Argosy All-Story Weekly — 'The Metal Monster' — page 89: what you’re looking at

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

a THE DERELICT. in her life Katrina knew the joy of ‘“ keep- ing house.” A simple thing, but a thing vital to a.normal woman’s life. Setting a table, dish-washing, mending, mothering— something new had come alive in Katrina’s soul, qut on the lonely seas. Katrina had found, early in her searehes, the stewardess’s alcohol-stove and the sec- ond mate’s thermos bottle. Life was in- deed worth living! Hot coffee and tea, and all sorts of tinned food and crackers. And Thorpe developed into an excellent fisher- man, over the side, though cooking the fish was the work of a genius, with only the small stove. Katrina found herself going about the decks with a song on her lips. She had a beautiful voice, never before so beautiful as now when her lungs were constantly filled with clean air. She would often stand before the canary’s cage, where Thorpe had fastened it to a stanchion on the promenade- deck, and sing Jomelli’s “ Ch vuol comprar la bella calendrina?” Oh, who will buy the beautifuf canary, That sings from early morn te eve so gaily? More frequently, however, her songs were not so classic. With sparkling eyes, she would throw her head back and sing, joyously, some old sea-chanty taught her by her father. — ~ Oh, the anchor is weighed, and the sails are set, Away—Rio! The maids that we’re leaving we'll never forget, For we're bound to Rio Grande. And away—Rio! Aye, Rio! : Sing fare-ye-well, my bonnie girl, We’re bound for Rio Grande! So man the good capstan and run it around, Away—Rio! We'll heave’up the anchor to this jolly sound, Fer we're bound to Rio Grande. And away—Rio! Aye, Rio! Sing fare-ye-well, my bonnie girl, © We're bound for Rio Grande! At such times Thorpe, if he were near, would stand and listey to Katrina, a puz- zled expression on his face. Hé had never been 2 woman’s man. He was noted among bis associates as a woman-shunner, if not a woman-hater, But Katrina was different from any other woman he had ever met. Her attitude to- ward him was one of comradeship—she was impersonal to her finger-tips. Her clothes made her seem more boy than woman, and her knowledge of ship matters put a sort of finishing touch toward obliterating her sex. They had,planned, the first night alone, when the Koromanti had failed to return for them, to stand watch and watch during the hours of dark. Katrina had Thorpe hang two red lanterns, one above the other, from a line drawn from bridge to No. 2 hatch. There was no mast to carry the lights— they had to do the best they could under the circumstances. Other lights were placed about the ship, but they were only feeble lantern rays. Katrma well knew the dan- ger that lay in the dismasted hulk: Dere- licts—dead ships that refuse to be buried— these are the terrors of navigation. Thorpe and Katrina stood watch and watch, during the nights, and always there were Coston lights at hand, ready for use In case some other ship were sighted. Katrina was singing softly beneath her breath, as she worked over the bright-work on the bridge. Suddenly she paused and looked over at Thorpe, who was patiently cleaning lamps and lanterns. ‘“ How is our tinned goods holding out?” she asked. Thorpe flashed a quick giance at her. “ There’s plenty,’ he answered, but his eyes fell beneath hers. “You're not telling the truth,” Katrina laughed. “I never knew any one who found it so difficult to lie as you do!” “Well, then, there isn’t much of anything left,” the man slowly admitted. “ I’ve been wondering if there might not be something eatable in the holds—something in the cargo.” Katrina smiled at him. ‘I worked over the cargo manifests with the mates, you know,” she reminded him, “and can give you full particulars about what we carry below.”’ Her eyes twinkled. “Listen! Pig snouts, corsets, sausages, auto parts, pig tails, silk hosiery, bags of cernmeal, drums of carbide, hogsheads of leaf tobacco, bales of hay, kegs of nails, CONMUC AOOlK (CO