The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 1 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

A PERUVIAN PARADISE. 13 When the party had sought their blankets (the guide assured them there was no necessity of standing watch), the stars were shining brightly in an unflecked sky ; but they awoke just before sunrise in the midst of a mountain tempest. The thunder was roaring overhead and the lightning crackling from peak to peak, illuminating the gorge in which they were encamped with an unearthly, flickering light. Then came the rain—not in drops, or in sheets, but simply pouring out of the heart of a cloud which had torn its way across the face of a neighbor- ing peak. It was a cloudburst in earnest, and in an instant they were all wet to the skin. There was no shelter at hand from the furious downfall, and all they could do was to imitate Manuel. He squatted upon his haunches on the shelving side of the gorge and madea tent of his blanket, covering himself completely. In a little while the tiny stream at the bottom of the gorge had become a rushing, roaring torrent, sweeping boulders, fallen timber, and all sorts of débris down its course. But the stream subsided as fast as it had gathered strength when the storm ceased. The rising sun found them in a drearily saturated state. ‘There was no dry wood and every vestige of their fire had been swept away. ‘* Tassajo and. left over cakes don’t make a very appetizing breakfast, do they?’’ said Ford ruefully. ‘‘ But this must be part of the-‘ roughing it’ I wanted, I suppose.’’ Then he looked at Rodriguez and suddenly burst out laughing. _ ‘What do you find to laugh at?’’ demanded Keeth, who had been rum- maging over his pack to see that all was right. But Ford brought himself up suddenly in the middle of his laugh and. glanced around at Manuel, the guide. He stood a little way off with his eyes fixed intently upon Jose’s unconscious face. ‘The sudden rainfall had played sad havoc with the Spaniard’s ‘‘make-up.’? ‘The grease paint was washed completely off in streaks, and the cabalistic mark upon his cheek was plainly visible. 3 The instant the Indian saw Ford’s eyes turned upon his he withdrew his own gaze from the Spaniard’s face and went about some unimportant task as coolly as though he had seen nothing. But young Kinsale was confident that he had noted the tattoo mark. His thoughtless laughter had called Keeth’s attention to the havoc made by the storm, and he pointed it out to the trader. ’ ‘‘Confound hit ! I ’ope that bloomin’ Hinjun didn’t notice it,’’ mut- tered the Englishman, snatching up his paints and beckoning Jose to go with him. . ‘’ But he dzd,’’ Ford declared to his friend. ‘‘ If there’s any truth in the * yarn that all these Indians understand the meaning of that mark, we’d better keep a mighty sharp watch on Manuel yonder.’’ But the guide seemed entirely oblivious of the accident. When Jose and Fitch returned, the former with the damage repaired, the Indian did not vouchsafe him a glance. But Keeth took ‘pains to place Rodriguez on his guard. : Conmiclaoolk< (S@)