"-G^^Qr^^b THE ^^2^ 
 
 DOMINANT- CHORD 
 
 -v BY/ 
 
 EDWARD-KIMBAL
 
 I 
 
 /*=
 
 THE DOMINANT CHORD
 
 Alice Huntinton
 
 THE DOMINANT 
 CHORD 
 
 BY 
 EDWARD KIMBALL 
 
 With a frontispiece in full colour 
 from a painting by 
 
 WILLIAM BUNTING 
 
 BOSTON -68*- L. C. PAGE & 
 COMPANY -*9.- MDCCCCXII
 
 Copyright, 1911, by 
 THE FRANK A. MUNSEY COMPANY 
 
 Copyright, 1912 
 BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 
 
 (INCOBPORATED) 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 First Impression, March, 1912 
 Second Impression, April, 1912 
 
 Electrotyped and Printed by 
 THE COLONIAL PRESS 
 C. H. Simonds A Co., Boston, U.S.A.
 
 To H< 
 
 er 
 
 2136664
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. A MYSTERIOUS CHAUFFEUR . . 1 
 
 II. A STRANGE AWAKENING . . 12 
 
 III. STUDYING THE SITUATION . . 23 
 
 IV. AN ENCOUNTER ON THE HIGH SEAS 42 
 V. THE JAPANESE DAGGER ... 61 
 
 VI. A NIGHT OF HORROR ... 72 
 
 VII. A FLAG OF TRUCE .... 88 
 
 VIII. A PASSAGE AT ARMS . . . 102 
 
 IX. A DISCOVERY AND AN ADVENTURE 108 
 
 X. EXPLANATIONS 123 
 
 XI. A MOMENT OF MADNESS . . 135 
 
 XII. A DECLARATION OF WAR . . 145 
 
 XIII. A STRANGE HUNTING . . . 160 
 
 XIV. THE POWERS OF OMNIUM . .178 
 XV. A STARTLING ENCOUNTER . .196 
 
 XVI. THE BATTLE ON THE BEACH . . 204 
 
 XVII. PRISONERS .* 211 
 
 XVIII. THE FATE OF THE PRETTY POLLY 218 
 
 XIX. ALADDIN'S PALACE .... 245 
 
 XX. THE MAGIC OF THE MOON . . 258 
 
 XXI. A SURPRISE AND A RACE . . 263 
 
 XXII. AT WAR WITH HERSELF . . .280 
 
 XXIII. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE . . . 289 
 
 XXIV. IN THE WATCHES OF THE NIGHT . 296 
 XXV. THE STRONGEST THING 307
 
 THE 
 
 DOMINANT CHORD 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CHAUFFEUB 
 
 UNQUESTIONABLY Alice Huntington was 
 angry. The sensitive under lip tightly 
 clenched between two rows of white, even 
 teeth, and the small red spot that glowed 
 in her usually pallid cheek, were storm sig- 
 nals which her friends had long since learned 
 to know and recognize as involving the im- 
 mediate necessity of a change of course, the 
 shortening of sail, and usually a precipitate 
 run for the nearest port of shelter. 
 
 As she stood poised upon the topmost step 
 of the marble staircase which led down into 
 the foyer, her opera cloak gathered loosely 
 about her tall, graceful figure, and her proud 
 
 features compressed in an expression of in- 
 
 i
 
 The Dominant Chord 
 
 ward and suppressed annoyance, she in all 
 verity looked the haughty aristocrat which 
 the sensational journals, that persistently 
 and insistently chronicled her goings and 
 comings, delighted to depict her. 
 
 Her appearance in the foyer at once in- 
 jected a spirit of life and activity into the 
 attaches. The second act was drawing to its 
 close and the lobbies were deserted by all, 
 save a few curious loungers. To the attend- 
 ant who approached, inquiring if she wished 
 her car called, she gave a preoccupied nod of 
 assent, and soon the signal for the Hunting- 
 ton equipage went echoing down the long 
 line of broughams, automobiles and theatre 
 busses which stretched along Broadway, and 
 whose various ramifications were lost in the 
 semi-darkness of the side streets which led 
 into that thoroughfare. 
 
 After a few moments, which must have 
 seemed unnecessarily long to the lady in 
 waiting, a big, black automobile shot out of 
 the darkness and slid smoothly and noise- 
 lessly up to the entrance. The door was 
 thrown open by an attendant. The usual
 
 A Mysterious Chauffeur 3 
 
 crowd of curious onlookers pressed closer. 
 There was a slam, a cry of " All right 1 " 
 and the car, with its burden of haughty fem- 
 ininity, rolled away into the darkness. 
 
 ' ' Henri ! ' ' The tense voice which vi- 
 brated through the speaking tube was evi- 
 dently seeking an outlet for some inward 
 emotion. " Is it absolutely necessary that 
 you keep me standing so long in a public 
 place to be stared and gawked at by every- 
 body? I wish in future when your number 
 is called you would be more prompt in re- 
 sponding. You may take me home and 
 return afterwards for the rest of the party." 
 
 The chauffeur did not seem to be greatly 
 disturbed by this volley of hot shot poured 
 into his ear, but probably to protect himself 
 from a further broadside, before turning 
 back to the steering wheel, a close observer 
 might have seen him deftly insert a plug of 
 what seemed to be absorbent cotton into the 
 bell mouth of the voice tube. This was an 
 excellent device to prevent a repetition of 
 the storm, and indicated originality and im- 
 agination on the part of the chauffeur; but
 
 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the utility of the small rubber tube to which 
 this plug was attached, and whose other end 
 now rested securely between the lips of the 
 aforesaid individual, was not so apparent. 
 
