The Port Gibson reveille., 1917-11-01
CHAPTER l.

Lieutenant OOnulu 1dScIs OSA e--o
from the navy Office in Washington III
a state of high exuberance at having
received command Of submarine, col
Ilded violently with tall, elderly man
Of singular aspect.
The stranger was dressed in quasi
nautical costume Of his own devising,
resembling nothing knowp to any navy
in the world. His irOn-gray Dearo
swept down to his waist, giving him
the aspect OF a twentieth-century
Noah ; and Just then he was very angry
indeed. for, standing stOck-stlll at the
entrance of the building, he shook ms
enormous fist at one of the pOrters'
whose black and highly shocked ex-
preston Indicated his unhappy frame
OF mind at this breach Of decorum.
"Confound you, sir !" exclaimed the
lieutenant angrily as he recoiled from
his impact upon the sturdy figure on
which the collision had made no more
impression than If he had fallen
against the, Washington monument
'Why don't you look
Then, catching sight of the long
beard-"Why, Captain Masterman J!
he exclaimed.
sDonald Pagetr cried the elderly
man, grasping him by the hand. "Ex-
cuse my being upset, but these JACKS
in-ofice will be the death Of the repuD-
lie one Of these days. / have just
been trying to see the secretary on a
matter affecting not only America-in
which case his Indifference would not
surprise me-but the entire human
race. What do you suppose they told
me2"
"I am inclined to think that you got
no further than the porter, captain
replied the lieutenant.
"Right, siri exclaimed MaSterman,
beginning to grow angry again. "And
if / were not a man Of superhuman
Datience. combined with inexhaustible
tact. singular clarity Of mind, and te-
nacity Of purpose-in fact, an obst-
nate old muIe-I should let the human
race go hangF
Lieutenant Paget took, the irate old
man by the arm II wouldn't do that,
captain" he said, smiling. "Come and
tell me all about 1t, and let us see
whether we cannot devise some means
Of saving the race. You see, now that
the navy department is so busy on ac-
count of the war, perhaps little leni-
ency with its shortcomings might be
en- order, ehT'
"The war? What warp demanded
Masterman.
"Why, our few words with the Ger
mans, Masterman."
"What's that? War with the Ger
mans? You don't mean to tell me we
are at war with Germany"
"Do you mean to say you don't
know that America and Germany are
at warp demanded Paget incredu-
lOusly.
mo, sir! And, what's more, it
doesn't interest me. How the deuce
should know all the gossip and frivOl-
tiles of the day when only returned
to the capital yesterday"
"But, my dear captain-gossip and
frivolities!" exclaimed the lieutenant
Surely you have seen newspapers, OF
uGuIu DGODlC ldAhALS dBO0S Aba
81 tell you I haven't seen or heard
ANYTHING! I've got more important
things to think about. Anyhow, it will
have to be stopped at once" said Mas
terman, half turning. "I'll have to &C
back and see the secretary immedi
ately."'
However, he suffered his companion
to lead him out of the building ant
along the street, while the lieutenant
firmly convinced that his old FRIEND
was mad, held him by the arm tight!
and listened to the captains disjointe'
mutterings in the hope of discovering
the nature of his delusion.
Donald Paget had known Captain
Jonathan Masterman when he was a
Annapolis, where the old man, VIII
had once been a quartermaster in tn
navy, held subsidiary position on tn
instructors staff The acQuaintanc
had continued intermittently. Master
man had risen In life until he obtaine
the command Of q ship fitted out, part
ly by private subscription, partly wit
the aid Of a government subsidy, 70
the purpose Of deep-sea exploration.
In this and subsequent expedition
he had made a name for himself b
the remarkable nature of his discoV
cries. He had discovered the prolOr
CATION of the submarine spur of th
continental shelf, extending from th
Norwegian coast toward the FarOes
he had invented an improved net fC
scooping up the larger denizens of th
ocean depths; and then he had null
fed all the personal appreciation an
fame which he had acquired durin
his various voyages by asserting thu
mammalian life existed on the sc
floor, and by championing the caus
of the sea serpent.
That was the end Of Captain Ma
terman's activities so far as the go
ernment was concerned. In a final Il
terview the secretary of the navy ha
said to him:
Personally believe In you, Ma
terman. But 1t isn't the discovcril
that count, it's getting the scientit
world to believe In them. I believe
the sea serpent, myself, because II
seen three of them: but wouldn
dare to admit It, even In my eli
smoking room, and We can't get "
another subsidy.