The Argosy, August 1914 — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

66 Like most shore-dwelling women— like most women everywhere, if the truth be known — Jessica Hooper placed personal courage at the head of all manly virtues. had it in abundance. Not one of them would flinch before an enemy or dream of saving his own life at the cost of another. It had hardly oc- curred to her before that a man could be otherwise than brave. She was so disquieted by the sight and its attendant thought that she for- got her earlier grievance and, rising, started to stroll aimlessly across the fields. ‘Thus she came to the edge of the cliff in time to see the race for the fish. Understanding came to her in a mo- ment, bringing so grateful a reaction that she could have forgiven Jack that earlier display without asking a ques- tion. She stood there witness to the whole proceeding, hoiding her breath at the spectacle of his interference with the Simcoxes and glowing with delight when from her aerie she saw the successful surrounding of the fish. Afterward the splendor of these scenes was clouded by a return of that other—the meeting between Jack and the unknown girl. She could never forgive him—never—never. He was a brave man; that she would grant. But she had no sympathy to waste on a man who was not true. A couple of days in bed erased the effects of the really severe blow Jack had received in the pit of his stomach. He would have been laid up for a month had it not been for the fighter’s well-developed corset muscles, hard as a washboard, which armored him. The island doctor stipulated for a week, at the least. His boding per- _ sistence forced the young fisherman to make a half-promise to remain where he was at least until the physician’s call on the following afternoon. But that night, after the others had gone to bed, he lay wakeful, longing for somebody to talk to. He was slept out. After tossing around for a The men she knew THE ARGOSY. couple of hours he got quietly from his bed, slipped on his clothes, and went out. The night patrol was still main- tained, and it was Peter Gomez’s watch. Jack’s purpose was to hunt him up and indulge in a little conversa- tion. He liked Peter least of his associates in the Hooper gang, without any defi- ite reason for disliking him, but since Peter was the only human being he could hope to interchange a word with at that hour he could afford to swallow his tastes. The watchman should be easily found in the limited beat he cov- ered. | It was very still and very dark, but as his eyes accustomed themselves to the gloom he could see enough to make his way about. Peter was not on the fish-house dock, where he had expect- ed to find him. He started leisurely toward the head of the harbor, think- ing how good it was to get out of the invalid class and confidently looking to discover his man taking it easy in one of the dories, where he could hear anything which happened, either ashore or on the water. He was almost at the spot where the dories were beached, walking noise- lessly through the powdery sand, when a low murmur of voices reached him. Evidently somebody else was in a com- panionable mood this evening. He halted to determine the source of the sounds. Upsided on the sand just above high tide mark was what remained of a superannuated oyster scow. Just why it had been permitted to stay there through so many changing seasons after its usefulness was manifestly ended it would have been difficult to say. Perhaps it was because the fishermen had become too accustomed to it to see it any longer. At any rate, Jack presently decided that it was from this venerable hull that the voices came. He moved to- ward it, at first without any other thought than of soliciting the privilege COMMICLOOOKS (C@