 To insure a proper understanding of what 
 subsequently took place, it may be as well 
 at this point to state that the other end of 
 the voice tube passed through the centre of 
 a heavy, braided rope, and terminated in, and 
 was concealed by, a large silken tassel which 
 depended within easy reach of the occupant 
 of the car. 
 
 Having vented a portion of her ill humour 
 on the unfortunate chauffeur, the heiress to 
 the Huntington millions leaned back among 
 the cushions and gave herself up to her more 
 or less pleasant reflections. It had been a 
 detestable evening. The supercritical and 
 cynical comments of the Duke and his cease- 
 less flow of trivial small talk had grated on 
 her nerves, already frayed and jangled by 
 the innumerable irritations incident to the 
 preparation for a wedding of international 
 importance, and for the first time she won- 
 dered dreamily whether the making of this
 
 A Mysterious Chauffeur 
 
 brilliant match, which would install her as 
 one of the first ladies of Europe, and make 
 her the envy of every marriageable girl in 
 her set, was really worth the price which she 
 was paying for it. 
 
 The opera had been " Siegfried," her 
 favourite in the Wagner group, and one 
 which her artistic temperament demanded 
 that she be allowed to enjoy undisturbed. 
 She had borne with the jangling and dis- 
 cordant elements in her box party until 
 about the end of the second act, when the 
 tension had suddenly become too great. 
 Something snapped. In the midst of the 
 weird and magic strains of the fire music 
 she rose suddenly, and without a word of 
 explanation precipitately fled. 
 
 She wondered idly whether her party had 
 begun to miss her yet. She wondered 
 whether the Duke really cared enough about 
 her to look for her; she wondered if she 
 cared whether he did or not. 
 
 The smooth, easy swaying of the car was 
 beginning to exercise a soothing influence on 
 her. Her eyelids seemed to be oppressed by
 
 6 The Dominant Chord 
 
 an unwonted heaviness. The powerful and 
 pervasive odour of the tuberoses in the 
 bouquet holder in front of her seemed to 
 load the atmosphere with a heaviness that 
 was almost palpable. The automobile 
 skidded easily around a corner into a cross 
 street, throwing her gently towards the op- 
 posite side of the car. She straightened 
 herself up languidly and indifferently in her 
 seat. The sense of oppression on her bosom 
 increased; a sweet and pungent odour filled 
 her nostrils. The long, dark lashes which 
 veiled her eyes sagged lower and lower 
 toward the waiting cheeks. With a deter- 
 mined effort she tried to throw off the feel- 
 ing of drowsiness which was overpowering 
 her, but without success.. 
 
 The automobile slewed swiftly into Fifth 
 Avenue, throwing her back into the corner 
 of the seat. This time she made no effort 
 to recover herself. Her head drooped for- 
 ward ; her whole body relaxed, and, with her 
 face pressed against the silken tassel of the 
 voice tube, she slept. 
 
 To one acquainted with the regime of the
 
 A Mysterious Chauffeur 
 
 Huntington establishment, the further move- 
 ments of the chauffeur might have awakened 
 suspicion. Satisfying himself by a hasty, 
 backward glance into the interior of the car 
 that its movements had ceased to have any 
 immediate interest for its occupant, the indi- 
 vidual at the steering wheel turned on more 
 power and shot into another cross street 
 leading over to the east side. 
 
 A slight movement among the pile of furs 
 at his feet attracted his attention, but a hasty 
 examination apparently reassured him, for 
 he turned back to the steering wheel and 
 gave it no further notice. The apparatus 
 which had stopped up the speaking tube 
 seemed to have fulfilled its purpose, for it 
 was now withdrawn and dropped skilfully 
 down a catch-basin in passing. 
 
 Swinging around another corner, the big 
 machine made its way down town at a speed 
 which would certainly have proved trouble- 
 some to a car bearing any other number. 
 The burly, blue-coated guardian of the peace, 
 who was holding the crossing as boldly and 
 impressively as Horatio of old had held the
 
 8 The Dominant Chord 
 
 bridge over the Tiber, saw it bearing down 
 on him like an express train, and instead of 
 arresting its progress forthwith, and thereby 
 depriving the morning papers of the sensa- 
 tion of the season, he watched it shoot by 
 him like a rocket, and disappear down the 
 avenue in a cloud of dust, without other evi- 
 dence of interest than a benign and tolerant 
 smile. 
 
 General Huntington's chauffeur, for per- 
 tinent and obvious reasons, made it his busi- 
 ness to be on good terms with most of the 
 " motor cops " and crossing officers of the 
 metropolis, and the aforesaid gentlemen like- 
 wise, for obvious and satisfactory reasons, 
 were quite willing to be on good terms with 
 General Huntington's chauffeur. Not the 
 least of these reasons was the generally 
 known fact that the General's sideboard con- 
 tained the finest products of Havana to be 
 found in all the length and breadth of the 
 city, and the wrappers which protected these 
 veritable triumphs of art frequently proved 
 to be of paper which was easily negotiable 
 in the marts of commerce and elsewhere.
 
 A Mysterious Chauffeur 9 
 
 Thanks to this happy combination of cir- 
 cumstances and the discretion of the driver, 
 the car made its way rapidly and without 
 interruption down into the lower part of the 
 city, and after traversing several deserted 
 streets stopped before a large warehouse 
 and pier on the lower waterfront. 
 
