Argosy, Vol. 118, No. 2 — page 112: what you’re looking at

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

262 giant’s liking for her, boyish at times, or swiftly changing to bolder appraisal, grew * daily. The girl, Rainey decided, was humoring Lund, seeking to know how with her femi- nine methods she might control him, keep him within bounds. Her coldness, it seemed, she had cast aside as an expedient that might prove too provoking and worth- less. And Rainey’s valuation of her resources increased. She was handling her woman’s weapons admirably, yet when he sometimes, at night, under the cabin lamp, saw the smoldering light glowing in Lund’s agate eyes, he knew that she was playing a dan- gerous game. “What d’ye figger on doin’ with yore share, Rainey?” Lund asked him the night that they passed Nome. It was stormy weather in the Strait, and the Karluk was snugged down under treble reefs, fighting her way north. Ice in the Narrows was scarce, though Lund predicted broken floes once they got through. The cabin was cozy, with a stove going, Peggy Simms was busied with some sewing, the canary and the plants gave the place a domestic at- mosphere, and Lund, smoking comfortably. was eminently at ease. | “2Cordin’ to the way the men figgered it out,” he went on, “though I reckon they’re under the mark more ’n over it, you'll have forty thousan’ dollars, That’s quite a windfall, though nothin’ to Miss Peggy, here, or me, for that matter. I spose you got it all spent already.” ‘“T don’t know that I have,” said Rainey. * But I think, if all goes well, I’ll get a place up in the Coast Range, in the redwoods looking over the sea, and write. Not news- paper stuff, but what I’ve always wanted to. Stories. Yarns of adventure!’ Peggy Simms looked up. ‘“You’ve never done that?” she asked. “Not satisfactorily. I ‘suppose that genius burns in a garret, but I den’t im- agine myself a genius and I don’t like gar- rets. I’ve an idea I can write better when I don’t have to stand the bread-and-butter strain of routine,” “ Goin’ to write second-hand stuff?” Lund, “Why don’t you live what you ‘own. THE ARGOSY. write? I don’t see how you're goin’ to git under a man’s skin by squattin’ in a bunga- low with a Jap servant, a porcelain bathtub, an’ breakfast in bed. Why don’t you travel an’ see stuff as it is? How in blazes are you goin’ to write Adventure if you don’t live it?” re ‘“ Me, I’m goin’ to git a schooner built ac- cordin’ to my own ideas. Have a kicker engine in it; mebbe, an’ go round the world. What’s the use of livin’ on it an’ not know- in’ it by sight? Books and pictures are all right in their way, I reckon, but, while my riggin’ holds up, I’m for travel. Mebbe Tl take a group of islands down in the South Seas after a bit an’ make somethin’ out of ’em. Not jest copra an’ pearl-shell, but cotton an’ rubber.” ‘A king and his kingdom,” suggested the girl. ‘* Aye, an’ mebbe a queen to go with it,” replied Lund, his eyes wide open in a look that made the girl flush and Rainey feel the hidden issue that he felt was bound to come, rising to the surface. “'That’s a man’s life,” went on Lund. ‘“Travel’s all right, but a man’s got to do somethin’, buck somethin’, start somethin’. An’ a red-blooded man wants the right kind of a woman to play mate. rough edges, mebbe. I’d rather be a rough castin’ that could stand filin’ a bit, than smooth an’ plated. An’, when I find the right woman, one of my own breed, I’m goin’ to tie to her an’ her to me. “T’m goin’ to be rich. They’ve cleaned up the sands of Nome, but there’s others ’ll be found yit between Cape Hope an’ Cape Barry. Meantime, we’ve got a placer of our With plenty of gold they ain’t much limit to what a man can do. I’ve roughed it all my life, an’ I’m not lookin’ for ease. It makes a man soft. But—” He swept the figure of the girl in a pause that was eloquent of his line of thought. _She grew uneasy of it, but Lund maintained it until she raised her eyes from her work and challenged his. Rainey saw her breast heave, saw her struggle to hold the gaze, turn red, then pale. He thought her eyes showed fear, and then she stiffened. Al- Polish off his - most unconsciously she raised her hand to where Rainey was sure she kept the little » Eomichoo cS (E©)