Argosy, Vol. 85, No. 3 — page 130: what you’re looking at

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

472 I am free to admit that the swiftness with which the girl had fairly shoved us into this situation left me _ breathless, dazed. I held out my hand to Louie. “‘ Good-by!”’ I croaked weakly. ‘““Good-by?” he echoed in a gasp. ‘What do you mean? Are you going to back out?” ‘““No, of course not. I’m going with you right to the end. But—there might not be another chance to bid each other good-by, you know. You’ve been a devil- ish good fellow. to me, Louie. And—”’ “Good Lord! If that’s the way you feel about it—we’d better—better—”’ He broke off. There wasn’t anything better, no matter how I felt about it. It was war. Over nearly half the world millions of men were in some such posi- tion as ours at that moment,. unable to guess their fates, unable to alter their fates, their only choice between nearly certain, immediate, but honorable death before, and utterly certain, but little de- layed and dishonorable death behind. I never was so totally, panickily paci- fist in my life. Louie and I had blun- dered into this infernal situation. That a man should deliberately walk into a re- cruiting station. and sign himself up for just such situations as this—was the crowning example of human capacity for doing the idiotic. Thank Heaven we had little time for further reflection. I’ve too vivid an im- agination to figure up any more manners of death for myself than the one it is set down for me eventually to encounter. Louie had gone down the other compan- ionway, and I had followed dumbly. We had the six members of our crew ready when Mamie came into the narrow quarters with a bundle of small brasses and steels. The engineer seized them. “Be getting them into place while I talk,” she commanded. ‘“ Make sure they’re all there. And just remember it’s hotter than this where you'll be if one of them guards outside hears any tinkering.” For once an engineer managed to use wrenches and screw-drivers without in- THE ARGOSY. terfering with the conversation. Mean- while the girl shot her brief instructions. Mostly they summed up in one phrase— a preparedness that could find and do everything in the dark. It seemed as if the real work was going to be all up to the crew. What Louie and I had to do was to get back up on deck, sit and chat with the girl long enough to make it appear that our time spent below had not excited us enough to signify anything suspiciously interesting afoot. The crew had to arrange the hold and make every adjustment possible with- out an actual trial of the motors. This must be done under cover of get- ting supper. And then it was up to them to get on such terms with the guard that would come on duty at eight o’clock that the offer of a few drinks would be accept- able. Theirs the hard part? Not if you ask me. It was all very well while the girl kept up a perfect phonographic perform- ance of mirthful quip and loud laughter. But when she left about half past four, with another hour of daylight left—well, the next time I’m fixing to take my life and spin it on the end of one finger, I’ll let the crew come up and look perfectly natural, while I go down and sweat around the engine. And then to eat a dinner—please spare the tale. At length the crew came up and made its way to the little after-deck. With them they carried clinking bottles and heavy glasses. The night guard had come on a half-hour before. Suddenly I realized that here was the weakness of our plan—or the weakest of all its weaknesses. Successfully to drug seven men so that they will all drop to sleep at once, or nearly enough so to pre- vent any one of them becoming alarmed at his companions’ condition —I wished the girl would come down to help us do it. I wished it the more, as time went on. Hope grew when a chorus of voices up at headquarters sent strident chords out into the sticky air. They must be trying to console themselves, I thought, for losing CO DOOK AMUC C©