 The chauffeur now alighted, and from be- 
 neath the pile of furs at his feet extracted 
 an individual who, so far as livery, leather 
 cap and automobile mask were concerned, 
 might have been his twin brother. This new 
 actor in the scene (if one whose part seemed 
 to be a purely passive one can be called an 
 actor) lie propped up into the seat he had 
 just vacated. Next, taking a key. from his 
 pocket, he unlocked a small door which gave 
 access to a narrow passageway running 
 down to the pier end between the walls of 
 the warehouse and the edge of the wharf. 
 
 There were no vessels tied up in the slip, 
 and the whole place appeared deserted. 
 This aspect of affairs seemed to be satisfac- 
 tory to the party most concerned, for he 
 returned quickly to the car, and, throwing
 
 10 The Dominant Chord 
 
 open the door, gathered up the unconscious 
 form of the occupant, still wrapped in the 
 voluminous folds of her opera cloak, and 
 drew her forth into the night. 
 
 The new driver of the car meanwhile 
 seemed to be completely unconscious of these 
 movements. Perhaps the half tumbler of 
 French brandy, which had been superim- 
 posed upon an already extensive and varied 
 collection of liquid refreshments, had tended 
 to discourage an immediate and vivid inter- 
 est in passing events. 
 
 His predecessor gave him no further at- 
 tention, but, carefully locking the gate be- 
 hind him, made his way with his burden 
 down the pier to where a ladder, made of 
 heavy cleats spiked to the piling, led down 
 to the water. To descend this, burdened as 
 he was, was a task which required no little 
 strength and adroitness, but it was success- 
 fully accomplished, and as the stranger 
 reached the lowermost cleat an electric 
 launch slipped noiselessly out from the inky 
 blackness under the pier and came nosing 
 her way up to the ladder. To deposit his
 
 A Mysterious Chauffeur 11 
 
 burden in the bottom of the boat and take his 
 place at the wheel was the work of a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 As the launch shot out of the slip into the 
 stream a hoarse hail came over the water 
 from a harbour patrol boat, but with an 
 astonishing burst of speed the little craft 
 darted forward, and, before the guardians 
 of the waterfront could turn their boat in 
 pursuit, she had already disappeared among 
 the labyrinth of shadows of the shipping 
 lying in the stream.
 
 CHAPTEE II 
 
 A STRANGE AWAKENING 
 
 WHEN Alice Huntington opened her eyes 
 the next morning she was immediately con- 
 scious of a strangeness in her surroundings. 
 The bed she was lying on was certainly not 
 her own, neither was it customary for her 
 to retire for the night without disrobing. 
 For some moments she lay perfectly quiet 
 trying to collect her senses, slowly and with 
 difficulty piecing together the events of the 
 previous evening. She recalled the box 
 party, the annoyance and irritation which 
 had caused her to desert her friends, and her 
 departure for home in the motor car 
 there her memory failed her. Her last con- 
 scious recollection was of the overpowering 
 perfume of the tuberoses and the heavy sense 
 of drowsiness which had descended upon her. 
 
 As her groping senses slowly took in her 
 12
 
 A Strange Awakening 13 
 
 surroundings, she saw that she was in a 
 small but luxuriously furnished apartment; 
 a chamber, but of a design in furnishing the 
 like of which she had never seen before. 
 There were no windows, the room being 
 lighted by an opaque sheet of glass, which 
 formed the entire ceiling. 
 
 The silence was absolute; the roar and 
 rumble of traffic inseparable from the life of 
 a great city was completely stilled, yet the 
 light, filtering through the ceiling, told her 
 that the day was abroad. Silence, deep, en- 
 veloping, insistent, seemed to press upon her 
 with an imminent foreboding, a sinister 
 sense of uneasiness and alarm which clogged 
 her thoughts and paralyzed her actions. By 
 straining her ears she fancied at times she 
 could detect the soft, scuffling sound of run- 
 ning water, and the distant musical mono- 
 tone of machinery in motion, but she could 
 not fix the sound. 
 
 Being ordinarily of a self-confident and 
 energetic temperament, no sooner had Alice 
 thoroughly awakened to a sense of the 
 strange and mysterious nature of her sur-
 
 14 The Dominant Chord 
 
 roundings than she started to investigate. 
 Rising hastily, and throwing her opera cloak 
 around her bare and gleaming shoulders, she 
 passed hurriedly through a door which she 
 perceived opening into an adjoining apart- 
 ment. This proved to be a boudoir, but, as 
 there was nothing in its character or fur- 
 nishings to throw any light upon the situa- 
 tion, she contented herself with a cursory 
 glance and continued on her tour of inves- 
 tigation. 
 
 The apartment opening out of the boudoir 
 proved to be somewhat larger than the other, 
 and was evidently intended to be used both 
 as a library and a living-room. With 
 scarcely a glance at the unusual and artistic 
 beauty of the place, Alice's attention im- 
 mediately fastened itself upon a sliding door 
 at the further end. Beyond that door she 
 felt instinctively lay the key to the mystery. 
 It yielded easily to her touch, revealing to 
 her gaze a large room which, from the oval 
 sweep of its further wall, suggested the after 
 cabin or saloon of a yacht. Like all the 
 other rooms it was windowless and lighted
 
 A Strange Awakening 15 
 
 by transparent panels in the ceiling. In the 
 centre of this room, at a large circular table, 
 was seated a man in yachting flannels. 
 
