Adventure Magazine Cover — page 117: what you’re looking at

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

TREASURE point of the knife, looked about and came closer to hear. Raeburn called Heddon. He came from Old Bill’s room, glanced quickly fore and aft like a man who smells trouble, then in three long strides confronted the men, said, “What you fellows want?” and stopped, scowling as he waited for the answer. Two or three men cleared their throats, one waited for another to speak; there was nudging and half furtive glances toward each other, much shuffling of feet. These were not signs of trouble. ‘“What’s the matter, Haskell?’’ Heddon asked of the one sailor forward that he rather liked, a quite willing fellow who had an habitual air of seeming rather ashamed of himself, “Cap’n, y’ may think us crazy—we are ’most—y’see, Cap’n, we’ve been thinkin’ an’ talkin’—I don’t know jus’ how to say it, Cap’n, so it won’t sound crazy—an’ we are near craz—”’ Pelew, who was seldom at a loss for words, shouted from across the deck: “Aw, ——, it’s about that —— snake! They want it thrown overboard!” At that, Madame, who was watching and listening with her head turned to see over the back of her chair, got out of her chair and to her feet in one astonished bound, faced about, glanced angrily at Pelew, who had put a good deal of feeling into his voice, then she stared at Heddon, who looked be- hind him, straight at her. “Ye’sir, that’s it!’ said Haskell, relieved. “That snake, mister,’ said another’s ‘Voice. “No wind with it aboard, sir!’’ said one. All spoke readily enough now that the situation had been explained, and one or two glanced as if a bit gratefully toward old Pelew. “We ain’t what you call superstichus put —” “We are too! Iam f’r one! perstichus about —”’ ‘‘An’ see here, Will,” said Old Tom, slip- ping the knife into his hip-sheath, and walk- ing over closer to the crew. “I’m with ’em when it comes to that. We’ve had bad luck, an’ somethin’ is to blame. ’Sides, Will, it’s laid a spell on Old Bill. I b’lieve them things. An’ hey-O Abdul, what d’ye say?” Abdul, who had been dozing, rubbed his head as if washing it, got ponderously to his I’m su- III feet, and looked about slowly. He scratched at his bare hairy breast and he said dully: “Shnakes iss badt tings ter monkey mit. Dot feller iss der Teufel his self. But I ain’dt suberstichus. I ain’dt suberstichus aboudt noddings dot I can gedt my hands on. He monkey mit me und I'll preak his neck. I don’t like the vay he spidts his tongue ad me und—” ‘“Peeg!”” Madame shouted. ‘He make of you jellee! He hate you! Your name if zat I say to heem, he hiss-s-s-s!” Her eyes were bright with anger as she hissed, imi- tatively. Then—‘But oh, monsieurs, he do no harm, no wrong! He is zere. He do not come out! He is so geentle as a leetle babee! He is all zat I haf an’ so manee, manee years he has been wiz me—plees, monsieurs!”’ Some man of the crew shouted— “But wot’s the good of ’im!”’ “What, monsieur, is ze good of anysing zat you love!” “Love!” said Old Tom, with a sound like a snort, and others made vague sounds of astonishment. “Monsieur Hed-don! Monsieur, eet is to you zat [appeal. Plees!”’ Heddon had noticed without pleasure that Madame for the past two or three days had been just a bit obtrusively humble. She had gone out of her way to say to him— “Bon jour, monsieur’—and seemed to take his answering grunt like a penitent, which caused him to have increase of suspicion. Moreover, he was quite willing to snap up an excuse for ridding the ship of the devil Baal-Phelgor, for Heddon, almost as much as any one unfamiliar with snakes, had the traditional dislike and fear of them. This gigantic serpent was impressive. Heddon did not have the slightest superstitious taint as regarded the calm; but many nights, and many times on some nights, he had been startled out of restless sleep by the feeling that he sensed or heard the thing crawling about. He had no idea just how much of a fight so big a snake as that could make, but he gave it the benefit of a highly unfa- vorable opinion. As for Madame herself, whatever her humbleness or any other propitious attitude, he was not likely ever to forget the negro Zudag. “How much is it worth?” asked Hed- don. Madame with startled suspicion seemed to detect what he had in mind, and COMmMiCoooks C©