Adventure, November 1915 — page 178: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

176 is an old wound opened—a wound I thought was healed. I loved my brother. “He was father and mother to me before the trouble came upon us. I had mourned him for dead — and now, this meeting, and the knowledge of the terrible thing he is doing —was doing, perhaps. dead now.’ She shuddered, and I drew her close. In silence we tramped on. We had gone about a mile, and were upon the curve of the shore at the lower end of the bight. “Look!” cried Dooin of a sudden. x) of his pointing finger. Far seaward, ™ I saw a ray of white light stabbing the a It waved up and down. _ “A searchlight!” I exclaimed. “They are coming,” said Dooin. ‘They are coming in answer to our message.” I strained my eyes. I saw a red glow, just a fiery tinge against the background of the night. I knew what it meant. It was the glare from the stacks of a hard-driven ship. “Tt is a torpedo craft, I think,” I re- marked. ‘‘She is coming in fast.” We all looked toward the Wasp. We could just see her bulk lying motionless upon the water. Her hull hid the yacht from our view. No sound came to us to tell of the oncoming stranger sighted. “Do you think they have left the Wasp and boarded the yacht?” queried Dooin, I had no answer, and I gazed seaward again. The beam of the searchlight flashed on the water. On the instant came the re- ply to Dooin’s question. Sharp cries came from the Wasp, faint because of distance. “They are still there, and awake,’ I re- marked. Breathlessly we watched. A silence fol- lowed the cries. Suddenly lights showed on the Wasp, burned a second, and went out. The bulk of her hull seemed to diminish. “She is under way!”’ I exclaimed. ‘‘That means that Dacy isincharge. Farley could not have got her started so quickly.” Then the Wasp vanished. She merged into the gloom like a disappearing wraith. The rhythm of her screws reached our ears for a moment and then died away. The yacht, a dim white outline, still held her position. He may be really | Adventure We watched with quiet, intense excite- ment. Dooin grunted unintelligible mono- syllables; Mary stood rigid at my side; my own heart pounded. -We stared into the paling night. Twice again I saw the funnel-flare of the stranger. She was about two miles off- shore, I judged. No answering reflection betrayed the Wasp’s position, and I knew Dacy was dodging out at moderate speed. Then suddenly, the stranger’s searchlight flashed again. It pierced the sky and low- ered to the water. It described a wide semi- - circle, lighting the sea with a moving stream of light. ‘Twice it made the arc, and as the second sweep ended, the Wasp slipped across the edge of the light and disappeared again, like a black phantom-ship, lost, but only for a moment. The merciless eye of light waver- ed uncertainly and then centered full upon the Wasp and remained there. The Wasp gathered a bone in her teeth as her speed suddenly increased. She was headed straight for open water. About a mile distant, on her starboard bow, was the owner of the light. The pursuer was evi- dently steaming a course to intercept the Wasp. Lights flashed upon her, and I made out her lines. She was a big destroyer, as I had thought. Rapidly the two ships neared each other. Suddenly, a great flame burst from the ship with the searchlight. We saw the graceful curve of the shell with its lighted tracer. It went over the Wasp and dropped into the sea. A moment later, the dull boom of the gun came to us. “They are gone,” I said. “That was a range-finder, and the Was? is within range. And she is faster than the other boat, so the stranger will have to sink her before she slips past.” Mary’s grip on my hand tightened. I looked at her with a sympathy, with an understanding of her pain, and fear for her well-being. Her tears had ceased to flow. She watched the scene with a set face and bright eyes, but I knew she was suffer- Ing. ‘“‘Look!”’ cried Dooin. fight ’em!”’ I swung my gaze seaward. The search- light still bathed the Wasp. And with the thrill one always feels for a daring deed, I saw that Dacy had changed his course. He was steaming toward his Nemesis, on a “He’s going to COMIC OOOKS (E@)