Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 74: what you’re looking at

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

* a, ONT: HS bi) ¥>3 “ai Me rj b ’ wy te re m* y . 4 pele Cha bo* ‘i ” ' tek ‘ wa Hide 4h ay RIAD fase! .s . 1 UE et) Si 4 nee ¥ MIR VAP , a ? . / i> nbd At SAAT AY Sete i , "y) ' ayer 4 yy Mey rat Pie's ay gt A ' P bes TOA Ee: ; : AI6 “ As I live, breathe and die,” he ex- claimed, “if you ain’t gone and turned into a full-fledged man! Gerry, I want you to meet two old friends o’ mine. This old cassowary is Ham Finch, a boyhood pal o’ mine, and this buddin’ specimen o’ womanhood is his niece, Susan Finch.” Gerald was a little amazed when Susan Finch dropped him a curtsy. He had never seen a curtsy dropped, and he almost dropped off the dock in his astonishment; but he was delighted. His amazement grew as he took her in, detail by delightful detail—from her dark hair drawn back primly and knotted at the nape of her neck to her small white shoes peeping out from the sailor’s trousers she wore. He had never seen a girl quite like her. She reminded him of old-fashioned pictures in albums bound with plush. But wasn’t she a little knock-out! She extended a slim tanned hand which he dumbly accepted and found it, to his surprise, to be as firmly muscu- lar as a man’s, “ How do you, Cousin Gerald?” was her shy greeting. “Cousin?” Gerald blankly repeated. “ After a manner o’ speakin’—yes,”’ said Uncle Jethro, gruffly. “She is more or less my adopted niece, because Ham and me, in spite of his character which is lower than a snake’s navel, are closer than blood brothers. Sup- posin’ we walk up to the house and set down for a little chat.” “You'll stay for supper,” gently urged. “Can’t, Gerry. Got to be under way *fore dark, and the daylight goes fast in these latitudes. We'll have a half an hour, mebbe.” “ Shucks,” Gerald complained, genu- inely regretful. “ I was hoping to have some barracuda fishing with you, uncle.” “ Not this time. Later, mebbe,’ Gerald ur- ’ said Uncle Jethro as the four moved up the path toward the bungalow. ’ The sun had set and the world was -scads of it. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. bathed in auriferous light. It seemed, to Gerald, to enhance the beauty of the girl at his side until she became a mysterious little princess. Yes; Gerald had fallen hard, but he was, as we shall presently see, fairly good on the re- bound, too. They seated themselves on the dark- ening veranda. As Gerald lowered himself to a chair he intercepted, in the twilight, a wink that Uncle Jethro and the funny, horse-faced old man ex- changed. It caused a strange feeling to pass over him. After all, he did not know Uncle Jethro terribly well; knew him, in fact, hardly more than as a dear old Santa Claus sort of char- acter who was lavishly generous with his money; while Mr. Finch he knew not at all. . ‘ Gettin’your allowance checks reg- ularly, Gerry?” “Yes, sir,” said Gerry, uneasily. “Tf they ain’t big enough for your needs, pipe up, son. Money’s only good for spending purposes, and I got So you're settled here for the duration of winter, eh? Do you like it here?” “Yes, Uncle Jethro.” “My lawyer tells me you're -plan- nin’ to study for the bar.” “Yes, sir; 1 brought a couple of cases of books to study.” “That’s jest fine,” put in Mr. Finch. And Gerry saw an understanding nod pass between the two old men. What Gerry did not dream was that the nod meant that Uncle Ham was heartily satished with him as a candidate for the hand of the exquisite, wholesome, pure-hearted Susan. “T wish you didn’t have to hurry away so soon,” he said, and glanced at the lovely girl as he said this. A shuffling was heard on the path leading from the pier, and, in the dusk, the black face of Jeremy, the Lottie Lee’s cook, materialized. He carried a large suitcase in either hand. “Yuh that are, Misto Jethro,” an- nounced Jeremy, placing the suitcases s AA — gas © €omicbooks.com