Roy Norton

“ It's a rather unusual procedure to announce it aboard a boat, but, with one exception, there isn't a man on her who is not like one of the family. She's taken some chances since her first trip, and there's but one man on her who wasn't here when we first cleared port. In honor of the occasion, you shall dine with me to-morrow night in my cabin, and there will be just one big, wholesome drink of Ron Bacardi served to every man on her with which to toast my health. It shall be my steward's part to spread the news. It will travel fast enough. ”

“ He spoke the last as if reluctant to prey further upon my good-nature; quite like a man who was finding it difficult to break through the hard shell of a reserve that he had fostered to growth about himself, and that had become so indurated as to cut him off from all the outer world in which he lived and struggled, shell-encased, among his fellow men. The look he turned upon me, there in the sunlit cabin, was questioning ”

“ When the steward arrived, he screwed the bulb into the electric-light socket, and together we lifted Jimmy into his bunk, where I gave him a hasty examination. It had always been his habit to wear a cap with a quilted top, presumably to keep his bald spot warm, and it had broken the force of a blow that, properly delivered, might have killed him. The steward ran to my cabin for some brandy, while I took the water carafe and doused the chiefs head. His eyes opened, and he was beginning to look around in a daze when the steward returned. ”

“ It would have been better if we had been disturbed sooner. We are getting pretty well south. We would like to catch this chap, whoever he is, the man with the smear, and throw him off at Samaña, where his claws will be clipped for a while. ”

“ I pretended to relax, suddenly threw myself toward his left side, caught his upraised right, and then, gathering myself and whirling quickly, gave him one of "the deadly peril" tricks. Taken by surprise he struggled to recover his balance; then there was the sharp snap of breaking bones, as I broke his arm at the elbow, a scream of agony, and he fell to the deck just as the bridge officer came running around the corner of the deck-house, shouting, "Stop! ”