The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-24
and still holding to his brest the lit.
BY MORGAN ROBERTSON

0nO otltI nOiQlHB 10 Ms pTebt ING III"
| tie girl-now too frightened to cry.
BY an effort OF will. he aroused him
J self and looked. To his eye-sisht,
F., twisted and liked to a shorter focus oy
! the drug he had taken, the steamship
was little more than blotch on the
| moon whitened fog; yet he thought he
J could see men clambering and work
+, ing on upper davits. and the nearest
/. boat--number twenty.four-seem to
be swinging BY the tackles. Then the
[, fog shut her out. though her position
| was still indicated by the roaring OF
steam from her iron lungs. This
/ ceased In time, leaving behind Ii the
horrid humming sound and whistling
OF air: and when this too was sud
denly hushed, and the ensuing silence
! broken by dull, booming reports--as
! from bursting experimentation
land knew that the holocaust was COM
| plete; that the invincible Titan"
with nearly all OF her people. unable
| to climb vertical floors and ceilings,
was beneath the surface of the sea.
Mechanically. his benumbed facul-
/ ties had received and recorded the i'm
| pressions OF the last few moments; he
could not comprehend. to the fun, the
| horror OF II all. Yet his mind was
| keeniy alive to the peril OF the woman
| whose appealing voice he had heard
| and recognized--the woman OF his
| dream. and the mother Of the child In
| his arms. He hastily examined the
| wreckage. Not a boat was intact.
| Creeping down to the waters edge he
| hailed with all the power of his weak
| voice. to possible, but invisible boats
beyond the fog.-calling on them to
| come ard save the child--to look out
| for a woman who had been on deck.
under the bridge He shouted this
wornan's nafnc--the one that he knew
encouraging her to swim. to tread
water. to float on wreckage. and to an
swer him. until he came to her. There
| was no RESPONSE. and when his voice
! had grown hoarse and futile, and his
! feet numb from the cold of the thaw-
| ing ice. he returned to the wreckage.
| weighed down and ali but crushed by
| the blacklist desoiation that had so
| far. come into his unhappy life. The
! little girl was crying and he tried to
| goethe her.
II want Mamma" she walled
Hush. Baby. hush" he answered
YEARLY and bitterly; $50 do 1--more
than Heaven. But think our chances
are about even now. Are you cold. lit
tie one? Wen 20 inside, and I'll make
| house for us"
He removed his coat tenderly wrap
ped the little figure In 1t. and with the
/ In junction: Don't tie afraid. now
placed her IN the corner Of the bridge.
which rested on It's forward side. As
he did SO, the bottle OF whiskey fell
out Of the pocket It seemed an age
since he had found It there. and H. re-
auired strong EFFORT Of rec soning be-
fore he remembered its full signiA-
cerce. Then re raised II. to hurI II
down the incline of Ice. but stopped
hir~e~'f
III keep It," no muttered; eft may
be safe IN small quantities. and we'll
need 1t on this Ice He placed 1t In
Il corner: then, removing the canvas
| cover from one OF the wrecked boats,
| he hung II over the open side and end
Of the bridge. crawled within and
donned his coat--a ready-mAue. stop-
chest garment designed foi larger
m1n--and buttoning II around him.
self and the little girl, lay down on
the hard woodwork. She was still
crying. but soon, under the influence
Of the warmth OF his body. ceased and
vent to sleep.
Huddled in a corner. he gave him.
self up to the torment Of his thoughts
Two pictures alternately crowded his
mind: one, that Of the woman OF his
dream, entreating him TO come back
which his memory chung to a. an
oracle: the other. OF this . woman,
cold and lifelsss. fathoms deep In the
sea. He pondered on her chances.
She was close to. or on the bridge
steps: and boat twenty-four. which
no was almost sure was being cleared
away a. he looked. would swing close
| IN and be saved-uniess tho swim
nlers from doors and matches should
swamp the boat. And, in his agony Of
mind, he cursed these swimmer. pre-
ferring to sec her, mentally, the only
| passenger In the boat. with the
waite h-on-deck to pull her TO safety.
The potent drug he had taken was
still at work. and this. with the mu-
| steal swash OF the sea on the Icy
, beach. and the muffieo breaking and
cracking benSath and around him
the voice OF the iceberE--overcame
him finally. and he slept. to waken at
| daylight with limbs stiffened and
| dan,b--almost frozen.
And all night. as he slept. a boat
with the number twenty-tour on her
| brw. pulled by sturdy sailors and
steered by brass-buttoned officers, was
, making for the Southern Lane--the
highway Of spring trafilc. And. cruch-
I'd In tbs stern -Shestse Of. this boat
was a moaning, praying woman, who
cried and screamed at intervals. for
hrats nd. and baby. and would not be
comforted, even when one OF tho
brass huttoned of1cers assured her
that her child was safe In the care OF
John Rowland, 4 brave and trusty
sailor, who was certainly in the other
boat with It. He did not tell her. Of
course, that Rowland had hailed from
the berg ~ she lay unconscious. and
j. that *. her still had the child It. was
| with ~, there--dasrted. as#rasles
CHAPTER VIII.
| Rowland, with some misgivings,
! drank small quantity OF the LIQUOR.
and wrapping the still sleeping child
/, in the coat. stepped out on tho ice.
! Tho fog was gone and blue, saiile~s
sea stretched out to the horizon. Be-
hind him was ice-a mountain Of II.
/ He climbed to the elevation and looked
at another stretch Of vacant view
! from a precipice = hundred feet high.
To his left tho ice slcped to a sleeper
beach than the one behind him. and
to the right. pile OF hummocks and
tailed peaks. Interpreted with numer-
GUS canors and caves, and glistening
with waterfalls, shut out the horizon
in this direction. Nowhere was there
eaii or steamers smoke TO cheer him.
and he retraced hts steps. When but
, half WY to the wreckaRe. he saw
moving white object approaching from