New-York tribune., 1918-01-13

on the broad stretch Of undulating sea
links that fringed the head of the bay.
But where was my road?
! stopped, bade myself keep quite cool
and composed and peered round me into
the night. The moon was further up and
it had become little lighter, but the
clouds still obscured most of the sky and
Overhead were the stars; on one hand the
pale sea merged into the dark horizon;
all around me were low, black hummocks
that seemed to fade into an infnity of
shadows. The gulls cried mournfully and
q strong, pungent odor Of seaweed filled
the night air remember that pause
very vividly.
should have been reckless enough to
Light a cigarette. had not feared that our
submarine might still be on the surface
and Wiedermann might see the flash and
dub me an idiot certainly needed
smoke very badly and took some credit to
myself for refraining-th perhaps
ought really have given it to Wiedermann.
And then decided to turn back slanting,
however, little away from the sea. so as
to try and cut across the road. A min
ute or two later | tumbled into a small
chasm and came down with the bicycle
on top of me. ] had found my road.
The fact was that the thing, though
marked on the large scale map as ROAD
Of the third fourth or tenth quality-I
forgot which-was actually nothing more
or less than three parallel crcvasses in
the turf filled with loose sand. 1t was
into these crevasses that had twice stum-
bed already.
Now, with my back TO the sea and keep
ing yard or two away from this wretched
track. but with its white sand to guide
me, pushed my motorcycle laborously
over the rough turf for what seemed the
better part Of half an hour. In reality
suppose it was under ten minutes, but
with the night passing and that long ride
before me | never want a more patience
testing Job. And then suddenly the white
sand ceased. | stepped across to sec what
was the matter and found myself on d
hard highroad. 1t was branch of the
main road that led toward the shore and
for the moment had quite forgotten it's
existence. | could have shouted for JOY
"Now,' | said to myself "I'm off,,
And off l went, -phut-phutting
through the cool night air, with heart
extraordinarily lightencd. That little bit
of trouble at the start had made the rest
Of the whole wild enterprise seem quite
simple, now that it was safely over.
reached the end OF this branch, swung
round to the right into the hiyhroad
proper, and buzzcd along like a tornado
The sea by this time had vanished, but l.
saw the glimmcr of loch on my left. and
close at hand low walls and dim vistas Of
cultivated fields A dark low building
whizzed by, and then a gaunt ccrie- look
ing standing stone, and then came a dip
and beyond it a little rise in the ground
AS | took this rise there suddenly came
upon me terrible sinking of the heart.
Phut phut! went my cycle, loudly and en-
phatically and then came horrible pause.
Phut! once more, then two or three feeble
explosions and then silence My way
stopped, | threw over my leg and landed
on the road
"What the devil.' | muttcrcd.
had cleaned the thing, oiled it, seen
that everything was in order What in
heavens name could be the matter? And
then with a dreadful sensation | rcmcm-
bered that wave of salt water.
CHAPTER ii
NIGHT IN THE RUINED HOUSE,
NOU may smile to think Of a sailor
being dismayed by a splash of salt
water, but not if you are a motorcyclist.