Adventure Magazine Cover — page 95: what you’re looking at

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

JUKES close. He heard a last useless order from the skipper. Some one screamed, “The boat!”’ A shriek ended in a groan close to him. A hand clutched his bare foot. He bent to grasp the hand; but it slipped, and he touched only water. Save for the growl and long wash of the sea there was no sound. Alf Jukes was swimming. Dawn came, and, treading water, Jukes gazed round the sea. He struck out, swam with strong steady strokes, and presently swung himself upon a piece of drifting wreckage. The horizon was empty, the sky without acloud. The sea was flat. The sun rose. It beat on the bare white skin of Alf Jukes. Jukes took a little oilskin package from his pocket and wedged it in the center of the raft. He slipped off his dungaree trousers and dipped them in the sea. The dripping dungarees in his hand, he stood stark naked and once more gazed around. The sea was empty. His head by the raft’s edge, he lay down and covered himself as well as he could with the wet dungaree. The sun climbed higher. Now and again Jukes splashed his great hands in the water, wetting his head and upper limbs afresh. Except upon the raft there was no motion anywhere in sky or sea. By and by Jukes rose. His eyes searched the horizon. It was empty. He dropped the dungarees, and dived deep. He swam down and down, seeking the cooler depths. He glimmered white, far under the unrippled blue water. When he rose to the surface again he held to the edge of the raft. The raft gave no shade. He reached for, and covered his head with, the dunga- rees. ‘The sun was overhead when he drew himself up, and, holding to the edge of the raft, looked all about again. Suddenly Jukes hurled himself upon the raft. His body glistening in the sun, he watched a long green shape dart under him. For the rest of the day Jukes dipped his dungarees in the sea and covered himself as best he could. All day a sharp green fin cruised slowly round. When the sun dipped there were red fiery patches on the marble-white skin of his back, on his thighs and shoulders. Stars wakened. Long after day was gone Jukes curled himself in the middle of the raft and went to sleep. Thirst wakened 93 him. He dipped the dungarees in the sea and wrapped them round his neck. Night passed. At dawn the horizon was empty. Fins cruised to and fro on all sides. Snouts broke the still blue water. The sky was cloudless. When Jukes dipped his dungarees, jaws snapped on them. He wrenched, and a leg of the dungarees remained in his hands. He wrapped it about his neck, and crouched down. The sun climbed higher. Jukes rocked a little to and fro. Now and again a low coughing grunt escaped him. Day passed. Night came, starry and still. Snouts nosed around the raft’s edge. Fins darted to and fro, rippling the wind- less water. Jukes slept fitfully, dreamed, wakened, dozed and dreamed again. Night passed. At dawn Jukes climbed unsteadily to his feet. His lips were black, his skin scarlet. He moaned. His tongue was swollen. A quarter of a mile from the raft a dense black cloud was slowly crossing the equa- torial sky. <A sheer wall of water fell from the cloud to the sea. Flying fish leaped at the rain’s foot. White birds preyed on them from above, silver-bellied fish from below. The snouts were gone, to join in the preying. Staring at the rain wall, Jukes listened to the just audible s-s-s-s of the doldrum squall. The squall passed by, came within an eighth of a mile of the raft, dipped under the sea rim, and was gone. The sun rode high in a blue cloudless sky. The snouts were back. Fins rippled the water all about. Jukes crouched, with the wet scrap of dung- aree about his neck. Day passed. Night came. Jukes lay prostrate, face downward. Hours passed. Long after midnight he lifted his head and tried to climb to his knees. A dim green light winked on the sea far off. He toppled over and was still. Wind ruffled his hair and blew cool upon his brow. Alf Jukes saw houses with smoking chim- neys, windows aglint. Saw masts and spars along a waterfront. Heard singing, far away. A wind blew through green tree-tops. HEN Jukes came to himself he lay in a lamp-lit forecastle. From near-by came the voices of sailors. “T seen a boat wi’ two dead men in her COMICOOOKS Cc (C@