Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-07

limitations and sOusings OF the portnole, IN as
concertingly sudden drops that lifted the stom-
ach in their apparent bottomlessness, In a never
ending succession Of savage crashes and violent
blows that checked for the instant the mighty
momentum Of that enormous mass or steel driv-
en- onwards and yet onwards by its own uncon-
querable power. And still the whirring vibration
of the machinery that was the heart OF her
continued continued until once more 1t became
the dominant perception Of his overwrought
brain, continued through minute after minute.
hour after hour where to him each instant men
aced awful cessation.
Once more, to his horrer, he found his brain
Identifying itself with those rapid revolutions.
Once more the machine in his head began to
whir, beyond his control, presenting vividly to
his mental vision those terrifying pictures OF dis
aster-the upgust Of flame, the viscerated ship
plunging into the depths. And now to these pic
lures added another, suggested by his ex-
perience OF the morning-the wind-torn sea-
scape of white foam creamng upon the heads OF
an infinity Of waves leaden-gray under sullen
sky. No boat could live, be launched even, in
such sea-
He yisualized, nevertheless involuntarily, the
ugly, panic-stricken rush for the davits-and
then remembered, with a sickened shudder. that
down here he was debarred even from partici-
patton in that hopeless fight for life, had not
even that slender chance. The pictures repeated
themselves, over and over again, to the accom-
panment of the whirring turbines He felt him
self going crazed tortured into madness. under
their dabolical insistence. II only he could
shut them off-stop that internal whrrng cine
ma machine in his" head!
Food came to him midway through that end
less, timeless day, pushed into the cabin as
to kennelled dog by callous steward who
slammed the door upon him and would not wait
for the cry he was SO long in bringing to utter
ance He had had vague idea Of calling for a
doctor-anything to stop this maddenng Wis
xloA
internal machine whirring, whirring, whirring
reentlessly in his tortured brain. He tried to
eat for distraction. Faint though he was, the
food ,sickened him. He pushed 1t away un-
touched. --..a 81 . r.--
Night came. The port that lifted itself inc
its long slow rise above the waves ceased to Be
disc of light; it rose and fell in equal
gloom. water leaking in through its brass cir
conference. The cabin was ilumned only by a
diffused radiance entering by the narrow slit
above the door from source somewhere along
the corridor
Still his brain remained terror-riveted upon
the one theme, furiOusly whirring machine out
of control-he found himself still staring,
against his will, at funnel whose rolling heavy
smoke suddenly shot upwards upon sheet of
red fame, geyser of flying cinders
The hours passed in the half-light of his
steel cell, far down in the depths Of the great
ship that crashed and thudded trelessly into the
buffeting seas. The dishes slid, overturned upon
the floor she pitched and wallowed and shiv-
cred in the ever-renewed collision of blindly
meeting forces. Still the feversh whirring Vi
bration of the turbines continued undminished.
permeating every atom of her structure as it did
every fiber of his body blurred ever and anon by
the heavier vibration Of propellors racing free
in the instant two before their automatic
check came into play, stunned into allegiance
every minute or so by the smashing impact Of
yet another great wave that swept down her
tn cuvfeh ~ cf HxynO xofo
Up above there--the scene came wildly to
him--behind the oilskinned watch upon her
bridge, the great tunnels were still belching
black smoke into the blackness Of the night.
Under them-he thrilled with fanatic hatred
damnably confident passengers in their evening
fnery were seated at fower-decked tables in
gided saloons. Under them again, far, far be-
low, the firemen shoveling shoveling,
naked to the waists in the eye-scorching hell
Of the open furnace doors. From the bunkers
the coal was tumbling down to them in ava
lanche of black chunks. all indistinguishablya A.
like each other.
His hyperexcited mental activity began to
find new channels for itself.
He found himself speculating-unable to
stop speculating, a new form of torment reeled
out by that ceaselessly whirring machine in his
head-on the nature Of the explosion when it
should occur. Would he hear it in this part of
the ship? He remembered in newspaper ac-
counts Of torpedoings during the war, the state
ments of passengers in big liners who had heard
nothing, felt only slight shock, when the ships
side was blown in. That diabolical little Ger
man-Jew's internal machine would explode deep
down in the very center Of the vessel-"blow de
belly out Of her." the forecast rang in his ears.
What sound would come to him here? mighty
roar, rending her vtals. flinging every one pros
trate or :?
What was that? His heart stopped in rec
ognition Of a faraway. muff1ed shock. He lis
tened, his senses strained to an intense acute
ness What was that dull shock deep down In
the ship? His scream rang, strange and terri
flying, In his ears, unconscious as he was that
he had uttered It, He started from his bunk,
clutched at the edge Of it with cawlike rigid
fingers. sweat pearling upon his forehead, as he
steadied himself upon the sloping floor that
listed away under him and came not back. He
listened, ears at strain for the slightest sound
There was strange hush, an utter absence OF
the vibration SO long continued. The engines
had stopped,
At last! It was the explosion. He had no
doubt OF It. A breathless terror swept over
him, denying utterance to the food of wild
blasphemy which rose in him like an inver-
a great relief. The whirrng of that Internal
machine in his head had stopped. He could
think now, think with a rapid ucidity that
amazed him. His mind. miraculously alert, took
in all the implications Of his position, while
yet he clung to the bunk. speechless and in
capable of movement.
Would any one come to let him out There
(Turn IN PAGE Eight Column Thru,