump. Men yelled at him, some reached out frantically to pull him down; but he jumped from the gunwale, and the gunwale dipped, filling the boat half full of water as Heddon, with one hand up-flung, barely caught the last step of the sea-ladder. The men in the boat instantly went over- board to take their weight out of it; and as Heddon climbed up, lines were flung down to the men in the water by a sailor or two who already stood at the side looking over. The moment Heddon rose breast high above the Jack-Girl’s rail Walscher hit him in the face; and as Heddon swayed back from force of the blow and roll of the bark, Walscher swayed forward; and hanging there, feet on the ladder, one hand holding the rail, Heddon swung up and over with drive of fist that knocked Walscher stagger- ing back, and as he went, turning half around and slipping to his knees, he clawed gropingly at the flap holster. The fight was on; it had started an instant before; Pelew had started it; and the mo- ment Heddon jumped the rail he pitched himself with headlong leap, not at Walscher but at Pelew. Captain Scott, with gun leveled at Pe- lew’s head, had said quite calmly, “You’re acrazy man. Nowstand—” Then he took a quick backward step, but with the gun still on Pelew, he had glanced quickly over the side and down to see what the men in the water were yelling about; and the in- stant his eyes turned, Pelew jumped. Pelew was as quick as he was bold, and with left hand or right, from any angle, he seemed able to put what weight he had be- hind the blow. Captain Scott, going down as he pulled at the trigger, shot twice, wildly; and as he fell, with Pelew on top of him, snatching at the gun, Scott threw up his hand, trying to toss the gun overboard. It struck the bul- 109 wark, dropped into the scupper. With an ape-like bound Pelew went for it, got it, and turning bent down to shoot point-blank. Pelew, his face set in a gasp of furious amazement, toppled over with Heddon’s hand on his hand, wrenching at the gun; with Heddon’s weight on top of him; with Heddon cursing him; and the hardest fight that was fought that day on the deck was between the two men who were leading the attack to seize the bark. IV UT that was not the only struggle B on the Jack-Girl’s deck between those who had come off the wreck. As the shooting began, Raeburn, full of drunken recklessness, started to fumble at the latch-lock of the snake box. But the catch was not a simple one. He called loudly upon Denasso to help, and this at- tracted Madame’s attention to what he was about. She ran at him, screamed, snatching at his hands, clawing and striking him. “Nom de Dieul What you do? Not zis. I beg— Oh! Oh! Not zis! Oh, you fool! You —— fool! He keel you! I beg—” But instead of begging she swore at him in English and in French. She was furious and seemed frightened. The oilskin slipped away from her body and lay on the deck like a dead thing. She scratched and struck and cried for help, though she was getting far the best of the fight. Her black hair was shaken from its neat coils and flew about her; and, in the struggling, wet wisps of it were entangled in Raeburn’s fingers. Too late, Madame clapped her hands to her head. The wig came away. She was bald. All about there were yells, groans, curses; the sound of blows; guns were being fired; men leaped this way and that with hurtling rush; but Raeburn sagged back a step or two, and with arm outstretched uncer- tainly eyed the hairy thing as it dangled from his fingers—then he looked at Madame and laughed. She stood for an instant transfixed in hor- ror, as if stripped to nakedness; to her this was more than nakedness, for she was jeal- ously fastidious of her appearance, and this had in it the shame of an exposed deformity. Suddenly she snatched the wig from Rae- burn’s fingers, and with hands clapped to her head, she ran blindly off the deck, trying COMICOOoKS Cc (C@