Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1914-01-22

i1S huu HOI cApSCJtu tllS IcCCDllOll,
but he was in measure prepared,
since, apparently, no one would take
him seriously. Then the Pacific
squadron must rush to her undoing.
zone word" he said. "You do not
believe my story, Admiral Blake?"
q believe you believe it," the ad-
miral answered.
"Your pilot" pursued Paul, desper-
ately, ''is man named Won Holzrath
an Austrian, aged thirty-five or so,
blonde"
"A tissue Of nonsense" exclaimed
the admiral impatiently. "My pilot
Is Mr.. Brinn for forty years one of
the most trusted men In the service"
The words recalled the words of the
princess. She, too had spoken Of the
pilot in that Identical way. Paul had
gathered that, though willing to ac-
cept bribe in order to reinquish his
trust, Brinn would have no share in
the destruction of his nations ships
So he had provcdsmore amenable than
had been anticipated.
"And now, Mr.. Lane, if you are sat
isfied with having held up the Pacific
squadron" said the admiral ironically,
81 shall obey the presidents instruc-
tions. You may employ the remainder
Of the day in familiarizing yourself
with the ship"
He called the quartermaster and in
trOduced Paul to him, instructing him
to give him the freedom of the vessel
for the day Evidently Admiral Blake
interpreted the presidents words lib
orally; he intended to treat the young
man, whose eCcenrricities he con-
doned out Of the memory Of his own
youth, more as a guest than as an en-
listed sailor So Paul left him, and,
leaning over the taffrail Of the deck
below, he presently felt the flagship
begin TO thrill as her engines started
ana saw the gaunt shore of the Pyloffs
widen, bend and converge into a reef
strewn, bottle-neCked passage beyond
which cleaned the calm waters of
magnificent roadstead.
They followed in line like stately
swans, the vessels of the fleet, their
white sides cleaving the Opaque wa
ters, the smoke belching from their
tunnels. Ship after ship followed the
Virginia, with not the smallest devia.
tion from her course. The flagship
crossed the entrance, leaping beyond
the white foam blown back from the
Jagged rocks on either side of her
slowly up the narrow strait.
Paul estimated that at the slow
speed which the flagship set it would
take about twenty minutes before she
reached the critical point, two and a
half miles ahead, where a series Of
swirling eddies indicated the presence
Of a barrier Of submerged reefs. Look
ing back he saw that the last ship was
entering the passage. She would be
we'll within the strait when the disas.
ter happened; bereft of the flagship'a
guidance, even the hindmost coulG nnl
hope to thread the route to afcty
again. And a shudder that he could
not suppress passed over him as h.
realized the fate of all those men,
tossed into the icy, rock-strewn cur
rents of the Pyloff shores. If any es-
capped it would be but to die of expos,
ure on those inhospitable shores
He, too, was fated to die. But he
thought little of his own imminent
danger. Life had no furthes charm
for him. He could perhaps have lived
without Clothilde, had be been parted
by insurmountable reasons of state, or
even by the fact Of her fckleness. 1t
was the revelation Of her nature that
had appalled, him; the treachery with
which she sought to bind him to play
a traitors part by promise made
only to be forgotten.
The ship was almost among the raj.
ids now; he could tell, expert sailor
that he was, how narrow was the
course, from the constant oscillations
as the pilot strove with the vessel
making it answer his lightest move
ment of the wheel. An inch-an inch
how to port, now to starboard; the
danger was almost past. Was it no
here? He braced himself to meet it.
His senses warned him of 1t an instant
before it came.
Then, with a mighty roar, the wa
ters seemed to be rent asunder. Paul
looked down through the brown
depths that opened, down through the
swirling whirlpools, through the foam
tipped rapids to the bare ground that
seemed to be displayed. Where there
had been water there was dry land;
then a mighty hood swept forward, a
tidal bore, dissolving land and rocks,
and the ship leaped and rolled and
spun dizzily, careening now with her
bows submerged, SO that the water
washed the bridge, now stern upper
most; now she was half under, topping
as though she would never emerge;
now she had righted again and spun
like a top through the surges. A wave
dashed him from the taffrail and
smothered him with its wash; he
struggled and choked and gasped, and
found himself huddled against the
base Of funnel; another wave caught
him and swept him along with all the
human flotsam aboard. He had a vi
sion Of twenty ships spinning like tops
upon the surface Of the sea. Then
slowly things were righted; the YES
sci resumed her poise and rode the
seas triumphantly.
Paul opened his swimming eyes in
amazement. Far-flung across a waste
Of waters rode the ships Of the fleet,
unscathed But where the Pyloff
islands had been there were now but
a few bare peaks, emerging out of the
face of the deep. The Islands had dis
appeared; all vestige of the strait was
onnn Nnthinp hut the rnhrOkpn sea