Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 37: what you’re looking at

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

—— -TWENTY-STICK ISLAND. affairs is that of the see-not, hear-not, speak-not variety. It’s the same with all of them. Any woman on that boat is re- garded as fair game and most of them seem to enjoy it, “Carter tried to make love to me—as he calls it. He tried to break into my stateroom once, and some time yesterday he must have taken the screws out of the bolt on the door and replaced them with dum- mies. Probably he bribed: the steward to do it. He was drunk, drunker than he had meant to be, I imagine. That was how I got away from him. Once I thought I couldn’t, and I called out. Mrs. Melville heard and came out into ,the saloon. ‘“ Carter was pretending to take her side against her husband for some rotten reason of his own. He saw who it was and slipped off through the alleyway, where my cabin opened. I knew it was no use talking to “her. She wasn’t herself. She had told me again that afternoon that she had no in- fluence with her husband, and that I must. fight my own battles. I believe Carter had suggested to her that I was deliberately trying to encourage him. “It was hideous. The life on the ship was a-horrible nightmare. I couldn’t stay there. Carter laughed when he leit. So— I knew I could swim ashore—and I came.” The girl had changed while she talked. Her face had aged, her voice become bit- ter, her eyes were as cold as Thorpe’s, watching her, listening and supplying the context she left out. “You didn’t tell me what this Carter looked like,” he said. “Tf you ever see him you can tell him by his face. I marked it,’ she answered, her tone hard. 7 “T may see him. How long do they expect to stay?” “About twenty-four hours, I think. There is something wrong with the con- densers.” Her face softened. She eas toward him. “You have been wonderful to me,” she said. “ You are not going to try and pick a quarrel with Carter? 1 have got away. All I want is to keep clear of them. Hf you want to help me, help me to do just / that. They won’t let you abonae eeyey unless you have been invited.” “That’s all right,” said Thorpe. “I can’t fight the bunch of ’em, however much I’d like to. But they may come looking for you, and if Carter is along—” “T expect I’ve wounded his self-pride too much in running away from his ad- vances for him to bother. JI don’t know what they’ll think. He won’t tell what happened. Mrs. Melville will remember the cry she heard. She went back to her room after she had listened for a little while. Very likely she didn’t connect it with me at all then, but she will when I am found missing. They may think I’m drowned. I am sure they will not wait for me very long. The easiest way will be the best. I don’t know what I am going to do, but I can’t go back.” She looked suddenly wan and tired, blue shadows under her eyes. mentally kicked himself. “We'll talk about all that in the morn- ing,” he said. “ You’re played out, and, if i had the sense of a turtle, I’d have made you turn in long ago. Tl keep tabs on the yacht in the morning. comes off I’ll wake you.” “ That’s a promise?” fe Then good night. I am tired.” She put out her hand again. For the first time he noticed bruises on her wrist. They had darkened since she had landed. Some of Carter’s brutality! Well, he wasn’t - through with Carter. “Look here, Miss Dineen,” he. said haltingly. “ You’ve had a rotten expe- rience. But don’t think all men are beasts. Because—they are not.” She gave him a look that went clean through him. ““T am sure of one that isn’t,” she said. “Good night.” Thorpe roused up the astounded and somewhat indignant Faata and ensconced her on a couch in the little living room that was half office, telling her of her charge. “ White Mary along in there?” she asked. “ Mary come from e/ipi?” “Yes. You look out along that Mary. Ehipi no good for her stop along: = oO 507 ‘Jim -rose and > First boat that COMME XOOKS EO sansa z