Adventure Magazine Cover — page 98: what you’re looking at

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

Q2 The Chinaman fought with a knife, wary asa cat, and seemed everywhere at once. The fight was fierce, but brief, and soon the Jack-Girl’s crew threw down their weapons in surrender and stood deject- edly in the rain. After settling affairs on their new craft, T’eeay Layeen and Heddon came to an understanding. T’eeay had promised Pelew and the men that he would lead them to treasure, and the Chinese, fear- ing treachery from the crew, ordered his coolie at- tendants to watch over Heddon constantly. Two nights had passed when the Rose Marie, a labor-recruiting schooner, hove into hearing. The impetuous Pelew jumped to the rail and shouted: “We're pirates, you ol’ nigger-catcher! An’ here’s Say Lean, the Chink pirate.”’ So when the captain of the Rose Marie had taken ADAME did indeed have a new look in her black eyes, new anger and pur- pose in her head. She was bitter as a scotched snake; yet kept her poise, had even more poise than ever. No woman at all, no man in all her life but the wig-maker, had ever known of her baldness; and from long and jealous nurs- ing, this secret had become an obsession, a mania. Her own rageful feeling was com- parable to that of those myth-women, who areserpents but assume lovely female shapes; yet are subject to accidental disenchant- ment— a word, a stroke, a wizard’s penetrative glance, and the disguise withers. She was so hateful of her own baldness that never within her own bedchamber would she look into her own mirror with her head uncovered. The feeling was un- reasonable, but it was her feeling. Now when any one glanced toward her she thought that he thought of her bald- ness; when she heard half drunken laughter or jeering shout, she thought men jested about her. Brooding and angered in her room, she had heard through the port Heddon more than once call her “snake woman.” The negro Zudag was her man; Abdul too, and moreover he did not like Heddon; Denasso, slave to the oil-lamp that warms the pea ball of opium, must, if she willed it, even now bow when she spoke; and as for Vioux, he had many faults, or rather only one—that of cowardice; yet even his small body would add weight to mutiny; and though they had recently quarreled, they had quarreled many times before and she GORDON YOUNG Walscher and the others aboard he opened fire with rifles, while Heddon and Pelew drove the men aloft. A sudden squall split the schooner’s main-sail and carried the bark to safety. Old Bill, badly wounded in the first fight, was cheerfully being nursed by all. Old Tom was even carving him crutches, though not much hope was held for his recovery. The Chink’s treasure was the chief topic talked of among the crew. Late that afternoon Heddon came to Old Tom with word that Madame had regained her wig and was once more on deck. ‘“‘The minute I saw her, I went to throw her’babee, Baal-Phelgor, overboard. Thank God, her door was locked. When I looked through a port I saw he was loose. Guess she’s looking for some one to feed to the —— snake!” was quite used to wrapping and unwrapping him about her fingers. Madame was a woman who all of her life had schemed and planned, and though much of this turned out unluckily, some went well; and she had audacity. She had spied on the deck through a port hole, watchfully; so, very well aware of what she was about, she chose to make her first appearance on deck during Pelew’s watch. She glanced at him, spoke of the weather, seemed friendly though she walked aside and stood with a lonely air. Presently he came near with awkward pretext of pointing to a sunset’s beauty. Pelew cared for a sunset’s beauty about as much as he cared for the beauty of a fried egg, and had thought Old Tom somewhat cracked for gaping at the sun when it went down. Now Madame was responsive; she followed his pointing finger as it was poked at this and that cloud, and she commented in rapid phrases on the changing lights. Soon Pelew was talking of himself. listened attentively, said: “Magnifiquel—Oo so saveege!—Mon- sieur, you haf ze treasure of ze brave heart! —Oh how ver’ mooch one could trus’ you in ze fight wiz any man!” IV Te Jack-Girl with one thing and She another began to make men feel that she was not a lucky ship; in the forecastle men began to speak jokingly of a Jonah, and soon to speak of a Jonah as if they believed in it; then determinedly, and said of course it could be nothing else than that blank-blasted snake. Even good food and much splicing of the MICLOOOKS C©