Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-01-16
The Lighthouse Of
the North
An Audacous Hazard Of Nikoai independent Agent :.
~ Related by His Lieutenant Summers $3.50 :
BysH. M EGBERT
lcODyright. 1918. by W. G. Chapman,
BY II. M. EGBERT'

Toe 90 S,rpe off the great North cape
csssiL0 rov It was the end of Septem-
tbe nights and days were equal,
PEI blue line on the horizon beto-
y. d the approach of the Arctic ice
sSp'u .bot would soon descend to seal
pa'A silent coast until the following
la ;,s Nothing could exceed the lone
s 'pllr' and desolation of the sea-scape;
Da'I sail or line Of smoke. was visi-
w. Far on our starboard lay the
Torgegian coast.
nv ~horo were six Of us aboard with
,r'nIsi We were all consumed to
..nw the reason for our presence
~ hose cold waters, far from civiliz-
.aon This was the day On which
'' .. rere to be told. Nikolai assembled
v or deck-we were all members of
ne International league-and broke
nc seal of a document.
Then he read out the orders.
@cotcba Alexandrovitch, with five
,tber revolutionary patriots, is on his
~ov n Archangel aboard the Potem-
Kin" he told US.
nur mission was 20 rescue them
ror these men had been the hope of
presia and Of freedom through many
Stormy months; at last, treacherously
bprayed to the minions of the tsar,
tsev had been sentenced, after mock
trsl to perpetual Punishment in the
t,ozon wastes Of northern Russia,
where no man ever lived long enough
IN communicate with his friends
AGAIN, It was a sentence of death in
tbe penal settlement there.
And on the following day the cruis-
o. potemkin would round the great
zane on ner journey into the White
spa the last before the closing in of
the ice bearing her victims.
Afterward, Nikolai communicated
n me his plans, as we sat side by
side within the cabin, studying the
charts.
Here we shall intercept her." he
said. pointing to dot off the coast.
And all her guns and compile
nent of soldiers and sailors will never
save her"
He unfolded his scheme, Here is
the lighthouse" he said. Its light,
burning steadily, alone makes posi-
BE voyage between those rocks and
shoals. We shall destroy the light;
the ship, misled, will be buffeted to
pieces upon the rocks The prisoners
hare been warned They will es-
cape in the confusion. Perhaps they
will perish; but the chance is better
than the certain death which awaits
them
L vas desperate undertaking, the
little yacht against the armored bat
tleship, but none of us thought of
that. Our hearts were elated with the
magnitude of our task. That night,
running in close along the rocky shore,
We sighted the lighthouse.
Il was Of the old-fashioned type.
The lenses did not revolve, but a
steady stream Of light issued through
them on three sides, shooting out like
warning finger far into the dark
ness.
We shall shoot out the glasses
said to Nikolai "Perchance, if we
shoot out the central tense, no light
visible from a distance will issue.
the Potemkin viii sail to her de-
stuction."
Nlk0lai smiled rather sadly.
We cannot approach that coast
within two thousand yards" he an
Swered And, at that distance, no
nfe bullet would penetrate those thick
lenses. Moreover, at such distance,
who could hit beam of light by night
or even the lighthouse, by day.
clothed, as it always is, with perpetual
sea-togs?"
What them" I asked.
We must take it by storm" he an
sWercd. 1T is guarded by three sol
ole's-veterans of the Imperial Guard.
Russia leaves little to chance. 1t must
be captured"
IhaJ night the lighthouse was to
ue rushed. There was no other way.
AT dark we took our way in toward
Tue Shore cautiously by means of the
'ead We anchored at a distance of
miie and a little more. and leaving
'%o men aboard, the Ave of US re-
IA"iHlhg rowed cautiously through the
rocks.
more than once our little boat upset,
.eS'lhs US clinging to the sharp,
neeale'pointed crags. But each time
We recovered ourselves, by some for
.I4'ous miracle. At length, dripping,
"O-eh and utterly exhausted, we
tescleG the rocks on which the great
"sH'Nouse stood. 1t lowered above
- Veritable colossus of masonry;
asu |, from its summit the steady beams
~ Nsnt poured forth on three sides
,ougn the fogs. And now / per-
Ss s.'eu why my suggestion could not
ave been carried out. The lenses were
"a 0ack into the masonry. so that no
~ Ie bullet could have been aimed at
-, ecu Irom the base of the cliffs. Only
-. Out at sea would they become ac-
s sess!oie, and there, as Nikolai had
~ia they could not have been.
WI, We mad brought cutlasses and re-
o oUsefs' At word from Nikolai we