Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-06-22
CHAPTER ONE tcontinued.>

TSDfS Va
but Americans, no! Those men,
Gabrielle, have something to con-
ceal!" and Brisson, frowning
darkly, went back into the house.
Meanwhile the two pedestrians
made their way rapidly along the
dark and silent street without ex-
changing a word. There was in
their faces a strange excitement,
and they stared straight ahead, as
though they dared not meet each
others eyes. At the end of a few
moments, they came out upon the
quays. Here the darkness Of the
narrow street gave place to the
gray Of the approaching dawn,
and one of them took his watch
from his pocket and looked at it.
"Nine minutes!" he said in gut
tural English, and in a voice.
strangely thick, as with some deep
and barely repressed emotion.
The other nodded, and with
common accord they turned to the
right toward the great basin,
where three or four men-of-war
lay at anchor. The light increased
from minute to minute, the horri-
zon turned from gray to pearly
white, and over the hills to the
east a golden halo marked the
spot where the sun would rise.
They stopped to look at it, and
then, stepping back into the recess
of a doorway, directed. their gaze
toward a great %battleship, an
chored perhaps 300 yards away.
AS the - minutes passed, they
seemed scarcely to breathe, and
their lips we're twitching with
nervous excitement.
Suddenly over the trees shot a
long ray Of yellow light, gliding
the house tops, gliding the mast
heads of the vessels in the harbor;
and then, as though in answer to
a signal, came a muffled roar from
the anchored battleship. There
was an instanst's silence, then the
shrill voices of sentries sounding
the alarm, the whirring of a gong
y
A. second roar drowned all less
er sounds, and then the high, thin
notes Of a bugle echoed across
the water. The deck Of the ship
was alive with men; from her
open ports wisps Of angry smoke
swirled upward into the morning
air =
Above the babble of excited
voices, rose a shout Of command,
the bugle shrilled "Sauve qui
peut! Sauve qui peut! Sauve qui
peut!" and the crew began leap
ing over the side; and then,
straight in front Of where stood
the breathless watchers, a mighty
column of black smoke leaped
high into the air, mushroomed and
drifted slowly away before the
breeze. At the same instant came
q frightful, rending crash, which
seemed.to shake the earth, and a
foam capped wave swept across
the harbor and dashed angrily
against the quay. For one tense
instant, all nature held her breath,
and then came the splash and clat-
ter Of debris falling into the water
and on the rocks, the rattle of
broken glass from the houses
along the quay; and finally, quiv-
ering through the air, rose the
shrill, inhuman cry of men in NOR
tai anguish.
The smoke, drifting lazily away,
disclosed a mass of twisted wreck
age, where, a moment before, La
Liberte, the pride of the French
navy, had swung at anchor. .
each Colt! Els list doch wahr!'
breathed n Of the men, and
stared rigid, fascinated; but the
other laid a trembling hand upon
his arm.
1--WE must hasten!1 he whis+
pered. 1--WE must not: stay .herel'
"Truel',' agreed the other, and
with q last glance at the wreck
strobe away along the quay.
Already the city was awake
already frightened faces were
peerine from shattered windows
half clothed men were bursting in,
- - $4,000 ~A~Sy