Omaha daily bee., 1916-06-10
The Secret t hi Submarine
By E. Alexander Powell
Author
Il France ie,ah r

luCnutN OF the mysterious strangers
who had preceded him, that he failed
to put ont his cigarette-st which he
absent-mindcdly tossed into the
wastebaskct standing beside Daw-
sons desk. And, it being closing
time, Dawson followed the Japanese
out, and closed the door, and locked
it, and betook himself homeward with
out noticing that from the waste
basket rose thin, faint wisp Of
smoke.
Though the car in which Cleo,
Hope and Hook were racing city
wards was not large one, it made up
for its lack of size by the extraor-
binary speed which Hope managed to
coax from it. Leaving Valdavia be-
hind them, they sped into the open
country; past truck farms and vine
yards and poisoning orchards they
shot; past neat white farm houses,
peeping coyly out from amid their
blazing gardens; past great ranches
whose rolling acres were dotted with
live oaks and carpeted with wild flow
ers; past more gardens, more farm
houses, more orchards, until they
reached a long down grade where, for
a dozen miles, the highway parallels
the shore. As the empty road opened
out before him, Hope stepped on the
throttle and the car leaped forward
like a thoroughbred which feels the
jockeys spur. The speedometer
needle showed that they were trave-
ling at fifty miles an hour. The
scenery was but a dying haze Of
green. The telegraph poles sped bS
so quickly that they looked like the
palings in picket fence. Ahead Of
them there suddenly appeared, ex.
tending across portion OF the road,
a rude barricade with red flag and
the sign Danger
They're repairing the road ahead
but I guess that we can get through"
Hope shouted in response to Cleo's
warning as they shot by the barrier.
Down the smooth-paved grade they
Numbered and then, as Unexpectedly
as slap in the face, there yawned be-
fore them a chasm, three-score feet
acrossl The bridge was gone--evi-
IDENTIFY swept away by the spring
floods. The road ended in a sheer
precipice, and at the bottom of the
precipice, forty feet below, swirled
the river which had done the damage.
Hope, his mind trained for emergen-
cies, instantly realized that it was
impossible to stop. The brakes would
not work in time to prevent the car
and its occupants from going over
rhe brink into the stream below. To
turn the car to one side was equally
impossible, for the road was bordered
by steep banks, to go down which
mean certain death for allNof them.
Their only chance-a chance in a
inillion-was to keep straight ahead
in the slim, slim hope that the car,
now travelling at terrific speed, would
have sufficient momentum to clear
the chasm. Tightening his grip upon
the wheel, Hope damned his foot
against the accelerator. The light car
was going so fast that it seemed as
though its wheels no longer touched
the ground. Hope could hear Hook
screaming in his ear; out of the cor
ner of his eye he cought a glimpse
OF Cleo, with blanched face and tight
clenched hands, beside him. Her lips
were moving. Now only score Of
feet separated them from the brink
ten feet-five feet-and the car
sailed out into space as though fast
ened to the end of a mighty pendu-
lum. Though the flight across the
gulf occupied only moment of time
to the three in the car it seemed In
terminable. Though when the car
reached the opposite bank it was ten
feet above the level of the highway,
it landed as smoothly as, leaping
greyhound. Like tennis ball it re-
bounded once, twice, thrice, and then,
quite uninjured, but with three white
faced and shaking passengers, went
tearing down the road in the direction
of the distant city.
The clock hands on the campanle
of the Ferry building in San Fran
cisco pointed to a quarter after six
when Hope, now travelling with more
respect for speed laws, swung the
car INTO Market street, Tie started
to turn into Kearney street but
stopped, at the signal OF traffic off
Ger, to let fire engine pass. 1t tore
up Kearney street, its siren hooting
a hoarse warning, and he followed it.
Ahead dense clouds of smoke poured
from the windows of a corner build
ing. More fire apparatus was coming.
Everyone was running A policeman
halted them with peremptory hand.
"You can't come any further in your
car" he ordered,
"W'll have to walk the rest OF the
way" said Hope, "but it isn't very far.
Dawson's place is somewhere in the
next block. By Jove, it must be close
to where the fire isl" Pushing their
way through the crowd, stumbling
over the lines of fire hose, the three
made their way forward until they
were opposite the burning building.
So dense was the smowe, however,
that the building was totally obscured
Suddenly a gust of wind blew the
curtain of smoke aside. As it did so