The Washington times., 1912-05-02

~ grown, they looked again from
~ the high window.
See" exclaimed the engineer,
and pointed.
There, far away to .he westward. q
few straggling lights-only very few
slowly end uncertainty were making
their way across the broad. black breast
of ire river.
Even as the man and woman watched.
enc vanished. Then another winked cut,
! and did not reappcar. No more than
fifteen seemed 10 reach tho Jersey
shore. there 20 creep vaguely, slowly
away and vanish In the dense primeVal
woods.
Come, said Stern at last. I'VE must
be going. too. The nights half spent.
BY morning VIC mus. be very far away"
What? We've got to leave the city?"
Yes. There's no such thing as stay
ing here now. The towers quite un-
tenable. Racked and shaken as 1t Is,
it's liable to fall at any time. But even
II 1t should stand. we can't live here
any more"
"But-whers now?"
Il don't Just know Somewhere else,
that's certain. Everything in this whole
| vicinity Is ruined. The springs gone.
Nothing remains Of the forest, nothing
but horror and death. Pestilance is
bound to swceo this place in the wake
Of such a--su,h an affair.
| The sights ali about here aren't
sucn as you should see. Neither should
II. We mustn't even think of them.
Some way or other we can find path
down out of here, away--away."
our sns sFed Al Se tools su ana a
dishes, all the food and clothing, and
rything? All our precious, hard
won thlngsT"
Nothing left of them now. Down
on the fifth floor at that end of the
building. I'm positive there's nothing
but a vast hole blown out of the side
of saH t9wer N6tb,rH s there's nN!hns left
Can you replace the things?"
why not? Wherever we settle down
we can get along for a few days on
what game / can share or shoot with
the few remaining cartridges. And
af!Sf !Ses9" that"-
After that, once We get established
a little, / can come into the city and
go to raiding again. What we've lost
is mere trifie compared to what's
left In New York. Why; the latent re-
even touched yet! We've got our lives.
That's the only vital factor with
those everything else Is possible. 1t
Beatrice. But in a few days-wait
and see!"
"Allanr'
, What, Beatrice?"
Il trust you in everything. I'm in
your hands Lead me-"
Come. then, for the way is long
before us. Come!"
Two hours later, undaunted by the
wan crescent of the moon came up
) the untroubled sky. they reached the
: brink of the river. almost due west
Park had been.
This course. they felt, would avoid
, any possible encounter with stragglers
or what remained OF it-they had not
gone, but had struck eastward from the
building, then northward, and so in q
wide detour had avoided all the hor-
r rors that they knew lay near the wreck
' of the tower.
The, river, flowing onward to the sea
: as calmly as though pain and death and
! ruin and all the dark tragedy of the
: past night. the past centuries had never
been. filled tired souls and bodies with
z grateful peace, Slowly. gently i
J tapped the wooded shore. where dock,
and slips had all gone back to nature
the moonlit ripples spoke Of beauty
life. hope. love.
r Though they could not drink .th'
! faces, arms and hands. and felt re
, freshed. Then for some time in silenc,
they skipped the flood, ever northwarc
= away from the dead city's heart. Ane
and great thoughts welled within thei
I hearts. The cool night breeze, freshen
r ing in from the vast salt wastes OF tn
/ sea-unsailed forever now-cooled thei
q cheeks and soothed the fever of thei
thoughts.
Where the grim ruin OF Grants Toni
looked down upon the river. they CAM
at length, upon a strange, rude boat
another. then third-a whole fotilla
! moored with plated ropes of grass t
trees along the short
"These must certainly be the canoe.
= Of the attacking force from northward
the force that fought the horde th'
: night before we took hand in the mat
, ter: fought, and were beaten, and
devoured," said Stern.
And with a practical eye, wise an
:, cool even, despite the pain of hi
q wounded arm, he examined three o
: four Of the boats as best he could b!
n The girl and he agreed on one to use
:, y Yes, this looks like the most suit
able" judged the engineer, indicating
l. a rough. bank-like craft nearly sixteel
q feet long which had been carved ant
: scraped and burned out of a single log
: He helped Beatrice in. then cast OF
e the rope. In the bottom lay six pad
n dies Of the most degraded state o
decoration whatsoever. and the loves
savages of the precataclymic era ha
invariably attempted some crude forr
OF art on nearly every implement.
J The girl took one Of the paddles.
(Which way? Up stream" asked she
mo, no, you mustn't even try to us
y that arm"
e "Why paddle at all?" Stern answered
h See here"
" He pointed where a short and crooke
! mast lay, unstepped, along. the side
: Lashed to 1t was a sail OF rawhides
# cIumsily caught together with thongs
heavy and stitf, yet full Of promise.
=, Stern laughed.
e "Back to the coracle stage again,
e said he. Back to Caesar s time, an
e way beyond" And he lifted one end c
l. the mast Here we've got the Seuvia
5 pellis pro velis, the skins for sails a
: over again-only more so. Well, no maj
n ter. Up she goes!"
Together they stepped the mast an
spread the sail. The engineer took hi
place in the stern, a paddle in his lei
hand. He dipped 1t, and the ripple
IA glinted away.
- Now" said he, in a voice that left n
room for argument, now. you curl u
y in the tiger-skin and go to sleep! Th
X is my job"
i The sail caught the breath of tn
= breeze The banka moved slowly fol-
. ward Trailing its wake Ike Midenln