 The stranger was so engrossed in the ex- 
 amination of some plans on the table before 
 him that he did not become immediately con- 
 scious of her presence, and Alice had an 
 opportunity hastily to examine his features. 
 They were clear-cut, strongly marked and 
 apparently those of a man between thirty 
 and thirty-five. 
 
 The slight rustle of her skirts as she 
 stepped into the saloon at once attracted his 
 attention and he rose quickly to meet her. 
 
 " Good morning, Miss Huntington." The 
 voice was low, well-modulated, and pleasant, 
 and was accompanied by an engaging, though 
 somewhat whimsical smile. " I suppose as 
 this is your initial appearance I should also 
 add the formula ' Welcome to our city! ' 
 
 * * May I ask where I am, who you are, and 
 what is the meaning of all this! " 
 
 Alice's tone could be on occasion as coldly 
 formal as a mountain glacier, and the chill- 
 ing hauteur with which she closed her inter-
 
 16 The Dominant Chord 
 
 rogations was calculated to reduce this indi- 
 vidual at once to a state in which he could 
 properly appreciate his own insignificance. 
 In this, apparently, it partly succeeded, for 
 the smile disappeared and a look of cool and 
 studied gravity took its place. 
 
 " To answer your questions seriatim, you 
 are on board the yacht Sdbine, at present 
 some sixty miles off the Delaware Capes. As 
 for myself, my name is Craig John Gor- 
 don Craig, very much at your service. In 
 regard to your last question, that is not quite 
 so easily answered. Perhaps it will be suf- 
 ficient for the present to say that you are 
 here because I very greatly desire your pres- 
 ence, also your assistance and cooperation in 
 certain psychological experiments which I 
 have undertaken." 
 
 " I don't in the least understand you! ' 
 
 11 Probably not. I am afraid the explana- 
 tion is rather vague and inadequate." 
 
 " Am I to understand that I am detained 
 here forcibly and against my will? ' 
 
 " I fear from your manner that I shall 
 have to admit that you are detained here
 
 A Strange Awakening 17 
 
 against your will, but surely not forcibly, 
 that is, only by the force of circumstances." 
 
 " Circumstances! What circumstances, 
 prayf ' 
 
 " Why, the circumstances of your being 
 here, of course. There are no present means 
 of leaving the Sabine unless you decide to 
 swim, and the risk is so great that I feel that 
 I should be justified in resorting even to 
 physical constraint to prevent you from 
 embarking on so hazardous an undertaking. ' ' 
 
 " But you can alter your course and re- 
 turn to New York, or, at least, to some port 
 on the mainland." 
 
 " I regret to say that such a course would 
 not coincide with my present plans." 
 
 ' * This this is infamous ! ' ' 
 
 ' ' ' Infamous ! ' I beg of you patience, 
 Miss Huntington. My methods of attaining 
 my ends may be unusual and somewhat dis- 
 turbing, but not infamous, surely." 
 
 ' ' It is infamous ; it is an outrage against 
 society. Do you realize, Mr. Craig, if that 
 is indeed your name, that your action is in 
 defiance of the law! "
 
 18 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " The law, Miss Huntington, moves rather 
 slowly on the high seas, and for the machin- 
 ery of the law to become completely effective 
 it is first necessary to apprehend the shall 
 we say culprit, or victim? It is quite as fre- 
 quently one as the other." 
 
 11 I should use a more definite term 
 criminal! " 
 
 " That is a harsh and unpleasant word, 
 truly, but we will not dispute about termi- 
 nology. So far as the law goes, the situation 
 seems to resemble the preliminary essential 
 in the recipe for rabbit stew: ' first catch 
 your rabbit. ' ' ' 
 
 11 But you cannot hope to avoid pursuit 
 for ever; sooner or later you will have to 
 touch at some port, and then discovery will 
 be certain." 
 
 11 You do small credit to my resourceful- 
 ness, Miss Huntington; but if it is to be as 
 you say I shall have to take the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 11 But what then is your object? Is it 
 money you want? My father is rich; name 
 your price, I beg of you; but let us have
 
 A Strange Awakening 19 
 
 done with this folly. You have the manner 
 and appearance of a gentleman, and have 
 probably been forced into this desperate 
 enterprise by some financial crisis. Turn 
 back to New York, and I pledge you my word 
 you will not regret it." 
 
 " That is certainly a businesslike propo- 
 sition, Miss Huntington, and deserves care- 
 ful consideration." Craig paused reflect- 
 ively. " At what price do you value your- 
 self? " 
 
 The question came like a shot and found 
 her utterly unprepared. 
 
 " Your father is reputed to be worth some 
 three hundred millions," went on Craig 
 calmly. " Now, assuming that you were in 
 the custody of a man who thought you the 
 most desirable thing in the world, what 
 would you advise ? Should he give you up in 
 exchange for, let us say, immunity and the 
 three hundred millions, or well, put your- 
 self in his place would you give up what 
 was the one supreme desire of your life for 
 three hundred millions, or any number of 
 millions? "
 
 20 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Alice was dumfounded at this unexpected 
 turn of affairs. She could only stand and 
 stare in absolute astonishment at the indi- 
 vidual who disposed of her fate so calmly. 
 
 " Do you mean to say that you are not 
 holding me for ransom? " she at length man- 
 aged to whisper. 
 
