The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1909-03-27
CHAPTER xlv.-contlnued.

The secretary of the navy, obeying a
suggestion from the chair. read off 4
long list Of figures, explaining them as
he went. and concluding with an unqual-
flied Endorsement of the plan. So in
fictitious was his blunt enthusiasm. and
confidence, that those who at first had
hesitated at the irregularity of the
procedure found themselves won over,
and bound with complete unanimity
into coterie which was to assume
responsibility for a war And thus
was the issue accepted.
The early hours of the morning
were upon them as they dispersed, but
Norma, resting back in the corner of
the cab which conveyed her-shome-
ward, did not share the elation of her
father, who was already building work
shops. conducting new experiments
and equipping navy. Yesterday she
had looked forward to confiding the
story Of their great success to Guy
Hitler; for In the preceding month,
when she and her father had been
trembling on the very edge of a great
discovery in unknown fields, she had
given NO intimation OF their work or
their prospects. planning this surprise,
and now, by the rigid embargo of ST.
lence thrust upon her, her dream was
dissipated. To her the production of
the radioactive metal had meant e
goal; but now that it was reached and
she was anxious to satisfy a heart
hunger, she had been given another
task, and was to undergo more silence
and repression and another siege of
work In world Of figures, of test
tubes and retorts, a slave TO the lamp
of science and her fathers success.
Not even the knowledge that she IVES
sacrificing herself on the altar of duty
to country, whose protection and well
fare were burdens that she must
share. palliated the bitterness of hold
ing love aloof. And in this light the
triumphs OF invention seemed hollow
and the night filled with dreariness.
There we're no more regular meet
ings of those who conspired for the
national good; but it was a season of
terrific activity, and February was yet
young when there sailed away from
New York harbor one night a gunboat.
a collier and small transport, whose
destinations were unknown. and which
slipped their mornings in silence and
passed down the bay with scarcely a
sound to announce their departure
On board the gunboat were men &C.
customed to unquestioning obedience,
and on the transport was little army
of skilled mechanics and engineers
who had been called from their usual
occupation by imperative orders and
requested to tell none but their fami- |
lies that they might he absent for sew
eraf months. There was not a man
aboard any of the craft who had not
taken a pledge of absolute secrecy.
The collier. black and massive. was
loaded almost beyond her carrying ca
pacity, and even on her decks were
piled lumber and great sheets of cor
rugated iron. bearing evidence of full
holds below. And all this cargo had
the history of rushed work behind it. !
Strange pieces of machinery. sections
of engines. powerful dynamos, and I'M
heard CT apparatus were slowed away
with cases OF chemicals, and the mines
of the north. the west and the south !
had contributed crude metals or par
TALLY smelted ores to the assortm ant. |
Driven by expert minds and masters !
OF executive work. an army of men in I
different walks of life had given their /
ingenuity and effort toward something !
of which they knew not. and then the !
result of their labors had poured out
upon wharf. been swallowed up by |
the cavernous holds Of a collier, and
k>tn1 nj cd rt,f int he 1