Show f- f Td ADVENTURERS' ADVENTURERS CLUB H HEADLINES E AD L IN E S FRO FROM M THE L LIVES IV E S OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURS Who Goes There ELLO EVERYBODY H HELLO Heres Here's a yarn yarri from Hawaii Hawaii but but it isn't any tale of soft moonlight and hula girls dancing on the beach of Waikiki You can forget all about the South Seas Sea's for this is a grim tale of soldiering in a tropic land A tale of madness and murder on a dank mosquito infested island under a blazing searing tropic sun and a sullen tropic moon Charles Suval of Brooklyn N. N Y brings us this tale and it happened back in 1920 when Charley Chancy was in the army and attached to the Field Artillery stationed at the Schofield barracks near Honolulu Hawaii has a pretty swell reputation here in the United States Its It's supposed to be bethe bethe the next thing to paradise And I guess it is for is-for for the tourists tourists tourists tour tour- who live in the hotels and hang around sun-bathing sun on the beaches all day long But for a soldier Charley Chancy says its it's anything BUT a paradise Soldiers dont don't get much chance to loaf around on the beaches In fact they're lucky if they ever see a beach The Schofield barracks are 28 miles from town In 1920 those barracks weren't either modern or comfortable Just a bunch of wooden buildings buildings build build- ings with darned few conveniences The place was hot and it swarmed with mosquitoes It was bad enough for us timers old says Charley but for the rookies it was plenty tough Most of the timers old like Charley had been stationed in the tropics before They were used to it The rookies had to get used to it too too and and most of them did But a few of them were sent back to the States with their papers marked undesirable And nine times out of ten that meant that the poor rookie had cracked und under r the strain of sweltering in hi the sun all day and lying In a hot bed slapping at mosquitoes all aU night Strange Moody Youngster Surprises Barrack Mates l There was was was' a young lad In Charley Chancy Suval's outfit whom everybody everybody everybody every every- body spoke of as The Thc Kid He was a quiet youngster from the first but the longer he stayed at the Schofield barracks the themore themore themore more quiet and more moody he became He Hc kept to himself most of the time and since he didn't seem to want to be bothered with friends the other lads in the barracks left him strictly alone No one one thought thought least least of all Charley that Charley that that kid Idd was close to the breaking point Nor did anyone even dream that before long longhe longhe he be would be the cause of a grim and heartless tragedy But it wasn't so many days after that that the kid was put on guard duty one night night anti and what happened thereafter Is what were we're going to let Charley Chancy tell us about now Says Charley Chancy We had been having a torrid spell for more than a week and when its it's hot in Honolulu its it's plenty hot The air was so Then suddenly The Kids Kid's gun went up He fired damp and muggy that it seemed to stick to you like glue We tried all sorts of dodges to keep cool but none of them seemed to do any goodOne goodOne goodOne good One night four of us Corporal Bradley Corporal Howe a private and myself were trying to get some relief from the heat We drank too much of the native drink called About midnight we started to stroll around a bit bit all all of at us feeling pretty good We walked toward the gun park and as we neared it we were challenged by a sentry Those four lads recognized the sentry's voice It II was Th The Kid Usually he was quiet and moody but now his bis voice sounded sullen and angry anTY What do you mean by making all that racket he growled The Kid Had a Strange Look in His Eye The Kid had his 45 Army Colt out of Its holster hoIster As they came nearer Charley Chancy saw that he had a wild strange look in his eye It might have been a warning to him but it meant nothing to Bradley After Arter quite a few drinks of Bradley was in a fine jovial mood Grinning from car ear to ear car he waved a careless hand at The Kid One side rookie he said And next time you see the general dont don't forget to salute Then suddenly The Kids Kid's gun went ent up He fired Bradley says Charley y died before belore he hit the ground Howe and the private stood looking stunned My own brain was spinning around in circles but instinctively I tackled The Kid around the legs bringing him to his knees Then Howe closed in trying to help while the private ran rm back toward the b barracks for more men Charley says that by that time The Kid was a n raving maniac He fired a shot as Charley tackled him him and and another at Howe as he came cameto cameto cameto to Charleys Charley's aid After that he lie kept right on shooting shooting shooting-shooting shooting wild- wild shooting at anything in hi sight The Kid Gets a Fresh Clip of Cartridges Charley had a grip on his gun hand None of the shots had done any damage But in the heat of the struggle Howe gave Charley a push Charley Chancy lost his grip on The Kids Kid's arm It was just for a second second but but it was disastrous The Kid had emptied his gun and now he used that moment of freedom to take out the empty clip from his automatic and insert a fresh load of cf cartridges Before Charley could get bold hold of his arm he ho had fired another shot shot and and another The first shot found round its mark in Howes Howe's stomach The second bit Into Charleys Charley's shoulder Blood began to flow from the wound and the sight of it made Charley Chancy mad I 1 lost all caution he says and all my my ideas about taking The Kid into the barracks unhurt I began looking around for a weapon picked up a n heavy stone and threw it as hard as asI asI asI I could aiming straight for Cor The Kids Kid's head The stone found its mark The Kid went down and lay like a log log and and the tragic battle Both Howe and Bradley were dead when they picked them up They were buried with full fuU military honors Charley went to the hospital hospital hos hos- pital and by the time he got out The Kid had been sent back to the States Charley doesn't know what became of him him but but he doesn't bear benr The Kid any ill feeling After Alter all all it wasn't his fault You can lay the blame on the sun sun and and the heat hea heat and and t-and and those doggone mosquitoes Copyright Service |