Show adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES of PEOPLE LIWE LIKE YOURSELF 1 murder sh ship p H HELLO ELLO you EVERYBODY know boys an and 7 girls there ere are two kinds of adventures the kind that hits you like aton a ton of bricks andas and is all over in about five seconds and t the he kind that sneaks up on you slowly and subtly and sticks with you until youre I 1 wo worn rn down to the point of exhaustion and its the latter sort of tale youre going to hear today the story of how charles mahler of brooklyn N Y stepped onto a boat weli weighing hing a hundred and forty five I 1 pounds on a bright day in the winter of 1921 to stagger off it five days day later slater weighing a scant one hundred and ten not many reducing addicts would want lantto to follow charley mahlers formula for growing thin though forit for it was sheer unadulterated terror that took the pounds off his body five I 1 dayland days day sand and nights of the most helpless fear he had ever experienced in his life the story starts in the dominican republic down in the west indies inches charley had bad been working there for a sugar concern in larromana la romana tor for about six months he was oft off on a weeks vacation in santo domingo ingo city when orders came transferring him to barahona ir in the same country where a new project was being started books bok passage on sailing vessel at about that time a strike in the steamship industry had tied up all the boats charley was told that there be a steam or er sailing for bai barahona abona for three weeks there are darned few railroads or motor or lathe in the dominican republic and noie none of them w went ent where charley wanted to go lowas it was a boat or nothing so charley did tho the only other thing he be could tie do he strolled down to the waterfront and boo booked keds a passage on a sailing vessel which was leaving port that night it ivas was supposed to bi be an overnight trip charley had heard strange tiles tales about these sailing packets so he teft left his belongings bet behind lind to bi be shipped by freight with two guns in his pockets and a round ot of ammunition under his shirt b he walked aboard the vessel it w was as pitch ditc he saw two dark figures in on tie he deck dark his bed the orgy only accommodation the boat afforded wasa was a common wooden box placed on deck charley sat down on the box and watched the boat glide out ot of the harbor they had barely reached the ocean when a storm blow blew up dark shadows began rising from the deck there were 40 haitian natives also bound for bar barahona abona it gasthen was wa then that charley discovered he was the only white man on the boat and the natives ol of those parts have been known to kill a white man for his shoes shoe the storm was now knocking the little sailing craft around with all st the he fury of a tropic cyclone scared says charley 1 I was ossified the captain himself was jet black but I 1 slipped lipped him ten dollars for protection he Of offered ferid me the hospitality of his cabin the odor of it damned near killed me it was crawling with bedbugs and abid roaches and alive with rats and mice when I 1 awoke next morning I 1 was was really sick from sleeping there but it was a safer bet than sleeping outside ll 11 that morning there a breath of air lr stirring the captain had bad bad news for charley when he awoke the ship had been blown ten miles off ob its course and the steering gear was out oat of commission the captain wa was s depending entirely on the wind it if they waited long enough it boux eventually blow them to barahona 01 that whole day says charley 1 I sat staring at the natives and they sat looking at me there was no food OB im the boat and the water gatei had bad turned guined hot in the tropic heat toward evening I 1 noticed several natives holding a conference i land and 1 I felt trouble brewing the blacks were getting hungry and take it out on me and what was charley goings to do tor for sleep that night he knew darned well well he could biever never stand another night in the filthy stuffy cabin he spoke to the captain again and made another bargain the cartain captain stood the night watch at the wheel and he agreed cowatch to watch over charley while hi he slept biear near him on deck his bis body lashed to the rail of thi the vessel the natives become more R restless est less but you d dont alt iet get much sleep lashed to a railing all night long I 1 charley I 1 lay awake listening to the snores of the natives around him and thinking of the comforts of home the next day was hot and humid hunger r gnawed at his innards but he had bad to make the best of it the natives were getting more and more restless they eyed charleys clothes with covetous looks that became more and more more insolent and apparent and still there was no sign of the wind that would blow them into Ba barahona rabona that night worn out by two days and nights of wake wakeless fess charley fell asleep sometime in the dark hours he woke up uli suddenly by sheer instinct in the dun dim light of a tropic moon he diw saw two dark figures creeping along the deck toward him two natives griat great husky blacks with machetes in their mouths athey they know my eyes were open he be says it if they had known it I 1 be live alive today but their ignorance ga gave ve me an opportunity to draw my guns C charley arley got those guns out just is as the natives were taking their machetes from their mouths he whipped up one dunand gun and fired twice in an instant two men we were ri dead on the deck and the whole ship shili was wai in a an i uproar roar dark figures came swarming toward him the captain was a big powerful fellow charley says he wai was built on the style of harry wills indis in his prime he picked Charley up with one hand threw him into his cabin head bead first and then with the aid of a revolver and his powerful physique held that furious mob at bay captain calta i n threatens to sink the ship the next morning the captain held an inquiry announced that hat charley had bad shot in self defense and threatened to sink the ship if any more ai attempts tempts were made on his life calm was restored at last says charley and in the meantime for four to ur solid days and nights we had bad nothing to eat and little to drink 11 anthe on i the fifth day they sighted land but when they tied the boat up to shore later ter on that day charley was too jcak to walk th the e gangplank they carried him up it weighing a huri hundred dred and ten tei pounds all that was lift left of the hundred and forty five pounds of good solid flesh he had carried when he got aboard that lugger atthe at the waterfront of santo domingo city copyright service |