Evening star., 1914-10-04

had thrown off her woman's weakness. 1t
was the officer of the wireless now who an
swered the Captains question.
3Yes, there is someone else; but they are
answering my spark. l am sure they do not
hear the Princess. 1t sounds like a code
-US.SA. Rep. That's repeat She
wants our position-or the position Of the
Princess"
"The United States navy warship the
Salem! If that thirty-knot cruiser is in
reaching distance, we're both saved. But
wait bit-wait, Girl"
Wonderingly she looked up at him, her
fingers trembling on the key. Operator
Ramsay was trained to obedience; but there
was something hard and foreboding in the
shippers gnarled and weatherbeaten face.
There was a Shuff1ing at the door, and he
spun round, with his hand gripping the girls
shoulder.
aye, it's the chief! Iexpected ye, Andy.
Out wi the worst!" the Captain growled.
@The gas has beat ye a'?'
The chief engineer, dripping oil and sweat,
stood blinking in the strong light of the
electrics; other faces peered from behind
him, wagging as the chief spoke.
ats come, Captain drove us off the job
all in one burst, the engineman said in
breath. There's no living below, and no
getting at the leak. It's up to the bridge
officers now, Sir"
@The mate came up with rope round his
middle-dead or DYING
ave, up to judgment-to mel" the tor
tured cry stilled them ALL =
TT was terrible situation that confronted
the Captain of the Glasgow Lass, there
in the brightly lit wireless cabin, with every
sign of safety about, and as yet hardly
whiff of the deadly gas that was crawling up
hall 6r1v fhA CrpyU nm
their work, threatening to lay the freighter
a dead ship in the path of whatever might
blunder along-and little hope of that!
And there was that other ship-the Prin-
cess Alice, with fire in her bowels and
thousand passengers aboard-crying for
help, somewhere off in the murky thickness.
And the fastest cruiser in the American
navy waiting up there in the north-he had
caught the cruisers position from the girls
murmured tones ready to come to the help
of either-the first one that called. Captain
AlcNaughton stood scow1ing.
"Tis like we're in a triangle, as figure it
out,-the Salem on the top end, the Alice
hundred miles or less ahead of US, and we
here. And the warship can hear only. US.
'Tis hard judgment-and l with women
aboard, as well as she.- What to do?"
Insensibly he was pondering aloud. The
girl heard him, and snapped him up, hys-
ter1Cal from all tn1S Talk Oh Qeatn at sea.
@Send her to the Alice, Captain-oh, let
me tell the warship where she Isl" He was
still gripping her arm, and the wireless lay
silent. "a thousand people, she said, Aand
we only freight ship! How can you hesi-
tate?"
Because I have women aboard of my
own; though it's only few to a thousand"
Captain McNaughton said sternly. at is
the man-made law of the sea: Save women
first. That's the answer, Girl"
From below came the rumbling of the en-
gines, like the growl of the destruction grow
ing imminent. Operator Ramsay knew
now, as well as the white-faced men, that
the Glasgow Lass was doomed. How, she
did not know-her mind was full of fear for
the Princess, for that young husband opera
tor who was weakly calling to her-till the
Captain spoke again He had been hastily
consulting with the chief engineer, and both
men had doubt in their faces as they looked
at the girl.
@It's a terrible death-by the gas" the
Captain said slowly. "At best within the
hour we'll be driven over the side-and the
boats are dried out and leaky, if they live
in the lop and the fog. The warship can
pick us up-what there are of us-without
c+oDDipo 'r,oS+ IF che ooeS to tho 1iner