Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-11-20
Adventure
A Romance of
The South Seas
BY
JACK OND ON
Copyrish:. 1870. by Street @ Smith
Cocyisht. 1914. by the Macmillan Compass

! bid 80 myself for Morgan and Ran.
Nv word weren't they hot!
Twenty says for my bid. Twen-
y-fve.' says the little girl. Thirty.
says l. Forty says she. Fifty says
[. F1fty-fve.' says she. And there
was stuck. Hold on says /: wait
till see my owners No. you don't.
says she. It's customary says l..
Not anywhere in the world. says she
Then IFS courtesy in the Solomons.
says |. And then she smiles at Bur
nett as welI-you know. one of those
fetching smiles and damme If Burnett
doesn't begin singing out, Coin. goin',
goin'-las; bld-Soin', goin' for 80 SOW
ereigns-Goin'. goin'. goue-to you. Miss
-er-what name. please?
Joan Lakeland. says she with a
smile to me, and that's how she bought
the Martha"
Sheldon experienced a sudden thrill
The Martha. a finer schooner than
the MaIakuln and. for that matter. the
finest in the SoIomons-she was inst
the thing for recruits. and she was
right on the spot. Then he realized
that for such craft 10 sell al auction
for f55 meant that there was small
chance for saving her
But how did IL haDpen:" be asked
Weren't they rather quick in selling
the Martha ~
Had 10. You know the reef at
PoOnga-POonga. Shes nor worth tup-
pence on it If any kind of q sea kicks
up. ard it's ripe for a nor'wester any
moment now. The crowd abandoned
her completely. You know MaIaita.
and you know Poonga-P OonGa. That's
where they cut off the Scottish Chiefs
and killed all hands There was moth
ing to do but take TO the boats. Tho
Martha missed stays going in. and in
side FIVE minutes she was on the reef
and in possession. Tho nlGGerS swarm
ed over her. and they Just threw the
crew into the boats. l talked with
some OF the men. They swear there
were 200 canoes around her inside half
an hour and 5000 bushmen on the
beach. Said you couldn't see Malaita
for the smoke OF the signal fires. Any
way. they cleared out for TulaEi"
But why didn't they tight:" Shel-
don asked.
1t was funny they didn't. bat they
got separated. You see. two-thirds OF
them were in the boats. without weap-
ons. running anchors and never dream
ing the natives would attack They
found out their mistake too late
but what is Miss Lakeland intend
ing TO do"
Captain Auckland grinned.
shes going to try to get the Mar
tina off. l should say. or else why did
she pay % quid for her? And il
she fails she'll try to get her money
back by saving the gear sDars. you
know. and patent steering gear ard
winches. such things At least that's
what I'd do If l was IN Ter place.
When l sailed the little girl had char
tered the Emily. I'm going recruit
ing says Munster. Hes the skipper
and owner now. And how much will
you net on the cruise asks she. oh.
80 quid.' says he. Good. saws she.
You bring your Emily along with
me and you'll get 10. You know
that big ships anchor and chain
piled up behind the coal sheds? She
was just buying that when / left.
She's certainly hustler. that little
girl Of yours"
she is my partner" Sheldon cor
rected.
We'll. she's q good one. that's all.
and cool one. My word. a white
woman on Malaita and at Poonga-
PoonGa of all places. Oh. forgot TO
tell you. She palavered Burnett into
lending her eight rifles for her men
and three cases of dynamite. You'd
laugh TO see the way she makes that
Guvutu gang stand around. And TO
see them being polite and trying TO
give advice! Lord. Lord. man. that
little girls 2 wonder. . marvel. a-aa