Show adventurers CLUB snapping doom by FLOYD GIBBONS famous headline hunter AKE room tor for pete gill of new york city M MAKE pete is distinguished adventurer and since theres club we won t have in the adventurers always room for one more any trouble finding a seat for him pete is a shap steward not a steward on a big ocean liner but the sort of one who has charge of the feeding of the crew on a tramp steamer that kind of a steward goes a heck beck of a lot of places and sees a heck of a lot of if things and usually he lias has a heck beck of a lot ot of things happen to him too well weil sir pete Is no exception to that rule hes had plenty of things happen to him but the most hair raising of them all was that adventure in australia in the spring of 1922 his ship sailed out of san francisco in allay ay and its first stop was at a port that went by the peculiar name of rockhampton Rock hampton meat works it was just fust a canning factory dock about four miles from the town of rockhampton Rock hampton on the northeast coast of australia rockhampton Rock hampton itself was only a small town the whole clog doggone gone region very thickly populated between the town and the meat works there was a strip of desert that inhabited at all it was petes first trip to australia and he wanted to see the place so he decided to take a walk to rockhampton Kock Rock hampton before he left be arranged to meet some of his shipmates in town at a pub run by a man named jack oak lie fie started out about aboud 4 in the afternoon and as he left a longshoreman warned varned him watch out for dingoes dingies din goes this part of the country Is full of them ever hear of dingoes dingies Din goes wild dogs pete had heard of dingoes dingies the wild dogs of australia but he had bad never thou thought lit be any that near the const coast ue he take the longs horemans warning any too seriously but he did cut himself a good stout stick to defend himself with just in case some of those wild pooches poaches did come along pete walked for about two miles without seeing a sign of any wild animal ile he had covered halt half his bis journey by then and he was beginning to think that longs horemans story was just a lot of horse feathers then suddenly he heard a sharp yelp behind him and whirled about there not a hundred feet away from him were six dingoes dingies din goes their heads beads down foam dripping from their ja jaws ANs making for him at full speed pete knew better than to try to run from a pack of dogs that was just what they wanted A dog is most dangerous when pursuing a fleeing quarry he stood in his tracks and faced the oncoming beasts thanking his lucky stars that he had stopped to cut the stick which he now held poised ready to swing at the first dingo that came a at t him in a few seconds pete says I 1 they were on me I 1 swung the stick and beat the first one off I 1 had barely time to whip the stick up again when another jumped I 1 knocked that one down then the dogs drew off a bit and began to circle around me that was what pete had been afraid of once they beb began an lunging at him from all sides he be would not be able to defend himself hed have given anything at that moment for a tree a wall a rock anything he could get his back 1 15 v NIN ahk A z the snarling devils were lunging at him from all sides up a against ainest anything that would keep those snarling snapping devils out in front of him where he could hold them off but on that flat sandy st stretch retell of australian desert there was no shelter for miles odds against him were six to one behind him a third dog growled and closed in pete turned to beat him off and as he did so another leaped at his throat if that dog had made it the battle would have been all over but somehow he managed to get his stick between him and the anim animal ai A fifth dog jumped jumped and ana tore the sleeve off petes coat r or ten 11 minutes pete ete fought onile T get S olt oa unscathed either that dog that had bad taken his coat sleeve had taken a little flesh along with it his trousers were 6 tn in shreds and blood was 1 streaming beaming from his fingers legs and arms I 1 was pretty weak from swin toss swinging gingg he says and from the loss of blood although by that time I 1 had almost beaten dingies dingoes of f one 0 the din go es to 10 death they were still coming at me courage plus a big stick saved him then the battle began to turn in petes favor ri tw n away another was laid out on the sn sand d half ahlfs dead fr om 0 the 0 athe dingies dingoes ran beating pete given it he made had another vicious swin owns and laid out another remaining two still kept coming dog but the BY th that time courage lage began to corrle come creeping cree pine back into petes he H began to feel that body ss maybe he could handle those two after all and then remaining dogs over the top of a sand dune came v a man a native of the country he d a rifle and there was I 1 sharp crack rr the last two dogs turned and ran and in another minute pete was being half alf carried toward the town of rockhampton Rock hampton 3 the australian took pete to jack onka oak Cs pub anh nn drinks of brandy into him film and tied up his howo wounds ands and a after A they derx that put vl a couple of stiff pete again jack oak drove him felt e better b back ack to ills his did the rest but heres the joke of the ahl ship in his car and nn the th s ships alps doctor whole business bus ness if i enough to light a match says ays s pete id have hav beet had on 1 y known been 9 all r t because h dingoes dingies dont like fire and wont the go anywhere anyn chere near it it Q ser service vico |