DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Fantasy Fan, v. 1, issue 4, December 1933

Transcribe
Translate

Fantasy Fan, v. 1, issue 4, December 1933

Page 54

54   THE FANTASY FAN   December, 1933

pling him from his boat and turning the boat with him. Then, with a savage lunge, he pushed Birkett's boat out of reach of the older man just as he came coughing and gasping to the surface of the water. With another quick movement, Blum detached Ender's body from the overturned boat. He made no attempt to catch the body, knowing that the current would not carry it from this quiet water, and he could always return and find it.
Then he shot away, unmindful of Birkett's despairing cries, and secure in the knowledge that Birkett could not swim very well. A little way upstream he paused and listened. There was no sound from below; Birkett had gone down A cunning smile caossed his lips. Edging the boat into shallow water, he let himself fall fully clothed into the river, wetting himself thoroughly, except for his torn hat, which he threw into the bottom of the boat to give it the appearance of having been hastily torn away from his head and thrown there. Then he got back into the boat and rowed furiously toward Sac Prairie.
The circle of boats was now further downstream, and he did not have to row up quite as far as he drifted down.  He timed his entrance well, for the boy's cap had just been found along shore, and the searchers were excited over their find. Quite suddenly he shot from under the bridge into the yellow glow of lanterns and held high above the water.
"Birkett's gone under," he shouted frantically. "His boat tipped just above the Yellowbanks!"
Anyone who doubted his cries was easily convinced by his bedraggled appearance, and it did not require his explanation that he had gone into the water after Birkett to explain the wetness of his clothes. He told hastily that the old man fought hard, but  that he had to hit him finally, and had at last reluctantly to let him go in order to save himself.
As he led the rowboats to a spot a hundred yards above the entrance to Hiney's Slough, where in the quiet water the two bodies still lay. Blum was enoying the irony of the knowledge that his twelfth body would be that of his old rival. He broke into speech again, excitedly telling about the accident, and explaining that the boat had long since gone downstream, swept away by the powerful current in which it had tipped. He pointed out approximately the place where the accident had occurred, and went glibly over his story a third time. Then he left the searchers, and pulled into the current toward the  dark waters where Birkett had actually gone down.
That much Sac Prairie was later able to piece together. What happened after that is more obscure and fraught with horrific suggestion. It is certain that he went downstream, and equally certain that he seemed to be heading for Hiney's Slough, though one or two disputed this point later. Despite the moon, it was difficult to observe Blum's progress downstream, for he was soon lost int he very heavy shadow on the quiet water surrounding the slough's junction with the river.
In the babble of sound made by the searches above the slough Blum might have called for some time and not have been heard, though this is doubtful. At any rate, during a lull in the conversation, someone picked up the sound of frantic calling. Everyone stood and list-

Saving...

54 THE FANTASY FAN December, 1933 pling him from his boat and turning the boat with him. Then, with a savage lunge, he pushed Birkett's boat out of reach of the older man just as he came coughing and gasping to the surface of the water. With another quick movement, Blum detached Ender's body from the overturned boat. He made no attempt to catch the body, knowing that the current would not carry it from this quiet water, and he could always return and find it. Then he shot away, unmindful of Birkett's despairing cries, and secure in the knowledge that Birkett could not swim very well. A little way upstream he paused and listened. There was no sound from below; Birkett had gone down A cunning smile caossed his lips. Edging the boat into shallow water, he let himself fall fully clothed into the river, wetting himself thoroughly, except for his torn hat, which he threw into the bottom of the boat to give it the appearance of having been hastily torn away from his head and thrown there. Then he got back into the boat and rowed furiously toward Sac Prairie. The circle of boats was now further downstream, and he did not have to row up quite as far as he drifted down. He timed his entrance well, for the boy's cap had just been found along shore, and the searchers were excited over their find. Quite suddenly he shot from under the bridge into the yellow glow of lanterns and held high above the water. "Birkett's gone under," he shouted frantically. "His boat tipped just above the Yellowbanks!" Anyone who doubted his cries was easily convinced by his bedraggled appearance, and it did not require his explanation that he had gone into the water after Birkett to explain the wetness of his clothes. He told hastily that the old man fought hard, but that he had to hit him finally, and had at last reluctantly to let him go in order to save himself. As he led the rowboats to a spot a hundred yards above the entrance to Hiney's Slough, where in the quiet water the two bodies still lay. Blum was enoying the irony of the knowledge that his twelfth body would be that of his old rival. He broke into speech again, excitedly telling about the accident, and explaining that the boat had long since gone downstream, swept away by the powerful current in which it had tipped. He pointed out approximately the place where the accident had occurred, and went glibly over his story a third time. Then he left the searchers, and pulled into the current toward the dark waters where Birkett had actually gone down. That much Sac Prairie was later able to piece together. What happened after that is more obscure and fraught with horrific suggestion. It is certain that he went downstream, and equally certain that he seemed to be heading for Hiney's Slough, though one or two disputed this point later. Despite the moon, it was difficult to observe Blum's progress downstream, for he was soon lost int he very heavy shadow on the quiet water surrounding the slough's junction with the river. In the babble of sound made by the searches above the slough Blum might have called for some time and not have been heard, though this is doubtful. At any rate, during a lull in the conversation, someone picked up the sound of frantic calling. Everyone stood and list-