 " Miss Huntington, I beg of you, do you 
 think I would degrade you by putting a price 
 upon your body as if you were a horse or 
 an ox? Your father is a man of unlimited 
 wealth, but I have that which is greater, 
 unlimited power; not the power of kings 
 and of courts, not the power of the law, but 
 the power which drives this craft, which will 
 turn the wheels of commerce and manufac- 
 ture, and which will ultimately make every 
 man indeed free and the equal of* every other 
 man free to develop along his own lines 
 and in his own sphere, an equal in every- 
 thing except the capacity for development." 
 
 As Craig spoke a flush of enthusiasm 
 swept over and transformed his face. 
 
 Alice felt a cold chill at her heart as if 
 an icy hand were laid gently upon it. She
 
 A Strange Awakening 21 
 
 realized in that moment that she was in the 
 power of a fanatic, a madman. 
 
 Craig was still speaking : ' * The world, 
 Miss Huntington, is trembling upon the 
 verge of a social, political and industrial rev- 
 olution, and fate has decreed that you and 
 I shall play an important part in the drama. ' ' 
 
 Instinctively Alice realized that she must 
 humour him. Her only chance lay in a tact- 
 ful handling of the situation, in appearing to 
 enter into the spirit of his hallucinations. 
 
 " You say, ' you and I,' but why I? If 
 you are called upon to achieve some great 
 work for the good of humanity, why do you 
 linger on the road, why do you encumber 
 yourself with a co-worker, why do you drag 
 me into it? Believe me, I have neither the 
 capacity nor the inclination for any great 
 achievement. I am merely a woman, super- 
 ficial, shallow and frivolous if you will, but 
 still a woman, and with all a woman's limi- 
 tations." 
 
 " That is precisely it, Miss Huntington. 
 You are indeed a woman, and no great work 
 was ever achieved in this world but had a
 
 The Dominant Chord 
 
 woman for its inspiration. You ask me why 
 I drag you into this. It is because most 
 unfortunately, perhaps I love you ; be- 
 cause I am anxious to see whether it is pos- 
 sible to make a true and womanly woman out 
 of a spoiled and pampered member of our 
 so-called best society. " 
 
 At this calm assertion Alice's self-control 
 suddenly deserted her. All the rage of a 
 headstrong, imperious spirit suddenly flamed 
 forth from her eyes. The torrent of her 
 wrath vented itself in one blistering, biting 
 word, " Coward! ' 
 
 Drawing the folds of her cloak about her, 
 she swept out of the saloon, leaving Craig 
 to follow her motions with eyes that dark- 
 ened, even while his lips wreathed them- 
 selves into a calm, enigmatic smile.
 
 CHAPTER in 
 
 STUDYING THE SITUATION 
 
 ON regaining her apartments, Alice sat 
 herself down to consider the situation with 
 what calmness she could muster. Naturally 
 of a sanguine and self-reliant temperament, 
 she did not give way to despair, but began 
 to cast about to see what elements of defence 
 her situation offered. 
 
 That, for the moment, she was quite in the 
 power of the mysterious individual in the 
 saloon was painfully apparent. She noticed 
 that the door which separated them was 
 fitted with a heavy and substantial lock, but, 
 being the descendant of a long line of sol- 
 diers, she realized the absolute inefficiency of 
 passive defence unless backed by at least 
 some offensive power. Of weapons she had 
 none, and the hurried glance she had given 
 the apartments in passing through them did 
 not reveal anything which might be made to 
 
 23
 
 24 The Dominant Chord 
 
 supply the deficiency. Evidently the first 
 thing to do was to make a detailed examina- 
 tion of her surroundings and then decide 
 upon some course of action. This she imme- 
 diately set about with minute and character- 
 istic thoroughness. 
 
 Accustomed as she was to the luxury and 
 magnificence of the life of which she was a 
 part, she could not help being surprised at 
 the artistic taste and the lavish use of wealth 
 which had been brought to the furnishing 
 and ornamentation of these tiny rooms. 
 Small they undeniably were, in comparison 
 with the spacious halls of her father's Fifth 
 Avenue mansion, but within their limits of 
 size Alice had seen nothing more beautiful. 
 
 The sleeping apartment had been treated 
 in Wedgwood design, the walls being pan- 
 elled in deep Wedgwood blue, broken by 
 white marble pilasters of Doric form, and 
 edged with a frieze of Wedgwood figures in 
 bas-relief. The massive bed had been built 
 into one corner of the room, its salient angle 
 being supported by a Doric column to match 
 the pilaster*. Marble was the material used
 
 Studying the Situation 25 
 
 throughout, while the hangings and counter- 
 pane were of blue, heavily embroidered with 
 Wedgwood designs. The floor was a mosaic 
 of white marble with a border of Grecian 
 block in blue, and was covered by a heavy 
 blue rug woven with a border of Wedgwood 
 figures. The ceiling was treated in harmony 
 with the walls, the timbers appearing to be 
 overlaid with a sheathing of white marble 
 and the recesses tinted and ornamented with 
 similar designs, except the large central 
 panel, which was formed of a single sheet of 
 opalescent glass, through which the sunlight 
 softly flooded the apartment. The furniture 
 was simple and in keeping with the general 
 effect, and the whole atmosphere of the place 
 seemed to woo one to slumber and repose. 
 
