Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-13
II Seafaring
Tale of Romance
and AdUenture in
the ONNrthzvesf.
ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CLARK,

ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CLARK.
~ LID Salmon Scully dribbed his fishing
line into the jade green waters of the
~ inrIlshing tide. It dropped between
the end timbers of the ancient, rottirg
wharf Then hook and spoon whirled
away in the suck of the eddying Columbia
Salmon's salt-cured countenance was turned
toward the harbor inside the great bar that di-
vided the Pacific from the rolling river. He was
watching the ocean-Scarred, square-rigged ship
slip her yards and come around on the surge of
the flood tide. Chains ratified through the Wind
tanners chocks. The mudhooks took their
bite and the Helspe.h was sngged home. Home
after four years
A small boat containing a single man was
lowered from the after-dayits 1t danced on
the tide to the swift urge of the oars in the
hands of the muscular figure
Sa1mon'S inscrutable eyes, pale-washed and
faded by spray, narrowed to Sits. He glanced
toward the long, low building with the gaFisn
front&that stood out in its dirty yellow paint.
more tMahten than all the other shacks OF AS
toria's Swell Town.
SaInons broad mouth twisted He had had
o glimpse Of Long Tom himself in the seward
door of the This-Is-It pleasure hell He saw
Long Tom shade his eyes. looking at the Hell
Speth. He too had seen the figure in the
swiftly snoring boat.
dock fisherman. Been there ever since left.
like dock stanchion, huh? Bit more an I'd
been tyin' up to you. Here's go-catch!''
Lean and straight as the tip of one of his
-Spars, Capt. Matt swung onto the wharf One
brief grip, one hearty slap ON the old mans
bent shoulders, that was all after four years.
Come n have bite an nip, o. said old
Salmon. ':Tve q juggie that's been In pickle
since ye went away. skipper" ..
CAPT. MATT LANIGAN smiled the boyish
smile to which the years had added only
trace of fine wrinkles at the corners of his
steady, gray eyes.
up the hill She1Lbe waitin an. I've been rollin'
an. gatherin' moss at the same TING, Salmon.
Reckon the old Heispeth win have a new matte
aboard when she pulls 'er hooks"
The cid mans eyes strayed swiftly to the
doorway of This-Is-It. He saw Long Tom APP,
pear. his arm gesturing. Two burly bouncers
slouched into the plank street OF Swell Town.
underneath which the swinging tide peEpetualIy.
sucked and gurgled.
But jest FIR an OF beacher that amt set,
eyes on ye since ye was matte yerself." old
Salmon pleaded. Jest a nip an a word" =
Capt. Matt sensed hint of the sinister UNI.
DERIVING the casual tone.
Right. then-just a fnger-no n1ore-the
lasSies been waitin' long"
Across the little table In his shack old SAL
mon faced Capt. Matts The dosshle -barbed
hook pf what he had tsIl twisted IL his own
1eepl3 pulSlng neaES..t -,<a.s
Capt. Matt dowred his slender drink Inn
patience sat on his movements
Old Salmon sucked in his breath. 1t had
come. He must tell Capt. Matt that the hin
TO the top Of the town was long and at It's top
was only emptiness, for Dawn Henderson, Capt.
Mats wife-to-be, was gone
Old Salmon laid his withered hand on the
shippers fine, blue sleeve Matt life is strange
an twisted, an hard" he began. Had We
come back last year or even come last Christmas
time, yed have found her there"
Outside then, blatant voice uttered a graf
ing. evil cath and exclaimed "Dawnie Hender-
son!--So Capt. Mats come back for her. has
he? An what does Long Tom care, huh? Hes
had his piekm's an any mans welcome to his
1eavin's." -
For that Long Tom had sent his drunken
henchmen, with blackjacks on their hips and
knives in their sleeves. Old Salmon tried to
hterpose his body between Capt: Matt and
the doorway He was the weight of a wind
blowing straw.
Look It, laddie" he warned Look II
They're heeled! They'll knife ye--"
A black, Shot-weighted leather swung In the
hand OF the first ruffian who confronted Capt
Matt. The deadly weapon grazed the shippers
ear and thudded on his shoulder. =
Old Salmon groaned at the terrific impact.
But the crash he heard was the smash OF
tlEe shippers fist on the swapping jaw of the
bOuncer. The bouncer's head struck the planks.
His ungainly body lay stiTl.
The other mans attack was Of the manner
to be expected. His fist crashed behind the
shippers ear. He drove knife straight for
the shippers broad back The fine, blue cloth
ripped apart and turned wetly black: "f~e
Old Salmon, cursing, got between the huge
bruiser and the prone figure Of Capt. Matt In :
time to break the blow Of the blackjack It =