Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 144: what you’re looking at

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

616 gines slammed her through and over the avalanches of foam and spray. Ata glance Norry saw that she was making for the Plum Moon off Nadir Point. The wind burst over Denham like blasts of artillery. It rocked the pier to its foun- dations. Through the smothering whirl of sand and beach litter, he made out a few luggers laboring in the,hell-broth of surf and shoal water along the banks. His dinghy had been pulped to match wood against the iron wood piles below. Nothing could live in such a torment of wind and fury. Foot by foot he fought his way from the pier, the seas breaking in long, murderous swells at each step. The wind tore him from every coign of vantage, blew him like a bundle of rags across the Parade. It was here the bamboo slatted roof of Chi Hi Lee’s vegetable emporium planed down and buried Denham’s struggling shape in a ton of débris and Chinese ceiling ornaments. V. Norry woke with the sound of wind still in his ears. He seemed to have lain un- conscious for hours with the ribs of the bamboo roof swaying and breaking above him. His shoulder hurt from the effects of the crash. With difficulty he crawled from his cave of slats and hessian roof lining and looked out. The beaches were strewn with spars and the wreckage of strange praus and schoon- ers, blown from their island harbors and buoys. From one of a dozen uprooted gaming houses on the Parade came the melancholy howling of a dog. Denham crawled to the beach, his limbs grown numb, his brain sick. He was one of a few that remained to grieve over the havoc of the hurricane. His yearling lugger had gone the way of others. Nothing could have saved Elean. Without a single seaman on board, the Sea Witch could only drown like a kitten in a well! Norry’s fingers dug into the soft sand. His face had become a twisted agony. How could he meet the future without Elean? For her he had been ready to sell his life, his liberty. He had been ready to betray ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. everything he held dear, if only her happi- ness were assured! He lay in the warm sand, a craving for death in his eyes. He heard the faint voices of men searching among the ruins of the town. A police patrol passed in the direc- tion of the bank. He fell into a stupor and emerged with the chill of night in his blood. He fought to his feet and glared around. One or two lights showed along the Parade. People were searching among the wreckage on the beach. The police were guarding the three banks in the town. Looters were abroad. Two men had been shot while attempting to enter the strong room of the Bank of South China. Eight luggers had gone down; others were missing. He had taken a chance leaving Klean alone on the Sea Witch. Fate in the guise of a hurricane had struck swiftly and savagely. That was all! His pockets bulged with money. But—his heart was in the grave. He crouched in the warm darkness of a deserted store, the sparkle of life gone from his mind. At dawn the wind died and the sea quieted. Rain blew out of the west and the air felt sweeter. He joined the small crowd of searchers along the beach. His distracted eye fell on Gibbs leaning over the wave-smashed pier rail. The cashier hailed him dejectedly. ‘““ Man-—you were lucky yesterday!” he greeted dourly. ‘‘ The bank has suspended payment! Our directors in Canton have been fooling with the revolutionaries— squandering the bank’s funds in military enterprises! God—it’s awful!” he wailed. “ Yesterday’s storm seems to have cut a track through most of our plantation pro- perties in the north. We’re smashed!” He raised his nerveless face to Denham and grinned oddly. “ When I told Ty Foo, yesterday, that you’d drawn the whole of the sixty thousand he looked a _ bit worried!” “What did he say?” Norry inquired, dully. “What could he say? It was his check and he owed you the money! And to be quite frank it was all the coin he had with us! Not so rich as people think! Without a word he bolted from the bank and ran COMmicloo S CO