Evening star., 1927-05-20
FORTIETH INSTALLMENT.
CHAPTER LXI.
The Man in Control.

~ " To wrench her loose. bu
she clung desperately, an
the thunder of the sire
drowned all sound until he pried he
fingers away.
''You little devilr' he hissed, his fac'
white with fear.
Bits hand closed on the butt Of hi!
pistol. If that raised fist had hal
descended, Hale would have been :
dead man. Instead, he flung her bacl
against the reporter.
go inside" he said, 'and pray t.
your God that they do not find us. II
they do, it viii he hell for yours"
Il did it. / did it"' she gasped, as
Bill led her back. trembling with eX
element to the inner cabin. Il made
up my mind to do it. AS soon as ]
came on the bridge I saw the rope,
and l guessed that it was the fog
horn oh, Billy, they must have
hard us if they're anywhere near"
COCOON!
The faint sound Of a distant siren
came to them and Bill held his breath.
COCOON!
From another direction, and nearer,
The warships We're also III the fog.
Hale came stamping in. livid with
rage, inarticulate. He could only
shake his fist at the calm girl and
could not hear, even less understand.
r. ship was going fun speed again.
He was careless of berGS or of any
othe.. danger. The big man was fore
ing the liner through the fog belt
They passed within stones throw
of a huge white cliff of ice. SO close
that Bill could have tossed a ball
amidst its fairylike finals. Faster
and faster, hour after hour, whilst
l., 4l,n
bow beloved warnings; lice on the
left. Ice on the starboard bow y"
IT, mighty vessel. like a giant snake,
slipped and slid amidst cold death.
AMI then again the fog melted to the
thinnest of mists and vanished alto
gether.
"Out of it,. roared Hale eXultantly.
'Slipped 'emi Harvey Hale did it.''
TO the right of him was fog again.
Into that he would penetrate and lie
snug The fog was a horizon away,
but easy going for the Escorial. He
calculated he had left his pursuers 10
miles in the rear. They were com
manded by naval officers, fearful of
iniuring their ships and the court
martial that would follow. They
would crawl and creep from berg to
berg, the quarterma ster in the chains
swinging their lead continuously. They
would not take the risks taken by
Harvey Hale, the finest seaman of all
the world, who handled a 50,000-ton
liner with the ease that another man
might handle a motor boat, and had
sent her at top speed through ice and
fog with her 1900 passengers and
hands Quivering in dread below.
Harvey Hale did it, He roared
tn, words.
He had done something that future
generations of seamen would talk
about; his great face went purple at
the inward contemplation of his
/: hievement.
And then a voice of terror shouted
his name, and he looked back. Three
war vessels abreast were coming out
of the fog and steanling at full speed! |
We've got to run for it," said Hale. |
The hand on the telegraph trembled |
slightly Don't turn herr he yelled, |
as the helmsman brought the ship |
over to port. Give them our stern, |
damn you! You saw what they did |
to. the Inland-blew her bridge up!
Let's blow the ship endways. There's |
safety there" He pointed to the fog |
ahead, but it was thin. He saw that
long before he reached the first out
1iers of mist, and, deep as he could |
penetrate, he could, looking back, see |
the smoke of the pursuing warships. |
To Couble now was impossible; he |
must keep straight on. How's her |
head?"
"Due south, captain" said the in
dividual at the wheel.
Hale nodded. If he could only reach /
the night This cursed, never-ending /
daylight, that showed a ship as plain
ly at midnight as it did at midday! II !
he could only reach night! But night |
lay "a hours sailing south of the line |
he travefsed. In half that time he |
might find a few hours of darkness, |
and, steaming without lights, evade |
his enemy, but half day was IL |
hours.
Bill was right when he said that the |
man had supply of fuel on board
not enough to carry out his new plan, |
whi. was to sail from Pole to Pole |
and seek the seclusion of the eternal |
night in the Antarctic-a bold scheme, |
worthy of Harvey Hale. If the OH |
fool Latin had only thought of that! |
1t would have been so simple. The |
trade routes of the South Atlantic are |
few and sparsely used. Clear of a |
point west of the Cape of Good Hope |
an he could strike the southern night |
that would give him three months Sc
curity. That idea was impossible |
ROW. IG lHNSl ul1hS 4OI lhG COdob VI |
Canada, and chance finding a ship that |
would take him and his party to |
safety.
He looked back again; the ships |
were now at his heels, and were |
spreading, this time the Kent to his |
right and the American to his left. |
They would call his bluff and close |
him. He sent for the drunken mate |
who had sailed with him before and |
who was now his chief assistant.
'tStand by to flood ship" he said.
"Eh?" The mate frowned. What |
do you mean, Harvey-'flood ship?' |
You're not going to sink us, are you?"
do as I tell your snarled Hale. rs
that aerial repaired?'
eyes"
"Send a message to the skipper oe
tn Yankee. If you come any nearer
] will food ship
'tYou can send any message you
like" said the mate gruffiy. but |
you're not going TO flood this damned
ship! Pm not a ringleader in this hold
up. the most III get is five years, and
you can bet"
so far he got when Hale struck him
down, and, lifting the dazed figure
from the deck, dashed him against the
chart house.
You swine"' he hissed. "Will you