Argosy, Vol. 118, No. 2 — page 111: what you’re looking at

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

A+-MAN TO cient seabridge, showed sharply against the At four bells in the morning-watch all hands had assembled, save for Tamada and Hansen, who appeared bearing the canvas- enveloped, flag-draped body of Simms, his sea-shroud weighted by heavy pieces of iron. Peggy Simms followed them, and, as the crew, with shuffling feet and throats that were repeatedly cleared, gathered in a semi- circle, she arranged the folds. of the Stars and Stripes that Hansen attached to a light line by one corner. Whatever Lund affected, the solemnity of the occasion held the men. They uncov- ered and stood with bowed heads that hid the bruised faces of the hunters. Lund’s own damaged features were lowered as Rainey commenced to read. Only Dem- ing’s face, gray from the effort of coming on deck and the pain in his arm, held the semblance of a sneer that was largely bravado. A hunter had his arm tucked in that of his comrade with the broken ribs. _ A seaman was tolled off to the wheel and the schooner was held to the wind with all sheets close inboard, rising and falling on an almost level keel. “And the body shall be cast into the sea.” At the words Lund and Hansen tilted the grating. There was a slight pause as if the body were reluctant to start on its last journey, and then it slid from the platform and plunged into the sea, disappearing in- stantly under the urge of the weights, with a hissing aeration of the water. The flag, held inboard by the lime, fluttered a mo- ment and subsided over the grating. The girl turned toward them, her head up. “Thank you,” she said, and went below. .* Phat’s over,” said Lund, letting out whatever emotions he might have repressed in a long breath. ‘‘ Now, then, trim ship! Watch-off, get below. We're goin’ to drive her for all she’s worth.” He took over the wheel himself as the . men jumped to the sheets and soon Lund was getting every foot of possible speed out of the schooner. He was as good a sailor as. Simms; inclined to take more chances, but capable of handling them. The girl kept below and seldom came HIS MATE. 261. out of her cabin, Tamada serving her meals in there. Rainey could see Lund’s resent- ment: growing at this attitude that seemed to him normal enough, though it might present difficulty later if persisted in. But the morning that they headed up through | Sequam Pass between the spouting reefs of Sequam and Amlia Islands, she came on deck and went forward to the bows, taking in deep breaths of the bracing air and gaz- ing north to the free expanse of Bering Strait. Raimey left her alone, but Lund welcomed her as she came back aft. ‘Glad to see you on deck again, Miss Peggy,” he said. ‘ You need sun and air to git you in shape again.” His glance held vivid admiration of her as he spoke, a glance that ran over her rounded figure with a frank approval that Rainey resented, but the girl paid no atten- tion to. She seemed to have made up her mind to a change of attitude. “How far have we yet to go?” she asked. - “ A’most a thousan’ miles to the Strait. proper,” said Lund. ‘“ The Nome-Unalaska steamer lane lies to the east. Runs close to the Pribilofs, three hundred miles north, with Hall an’ St. Matthew three hundred - Then comes St. Lawrence Isle, further. plumb in the middie of the Strait, with Siberia an’ Alaska closim’ im.” He was keen to hold her in conversation, and she willing to listen, assenting almost eagerly when he offered to point out their positions on the chart, spread om the cabin table. Lund talked well, for all his limited and at times luridly inclined vocabulary, whenever he talked of the sea and of his own adventurings, stating them without brag, but bringing up striking pictures of action, full of the color and_savor of life in the raw. From that time on Peggy Simms came to the table and talked freely with Lund, more conservatively with Rainey. The mewspaperman was neo experienced analyst of woman nature, but he saw, or thought he saw, the girl watching Lund closely: when he talked, studying him, some- times with more than a hint of approbation, at others with a look that was puzzled, seeming to be working ata problem. The DOOKS COMEE (E©)