Evening star., 1925-02-09
The Ark of the Covenant
A Story of Mystery and Adventure
BY VICTOR MCCLURE
by Bo,h.n
Copyright. 1924. by Harper 4 Brother

The power of the league Is not yet
proved"
''Nonsense!" said RuthergIen brus-
quely. Think of that ray on bat
tleship"
You shall have ample proof. gen
| tlemen." said the chief softly.
| Once more he held up his hand and
waved it to the airship. The Ark of
the Covenant came lower. and the
gondola came down from 1t.
May trouble you all to como back
to the ship?" asked the chief.
What's up, Danny" l whispered.
What is the chief going to do?"
Nothing" said Dan. "Mathemati-
| cal details
me with the rest into the gondola.
| Once aboard the ship, the scientists
I'trooped into the chief cabin and dis
| posed themselves about the place.
Gentlemen" said the chief, II keep
back nothing but the nature of the
cathode producing the rays and GER
tain details the secrecy of which
must preserve. l ask you, Sir Wal
ter, and the rest of you, to examine
| these papers"
No word was spoken in the cabin
for the next hour. Sir Walter sat at
| the table, and when he had finished
with one paper he handed it on and
took another from the chief. Now
and again some man would sigh or
grunt over a point gasped, but these
slips of paper, apparently torn from
child's writing book, riveted their
attention.
At last the master held only one
single sheet Sir Walter disposed of
the preceding one and held out his
hand.
The handsome old Englishman took
one glance at it, frowned deeply, then
figured little on scrap of paper
by his side. Red suffused his face'as
he stood up and held out his big
white hand to the chief
Yes, by CAD. Torrance" he half
whispered. Yes. 1t makes the brain
reel-but, yes"
hand until at last it came to Stein
metz and the Jap. When they looked
up Rutherglen spoke.
Gentlemen" he said quietly, the
game is up! The League of the Cove
nant has won. David Torrance, l con-
gratulate you as a scientist on the
most marvellous single handed piece
of research that the world has ever
seen, and as a man on the greatest
kind to raise itself from the mire,'
He turned to the gathering.
Gentlemen, we must be unanimous
IN expressing our view to the confer
ence. Are we agreed"
Id is inevitable" grunted Stein
metz. David Dorrance. | salute you.
We are sGool children combared with
you. Hoch.''
DO you return with US to the CON
ference. Torrance" Sir Walter asked
gently, for il was evident that the
little chief was almost spent
NO, Rutherglen. no. Lamont and
Seton viii speak for me. | shall see
you by and by"
ihey trooped out to descend from
the alrship, and as | reached the door
last of all I turned almost instinc-
lively. | had just time to run back
and catch the master before he fell
For the next three davs Seton faced
the conference aIone In vain did
the delegates throN themselves
against the stone wall of the big
mans imperturbability. They would
nave pared down the scheme of dis
armament set out by the chief. but
Seton was infleXible, perhaps all the
more infexible because his leader Law
} unconscious in the cabin of the Ark
of the Covenant
None of the delegates knew that
the chief of the league could not ap-
pear. They thought that he was by
his instruments in his airship, ready
to enforce the will of the league Only
the president, Lord Almeric, Sir Wal