Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-08-22
when Sir Ken
when Sir KEN
III. Aor,o, &c u meth came to him
All Appalled, stranre .,,bcon-
Him. sciousness that ter

self It was with the
All appalled, strange subcon-
Him. sciousness that ter
rible events had
happened and the calmness Of destruction
had succeeded the tumult. He was still
lying in his berth on the Alceste, but the
sea was smooth and through the open port
he could see the sunlit waves heaving gen.
tly. He felt for his electric bell and
touched it, and It was answered not by
his valet but by the skipper Of the yacht.
Sir Kenneth askedethe details OF all that
had happened. and from him found that
he had come aboard the Alceste alone the
night of the 9th of July, apparently quite
himself.
'The absence Of Lady Moncrieff aston
ished the skipper, who asked If he should
send the launch back for her. To this
Sir Kenneth gave an unintelligihle reply
and went below. While the skipper was
considering what to do he saw boat put
of from the island for the Siren and in
it we're Lady Moncrieff and Langton.
The skipper supposed that Lady Mon
Grief had gone with Sir Kenneth's knowl-
edge aboard the Siren and that he would
probably go after her in the launch and
therefore did not have the boat hauled
up. Suddenly great flame shot up from
the green cone on the island. The SKY
grew instantly black and then began the
series Of gigantic commissions which lasted
for three days and nights. The Siren
had been engulfed and the escape of the
Alceste was miraculous. She was ter,
ribly injured, but by means OF the sup
plies she carried would be able to refit
enough to crawl back to Singapore. Every
soul on the island had undoubtedly been
swallowed up and the island itself had
been destroyed. It was now the fifteenth
day afterward and only within twenty
four hours had the sea assumed Its usual
calmness.
"The skipper told his fearful story stolid-
". but Sir Kenneth noticed that the mans
hair, which had been of raven blackness,
had suddenly grown an iron gray. The
shock of what the skipper had told affect
ed Sir Kenneth strangely. For the first
time he had an illumination of the mind
concerning Lady Moncrieff and Langton,
and he realized that he had been bereft
both of his wife and his friend before the
frightful catastrophe of the island hap
pened. The horror of it appalled, him
and he lay still as death. but abnormally
conscious for hours. His grief and his
rage were swallowed up in contemplating
the terrible fate of all who had visited
the Doubtful Island. Death or disgrace
seemed their portion.
"His grandfather, Captain Moncrieff, had
been wrecked in hts professional reputa-
ton and health and happiness after hav-
ing once set foot on the island. Captain
Wright had been suicide and the French
captain, CASTOR, had died death Of vlo'
lence at the hands of his own men.
Captain Gerry, Of the United States
sloop of war Albany, had touched at the
island, and he and his whole ships com
pany had disappeared, forever from the
face Of the waters. Both death and dis.
honor had been the portion of Lady Mon,
Grief and Langton, and Sir Kenneth
asked himself, with the GOODNESS born Of
despair, what further blow of fate was
left for him.
cat the end of several hours OF this
strange lethargy Of body and tumult Of
mind he rose, dressed himself and went
on deck. 1t was then about eleven o'clock
in the day. The Alceste had got up steam
for the first time that morning, and by
Sir Kenneth's orders she was headed for
where the tisland had once been. Within
an hour she was stationary over the spot
where, three weeks before was an earthly
paradise. The island seemed to have
dropped into the oceans depths.
ut was then precisely twelve O'clock
and the sun was blazing In the cloudless
heavens. Sir Kenneth, who was forward,
happened to glance into the standard
compass. He was astounded to see the
magnetic needle violently agitated and
varying more than twenty points. At the
same moment the first officer came up
and, going to the skipper, who stool near
announced that the yachts chronometer
had suddenly stopped.
1.-The skipper and Sir Kenneth stimuli
taneously looked at their own chronom-
'eters. Both had stopped, and it was
found that every watch on board had
done likewise and every compass had
temporarily lost its magnetism. Although
there was brilliant noon the yachts
position had to be ascertained by dead
reckoning. Fortunately this strange and
alarming condition was not observed by
the crew, but its effect upon the officers
was uncomfortable. 1t was not until the
Alceste had made about sixty sea miles
that the standard compass became
normal.
The destination was Sumatra, as Sir
kenn eth preferred to refit before taking
the Alceste to Singapore"
Here the manuscript abruptly ended.
Sir Kenneth added, in his usual un-
shaken voice -
1T was there met you and took you
aboard. l think we shall reach Sinra-
pore Tonight, but too late to get pilot
We shall probably be at anchor before