The Argosy, August 1914 — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

68 gained it, he was practically under- neath the other two and could hear their lightest whisper. This was fortunate, for, been recalled to remembrance that there were other people in the world, although probably asleep by now, Buck Potter lowered his voice. “ Here’s the hull business,” he be- gan. “To begin with, the reason I hunted you up to-night was because it won't do for us to be seen talkin’ to- gether. Cap’n Zed and his lot have most forgot that you’re an islander, and they’s no need of remindin’ them. ‘“Now you say most of them mack- erel is in the big pound yet. That's right, ain’t it?” Peter grunted assent to the state- ment. ‘All right, then. Cap'n Zed figgers on marketin’ them a few bar'ls at a time so’s to get top prices. That was the letter he got to-day, wa’n'’t it?” Again Peter grunted. “So I heard Herb Mann say,” he admitted. “That was a tearin’ big school, and if it hadn’t been for that (unmention- able names, which Jack understood to refer to himself) we'd have taken them ’stead of you folks. But that ain’t neither here nor there. We'll get caught up with that young feller, all right. . “Meantime, how to get our share of the mack’rel and at the same time make Cap’n Zed sick of the fishin’ off here. I got it all planned out. Only it needs you to help. “Since you fellers beén keepin’ watch they couldn’t no one stir around the cove at night without bein’ seen, otherwise we’d have worked Cap’n Zed away from here long before. You'll be on watch again six nights from now—that’ll be Monday. Is that right?” The other agreed that it was. ‘Monday night, then, we take our gear and go out to the pound where them fish are. We'll tow out with the dories—the tide’s all right about ten o'clock. I'll fix it up with Zylonite having THE ARGOSY. Flageg’s schooner to be standin’ on and off waitin’ for us. We'll use the work boat and the dories to lift the mack’rel and put them aboard him. He'll see to icin’ and. run them to market fast as he can scutter—or if the wind don’t serve, put them on the railroad. Any- way, he'll be all fixed up with ice and bar'ls. “Then we make a big rip in the pound net like as if a schooner or somethin’ had trailed acrost it, which was the way the fish got out. And come mornin’ we're back at our moor- in’ and you ain't seen anything all night long. When you go out with the gang to get a few bar’ls of fish you’re just as surprised as any one. How’s that?” For a conspirator, Peter Gomez was a timid soul. He immediately began to pick flaws in a scheme in which Buck Potter evidently took a creator’s delight. ‘* Supposin’ I sh’ld be sick that night an’ some one else sh’ld be on watch? What then?” he asked. ‘Well, s’posin’ you should?” Buck retorted. “ You ain’t been sick since I can remember. You take care of yourself and you won’t be.” Jack realized from the tones of the precious pair that the affair was as good as settled. It was his play to get back to his bed as quietly as possi- ble before he was discovered. He managed to beat a retreat while Peter was still endeavoring to find a weak spot in a perfect plan. Having regained his bed, he lay awake a long time, considering how best to put a spike in the machinery of the plotters. it was not until Jim Tarkis’s stirring warned him that it must be two o’clock or after that he fell asleep. CHAPTER XVII. THE FIGHT ON THE BEACH. TAKING advantage of his first op- portunity for a private conversation the next day, Jack repeated to Herb COMICLOOOKS (C@