Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 142: what you’re looking at

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

* gp a pe ee .._*~ 4. > S- Oe i Oe a5 So eminge “. = i ies ag = ; : : —< 564 and financial, as well as social. Much, that I fear perhaps you would not un- derstand, if I told it to you, Miss Rova. “But Ah Long is a powerful man, a very powerful man, in these islands, as you know, and he has made his plans in this case to marry this white woman of his dreams. He has spent years to secure control of all of her father’s affairs and he believes that when the moment comes she will consent readily to save her father, and to save—her- self.” At last the idea took hold of Rova. Her head snapped back and the blood coursed freely into her ashen cheeks. “Ts that yellow skunk fool enough to think that I will marry him?” she exclaimed. Quimby bowed his head gravely. “ Please speak softly, Miss Rova,” he replied. “For both our sakes, | wouldn’t have him overhear you speak of him so disrespectfully. We may be able to foil him, but it is not well to antagonize him. Not now.” His attitude was so suave, his words so unctuous, her extremity so perilous, that she found herself accepting men- tally the softly intoned “ we.” “Good!’’ she exclaimed. “ How?” Erect again, breaking freely, reas- sured, his confidence mounting moment by moment, Quimby looked into her trusting, upturned face. “Oh, my dear,” said he pleadingly, “ you must know what my feeling is for you. I have told you repeatedly. I have con- fided in your father.” “Ves! Yes!” Impatiently she brushed this aside. ‘ Go on.” “That I love you, Rova. That I have always loved you. That I would give my life, anything [ have to save you.” Again the nearness of the man of- fended her. She stepped back to escape the imminence of a physical con- tact, for he seemed to be drawing closer toward her. “T know, Mr. Quimby,” she replied, almost petulantly. “I know; we’ve ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. had all that out. feeling, and I care for you, too, but as a daughter, or a sister. Please go on tell me, what shall we do?” 7 He ran a thin tongue over dry lips. “Your feeling will change in time,” he murmured with sibilant softness. ‘A woman’s feeling does change. The nature of your love will change. I am willing to wait for that.’ A dawning horror crept into her face. “What’s the idea, Mr. Quimby?” Her voice sounded harshly defiant. “That you marry me at once.” She fell back a pace, clenching her hands and confronting him with tightly set lips. He leaned toward her with an in- sinuating leer. “It is your only chance,” he added. ‘‘ No Chinese in these islands would dare violate the wife of a white man or aspire to the hand of one either. You have your choice, my dear. It is me, or Ah Long.” CHAPTER XXII, THINGS BREAK. O) ‘iss inn self-control had stood him in fine stead all his life. He was not a man who was accus- tomed to permitting his emotions to master him. Yet the very fact that he had suppressed his desire so successful- ly for so long created in his own nature a terrific feeling which played a trick on him at this delicate moment. Now, strive as he did, with all the force of his strong will to still conceal for a little while the intensity of his emotional quest for this rare loveliness that dwelt in Rova Hollins, still the horrid fact shone in his eyes. Rova read it unmistakably. The ‘situation she was in, Quimby’s words, the dramatic and unexpected’ appear- ance of Ah Long, his fantastic, in- direct proposal went instantly with her for nothing. She saw only this Eomicbooks.c¢ “wel — me < J = "i ote tee — Oe ee I appreciate your om