Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-02-17

der whether this sort of thing is roman
tic enough TO suit her?"
! Two years passed away, and the date
Of the great international races was
fast approaching. Marvellous tales had
come from abroad regarding the per
formances of the Erin. The British
had gone fairly wild over her. and their
supreme confidence had had depress-
where the new defender, the Virginia,
had done nothing to show that she was
greatly superior to the Columbia.
Stanhope had been readily admitted
to the yacht club, and his boat, con-
structed by the famous old designer,
had been accepted as the defender of
the cup. Extraordinary pains had been
taken to keep her lines secret. The
shipyard where she was built had been
guarded day and night by armed men,
and she had been launched sin petit.
coats" which concealed her hull
1t was not until the day before that
set for the first series of races that one
of the sensational New York newspa-
pers announced under scare heads that
the Virginia, despite her enormous sail
area, drew only fifteen feet of water:
hence the paper deduced the alleged
fact that If the wind reached velocity
of even twelve miles an hour the Amer.
lean boat would inevitably capsize.
The first two races went off splendid.
ly for the Americans. the Virginia com.
ing in good five miles ahead of her
rival in spite of the fact that the latter
also showed phenomenal speed. BY the
morning of the third race the yachting
world had settled down to the convic-
ton that Mr.. Burke had discovered
some new principle of hull building.
The result of the third race seemed SO
absolutely certain that Stanhope invited
Miss Wentworth and her chaperon to
be on board during it, 1t was not in
accordance with racing customs to have
any one besides the officers and crew
aboard at such time, but the superior.
ity of the Virginia was so evident that
1t seemed impossible for harm to result
And none did result until after the
race was won. AS the Virginia glded
smoothly across the line four miles
ahead of her outcassed rival Stan.
hope turned to Miss Wentworth. care
you carried away, Virginia?" he ask.
ed. The girl turned to him, joy in his
triumph flushing in her face, but be.
fore she could answer cry of terror
arose. The excursion feet, wild with
excitement over the unprecedented tri.
umph of the American, had broken
through the guard lines. The next
instant came grinding crash, and the
paddle wheel of a gigantic ferryboat
went tearing across the yacht, rip.
ping her stern to pieces and pushing
her beneath the water.
The suddenness of the calamity add
ed to its awfulness One moment the
beautiful vessel, with towering masts
and bellying canvas, was there, the
next only a confusion of broken tim
bers and struggling men.
AS the boat went down like stone
StanhOpe clasped Virginia in his arms
and sprang overheard, and in few
moments they were picked up without
sensible injury to either.
Putting Miss Wentworth under care
of her friends. Stanhope hurried on
board of the United States gunboat
which had quickly dispersed the feet
and taken charge of the wreck. Gap
tain Edward" he exclaimed hoarsely,
II am Mr.. Stanhope, owner of the Vir-
ginia. My entire fortune is in that
yacht. She contains over 100000 in
gold"
"Whatw
"Her keel is of solid gold. You read
the story in the paper the other day
stating that the Virginia drew only
fifteen feet of water Well, that was
true. Gold is nearly twice as heavy
as lead, a golden keel is only half the
size of leaden one, and its resistance
to the water is far less. Consequently
a boat with such keel is much faster
than one with the ordinary lead keel.
had to win this race so / sold all
my property and turned it into gold
to make a keel for the Virginia. Will
you stay here and protect the wreck
until we can get the wrecking appa.
ratuSE'
81 will. sir; will"
Three hours later the work on the
yacht had proceeded far enough to
make certain the safety of the gold
and Stanhope set off to the home OF
Miss Wentworth. where he found hel
none the worse for her cold bath.
81 asked my question at the proper
time, Virginia" he said. but the blum
dering of that boat robbed me of my
answer Did the moment carry you
away?"
Shyly the girl looked up at him
"No," she said. THE moment didn't
butt think that you did,