The Washington times., 1912-03-20
CHAPTER XVII (continued).

KIT was terrible thing to see
the drowning of London, the
i sweeping of the awful bore
that came UP the Thames
from the sea, the shipping wrecked
oy the tearing waves, the swirl
ot the iast-rising water around the i'm
dnmSe drense 6asin IN which the city lay, the
llilnster Abbey was one of the first that
Succumbed-the overturned boats, and
ersn e, great vessels floating on their
9F sues, e. or bottom up: TIE awful spectacle
IN the waves-all these sights were he.
lore our Mortified eyes while the vast
suuy swept US round and round until
me me wafer rose SO high that we were
cTiHen on toward the southM est.
That we should have escaped at ell
was a miracle of miracles. 1t was the
wnnderful buoyancy of the levium
tSa HSaPge that saved us. But the terrors Of
memory. And the fearful sufferinCs Of
the Queen! And our chiliren-but
cannot so on with this
cosmo y9Trsflf y9Tr majesty" said
MoiId has suffered with you. IL we are
spared and are yet alive, 1t Is through
the hard of Providence to which We
must bow
We must have passed over Surrey
and Hampshire" the Kirg resumed.
the hills
II am surprised at that" said cosmo.
olo not think that the sea had any
where attaired so great an elevation
before the nebula condensed At New
York the complete drowning Of the city
1ld tba not not occur. occur until tie downpour from
"Oh! that 'ieIuge from the heavens"'
tered before seemed but little in COM
par paIison. came upon US after night
absolute
roaring, the terrific force of the falling
water the sense of 'suffocatiun, the
rapid hlling of the barge until the water
was aC"ut our necks-these things drove
Il tried to sustain my poor Queen in
my arms, but she struggled to seiIe
the children and hold them above the
water, and in her efforts she escaped
from my hands, and henceforth / could
find her no more / stumbled about.
but It was impossible to see; 1t was i'm
possible to hear At last fell uncon-
scious face downward, as it afterward
rear end of the barge, which was COW
cred with narrow metallic roofing and
raised above the level of the bulwarks.
II was there that I had tried to shelter
the Queen and the children
In some way ] must have become
lodged there, under the awning. in such
a position that the pitching of the barge
failed to throw me off. never regained
shouting in my ear, and felt some one
pulling me, and when I had recovered
my senses found myself in the SUBJ
mersible."
And all your companions were
gomez" asked Cosmo in a voice shak-
"Yes, oh, Lord! All! They have been
swept overheard by the waves-and
would that I had gone with themH'
The poor King broke down again and
sobbed. After a long pause Cosmo
asked gently:
Did the Frenchman tell You how he
came upon the barge?"
He said that in rising to the surface
to find out the state OF things there the
submersibIe came up directly under the
barge, canting it in such a way that
/ was rolled out and he caught me as
I was swept close to the opening"
But how was 1t that the downpour,
entering the submersible. when the
cover was removed. did not fill 1t with
water?"
He had the cover so arranged that
1t served as an almost complete protec-
tion from the rain. Some water did en-
ter. but not much"
"A wonderful man, that Frenchman,'
said Cosmo. He would be an acqui-
sition for me. What did he say his
name was? Oh! yes, De Beauxchamps-
I'll make a note of that I shouldn't
wonuer If we heard Of him again."
CosmO Versal was destined to en-
counter Ives De BeauXchamps and his
wonderful submersible Jules Verne
sooner and under more dramatic cir
cumstanCes, than he probably antici-
pated