 The boudoir, which adjoined the chamber, 
 was much more ornate in conception and 
 treatment than the severe and chaste sim- 
 plicity of the sleeping room. Here the dec- 
 orator had apparently resigned himself with- 
 out restraint to a riot of colour schemes. 
 The panelling, pilasters and coffered ceiling 
 of the sleeping apartment were retained, but
 
 26 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the sober tints and chaste treatment were 
 entirely absent. The pilasters were of the 
 Corinthian type of white marble with heav- 
 ily gilded capitals, while the panelling ap- 
 peared to be of some metal, shot and streaked 
 with all the colours of the solar spectrum; 
 Nile green and orange, pale lemon and violet, 
 sapphire, turquoise and purple, all vied and 
 shaded into one another with the iridescent 
 sheen of oil on placid water; while the cen- 
 tral panel in the ceiling, which lighted the 
 apartment, glowed with all the vivid and 
 changing colours of an Italian sunset. 
 
 The furniture was of the " Louis Quinze " 
 pattern, richly upholstered with priceless 
 tapestry, and, if the furnishings in the sleep- 
 ing room had been meagre and severely sim- 
 ple, the boudoir abounded in all those- acces- 
 sories so necessary to the comfort and hap- 
 piness of a woman. 
 
 The design and decoration of the rooms 
 described, although rich and luxurious, were, 
 in the main, along more or less conventional 
 lines, but in the treatment of the two remain- 
 ing apartments of the suite the architect had
 
 Studying the Situation 27 
 
 evidently given full sweep to a vivid, artistic 
 and imaginative temperament. 
 
 The bath, which opened out of the sleeping 
 room on the opposite side from the boudoir, 
 was designed to represent a grotto or sea- 
 cavern. The floor appeared to be formed of 
 a single sheet of heavy plate-glass, without 
 flaw or bubble, beneath which a beach of fine, 
 white sea sand shelved down into a little pool 
 among the rocks. So realistic was the effect, 
 that, as she stepped upon it, Alice instinc- 
 tively lifted her skirts. It seemed as if she 
 was in very truth walking on the surface of 
 the water. Among the caves and shallows of 
 the pool tiny crabs were scurrying about; 
 small, brilliant-hued fish of tropical species 
 darted hither and thither among the waving 
 fronds of delicate marine plants, or rested 
 motionless in the shadow of some shell-en- 
 crusted rock; sea-urchins, star-fish, and all 
 the minute and varied life of the submarine 
 world seemed to find here a home among 
 their natural surroundings. 
 
 From the sides of the pool the walls of 
 dark green basalt, broken by stratas of
 
 28 The Dominant Chord 
 
 gleaming quartz crystal, arose, vaulted and 
 buttressed in nature's fashion, to an opening 
 in the roof through which the blue dome of 
 the sky was visible. In a niche, or recess, 
 in one corner a shower bath had been cun- 
 ningly fashioned, the jets of the needle spray 
 issuing from a glittering mass of stalactites, 
 and stalagmites which depended from the 
 ceiling and sprang from the floor in every 
 direction. 
 
 The lavatory, in another corner, was de- 
 signed in the shape of a large scallop shell, 
 supported on a pedestal formed of the en- 
 twined bodies of three beautifully executed 
 mermaids, who held the vessel upon the fin- 
 ger-tips of their slender, uplifted arms. The 
 interior of the basin was lined with mother- 
 of-pearl, and two faucets in the form of sea- 
 horses, erect upon their tails, directed the 
 streams of hot and cold water into its iri- 
 descent depths from their curious, trumpet- 
 shaped mouths. 
 
 The bath was another triumph of fanciful 
 art, being shaped like a huge osyter shell and 
 lined with the same gleaming mother-of-
 
 Studying the Situation 29 
 
 pearl. It rested on a base of black, sea- 
 eroded rock and was filled with jets from 
 the mouths of artistically wrought dolphins. 
 
 Disturbed as she was by the strange and 
 overpowering predicament in which she 
 found herself, Alice could not but gaze in 
 rapt wonder upon this perfect gem of art. 
 Rome and Pompeii in their most ornate and 
 luxurious days could have presented nothing 
 like this. Like a child she passed from one 
 thing to another, touching this and that, 
 operating the cunningly concealed valves of 
 the shower bath, and turning the faucets on 
 and off to assure herself that the things 
 really worked. 
 
 Becoming deeply engrossed in a furious 
 battle between a couple of large sea-crabs, 
 which was going on in the pool beneath the 
 plate glass floor, she dropped on her knees 
 and watched the combat with an almost 
 childlike interest, until the larger of the two 
 succeeded in tearing a claw from his luck- 
 less adversary, and in making off with it to 
 his hole under the rocks. 
 
 Approaching an arched opening, which
 
 30 The Dominant Chord 
 
 seemed to lead into another chamber of the 
 grotto, she was suddenly confronted with a 
 full length reflection of herself. Mirrors had 
 been set into the walls in various places, 
 which not only had the effect of multiplying 
 the chambers of the cavern, but also allowed 
 the users of this fairy grotto to view them- 
 selves from every angle. The sight of her- 
 self, still arrayed in the evening gown she 
 had worn the previous night, brought back 
 with a rush the full realization of her pre- 
 dicament. Hurriedly quitting the bath, she 
 proceeded to make a minute examination of 
 the remaining apartment at her command to 
 see if it offered any solution of the problem. 
 This was the library, situated beyond the 
 boudoir, and opening into the saloon or after 
 cabin. 
 
