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

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

270 THE ARGOSY. ‘‘ Hullo!’ said I, ‘‘ what’s the meaning of this?”’ ‘‘ A mere precautionary measure,’’ he replied. I looked at him without speaking, and he returned the look with interest. It was the steadiest gaze I have ever encountered ; a clear, masterful look, that almost seemed to compel honesty. Apparently satisfied, he smiled, handed me a cigar, and lit one himself. ‘““Well,’’ he queried, ejecting a huge cloud of smoke, through which I saw the steady radiance of his grave eyes, ‘‘ what do you think of the Pulo Way ?”’ ‘‘I am beginning to think some very queer things. I admit, Captain Macshiel is a puzzle.’’ | : . He seemed to think so, too; but, judging from his reticence, I guessed he was rather afraid to speak. ‘To rid him of suspicion was therefore my first endeavor. = ‘‘ Look here, Hayling,’’ said I; ‘“‘you don’t know me, and of course I don’t know you, but I believe we understand each other. Is that so?”’ ‘ Quite ;’’ and he held out his hand. Of one thing I felt sure—no one but a warm hearted man could give such a grip. ‘Then, to be candid with you, I have been entertaining some exceed- ingly grave suspicions as to the good faith of Captain Macshiel and his crew,”? ‘And not without cause, I should say. I’m sorry I ever came aboard.’’ ‘‘And I, though I must admit that Captain Macshiel tried his hardest to prevent me.’’ Then I told him of my first interview with the skipper of the Pulo Way, and of the many reasons with which that worthy mariner sought to restrain . me from embarking. : ‘I, too, came on board almost at the last moment,’’ said the second mate. ‘‘ As it is, we have no real third. One of the chow quartermasters takes the first watch—a surly brute who would skin his own mother for ten dollars. Seems to be rather thick with the big coolie who mounted the cannon. If J] were the captain of this ship I’d clap them both in irons.’ ‘“ By the way, what’s the meaning of this ‘cannon ? When I asked the captain, he facetiously replied that it was to shoot sharks.”’ The Australian looked grave. ‘If he had said to shoot gulls he might have been nearer the mark.’’ " Gulls?’ I echoed, reading something much more serious in his face. ‘“ Look here, old man,’’ said he; ‘“‘I know no more about that cannon than you do, nor of the coolie who works it ; but I would trust neither. At all events, it is the first time I ever heard of a tramp aping a man o’ war, and I don’t like it.’ ‘What, then, is your opinion ?”’ ‘“T have many, some of them madly absurd. Vet there is one thing of which I can speak with absolute certainty.’’ Here he stopped, and even in the privacy of his own room, with door locked and curtain drawn, looked round and lowered his voice: ‘‘ We ave not steering towards Manila !”” I could scarcely credit my hearing, but looked at him in a way that forced him to repeat the sentence. Comicbooks.com