 If the designer of the bath had taken one 
 into a fairy grotto, or cavern of the sea, the 
 architect of the library had certainly trans- 
 ported one into the heart of the ancient wood. 
 The pilasters, numerous and irregularly dis- 
 posed, were fashioned in a marvellous imita- 
 tion of the trunks of trees, whose supporting
 
 Studying the Situation 31 
 
 branches stretched across the ceiling in every 
 direction, and through whose leafy tangle 
 one appeared to look up into the deep blue 
 dome of the sky. The mural painting was 
 entirely covered with plate-glass and had 
 been so skilfully done that in whatever direc- 
 tion one looked one seemed to be gazing 
 down through the endless isles and arches of 
 a forest, while here and there, in the dis- 
 tance, showed the winding gleam of a river 
 wandering through sunlit meadows to the 
 sea. The books and book cases which deter- 
 mined the character of the apartment were 
 arranged in recesses in the wall behind glass 
 panels through whose leafy ornamentation 
 their titles could be seen. Alice perceived 
 that they covered a wide range of subjects, 
 and that they seemed to have been selected 
 to appeal to a woman's taste rather than to 
 a man's; fiction, poetry and books of biog- 
 raphy and art being predominant, while 
 technical works appeared to be entirely ab- 
 sent. The current magazines also seemed to 
 be well represented, and Alice felt that if her 
 enforced confinement was going to be pro-
 
 32 The Dominant Chord 
 
 longed it would be in this apartment that 
 she would find her chief solace and diver- 
 sion. 
 
 A huge fireplace, like a cave in the side of 
 a ledge, formed of huge granite boulders, 
 loosely thrown together, broke the contour 
 of the wall on one side of the room, and 
 seemed in its verisimilitude as if it had been 
 fashioned there by nature. 
 
 The furniture of the apartment consisted 
 of several large and comfortable chairs up- 
 holstered in dark green leather, and a large 
 library table, furnished with pens, ink and 
 paper and all the usual accessories of a 
 study. 
 
 As Alice's glance wandered over the table 
 it fell upon something which had previously 
 escaped her notice. A small, square enve- 
 lope, addressed to herself, was lying on the 
 blotter. At first she thought she would not 
 open it, but curiosity finally triumphed, and 
 taking a silver paper knife from the table she 
 quickly slit the envelope and was soon in 
 possession of its contents. The writing was 
 round, firm and masculine in every line.
 
 Studying the Situation 33 
 
 * ' MY DEAE Miss HUNTINGTON : "it read. 
 
 " It is not our present intention to starve 
 you into subjection. The enclosed card will 
 acquaint you with the extent and variety of 
 our larder. You can transmit your orders 
 to the chef through the pneumatic tube, which 
 you will find in the recess back of the fire- 
 place, and your meals will be served by 
 means of the dumb waiter communicating 
 with your boudoir. We hope that the neces- 
 sity of waiting upon yourself, while you elect 
 to remain in retirement will not prove no- 
 ticeably inconvenient. 
 
 11 Anticipating the time when you will con- 
 sent to adorn our humble board with your 
 gracious presence, we remain 
 
 " Hopefully yours, 
 
 " GORDON CRAIG. 
 
 " P. S. Your trunks have arrived and 
 will be found in the closet of your sleeping- 
 room. G. o." 
 
 Alice read this somewhat remarkable epis- 
 tle with mixed and conflicting emotions.
 
 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " Starved into subjection " indeed! Her 
 whole aggressive and combative nature im- 
 mediately rose up in arms at the suggestion. 
 Never in her whole life from her earliest 
 recollections had she known the meaning of 
 coercion. Even her childish whims and fan- 
 cies had been the law of a doting father and 
 an army of devoted servants. The idea that 
 anyone could dominate her, could break 
 down her will power, seemed utterly incon- 
 ceivable. Like the Imperial Guard at Water- 
 loo, she could die, but she would not sur- 
 render. This individual who called himself 
 Craig was destined to learn of what stuff the 
 Huntingtons were made. 
 
 At first she decided she would eat nothing, 
 but soon better judgment prevailed. If a 
 struggle was impending, she realized that 
 she must fortify herself to meet it. 
 
 " It is not our present intention to starve 
 you into subjection," Craig had written. 
 Evidently he was relying on mental coercion 
 rather than physical force to accomplish his 
 purposes, whatever they were ; although the 
 insertion of the word " present " was some-
 
 Studying the Situation 35 
 
 what disconcerting and suggested the possi- 
 ble employment of drastic measures later on. 
 
 However, Alice felt that it was profitless 
 to speculate at the present moment, so sit- 
 ting down, she consulted the menu, and or- 
 dered a simple though substantial breakfast 
 of chops, eggs, and coffee as the first move in 
 preparing to meet whatever emergency the 
 future might hold. 
 
 Despatching this order through the pneu- 
 matic tube, which she found without diffi- 
 culty, her thoughts next turned themselves to 
 the trunks of which Craig had made mention 
 in his postscript. Her original examination 
 of the sleeping apartment had failed to re- 
 veal a closet, but as Craig had spoken of one, 
 there must be one there. She at once de- 
 cided to institute a thorough and exhaustive 
 search. If a closet was there the door must 
 be in one of the panels. She examined them 
 all carefully, and soon her attention was at- 
 tracted by a projection in the ornamental 
 frieze which looked as if it might possibly 
 serve as a door knob. She pushed it, and 
 pulled it, and finally remembering that all
 
 36 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the doors which she had encountered so far 
 on this mysterious craft were of the sliding 
 variety, she pressed it aside, when the panel 
 yielded easily and slid noiselessly into a re- 
 cess hack of the pilaster, revealing a large, 
 square closet almost the size of a room, 
 around the sides of which four of her own 
 trunks were neatly arranged. As the key to 
 each was dangling from a tag attached to the 
 lock she lost no time in opening the lids and 
 examining the contents. 
 
 According to the instructions which she 
 had always given her maid, Alice found a 
 neatly written card in the top of each trunk 
 giving a list of what it contained and the 
 part of the trunk in which each article was 
 packed. In glancing over these memoranda 
 she at once perceived that whoever had su- 
 perintended the operation of packing had 
 made lavish provisions for her comfort and 
 convenience. All her toilet and travelling 
 requisites were in their accustomed places. 
 All her equipment for a sea- voyage, warm 
 clothing, steamer rugs, rain coats, furs, etc., 
 were present, and in addition, two of the
 
 Studying the Situation 37 
 
 trunks were completely filled with her choi- 
 cest and most elaborate evening and dinner 
 gowns. Even the jewels and ornaments she 
 was most accustomed to wear had been 
 packed in their cases and occupied a tray in 
 one of the trunks. 
 
 Alice 's spirits rose as she surveyed her re- 
 sources. If beauty aided by adornment was 
 a woman's most effective weapon she felt 
 she was amply provided with the materials 
 of war. Selecting a morning gown of soft 
 yellow crepe, which she could easily get into, 
 Alice hastily discarded her badly rumpled 
 evening dress, and after a hurried and some- 
 what nervous surrender to the seductions of 
 the needle spray in her fairy grotto, donned 
 her new raiment feeling refreshed and not a 
 little elated. 
 
 She had hardly completed these opera- 
 tions when the sound of an electric bell vi- 
 brating in the next room announced the ar- 
 rival of her breakfast. The dumb waiter was 
 not conspicuously in evidence, but her search 
 for the closet had educated her, and she soon 
 found a movable panel, and sliding it back a
 
 38 The Dominant Chord 
 
 breakfast table, set and laid with silver and 
 fine linen, and bearing the viands smoking 
 hot which she had ordered, rolled smoothly 
 out of the recess into the middle of the room. 
 
 Breakfast disposed of, she pushed the 
 table back on to the lift, closed the panel, and 
 set herself down to a serious consideration 
 of the situation. Her nerves were rapidly 
 recovering their tone, and she felt mounting 
 within her a sense of confidence, a feeling of 
 equality with the situation which before had 
 been lacking. 
 
 That her abduction had been carefully 
 planned she could not doubt. Everything 
 pointed to a thoroughness of preparation, an 
 attention to detail, that at once denoted the 
 presence of a master mind. The only thing 
 she could do at present seemed to be to re- 
 main quietly in her apartments and await 
 developments. 
 
 Slowly the long hours dragged themselves 
 away. She selected a book from the library 
 and tried to interest herself, but her eyes 
 wandered continually to the clock over the 
 fireplace.
 
 Studying the Situation 39 
 
 The clock, like everything connected with 
 this strange craft, on which she found her- 
 self, possessed an individuality of its own. 
 It was formed of three concentric dials, the 
 larger and outer one being divided into 
 twenty-four divisions for the hours of the 
 day, but with this peculiarity: The num- 
 bers from I up to XII being retained, XII 
 midnight occupying the customary position 
 of VI at the bottom of the dial, while XII 
 noon remained in its place at the top. A 
 large heart-shaped pointer carried on an in- 
 visible arm moved around the outer dial, 
 while the two inner ones similarly equipped 
 showed the minutes and the seconds. The 
 lower half of the dial was formed of an ex- 
 panding and contracting black sector, which 
 indicated the hours of darkness and daylight. 
 At night the dial was faintly illuminated by 
 an electric light concealed within its face. 
 Above the clock, set flush in a panel of the 
 ceiling, was a large telltale compass, and as 
 Alice raised her eyes to it she noticed that 
 the needle indicated a course due south. 
 
 Was she really on a ship in the open
 
 40 The Dominant Chord 
 
 ocean! Nothing in her surroundings as she 
 sat in the library, except the compass, seemed 
 to suggest it. The rolling and pitching of a 
 vessel in the open sea was entirely absent. 
 Of motion there was none except that strange 
 sense of motion in rest. Alice felt instinct- 
 ively that she, herself, and all of her sur- 
 roundings, were moving smoothly and swiftly 
 through space, but of the tangible evidences 
 of motion there were none. The silence was 
 oppressive, no movement on deck, no 
 sound of voices came to her ears, no jar 
 or vibration of machinery, only that faint 
 musical hum, and the soft scuffling sound of 
 distant waters. Occasionally at long inter- 
 vals the strokes of chimes were borne to 
 her ears. Sometimes they came faint and 
 sweetly, as if from a great distance; at 
 others as loud and sonorous vibrations as 
 though the bells were close at hand. 
 
 As darkness approached she began to look 
 about for some means of illumination. An 
 electric switch in the wainscoting soon caught 
 her eye, and on turning it the darkening sky- 
 light was at once flooded with a soft and dif-
 
 Studying the Situation 41 
 
 fused light whose precise nature she could 
 not determine, but which illuminated the 
 apartment evenly and brilliantly in all its 
 recesses. 
 
 As the evening passed away, and nothing 
 seemed destined to transpire, Alice felt the 
 sense of drowsiness again creeping upon her. 
 Acknowledging the uselessness of trying to 
 keep awake indefinitely, she returned to her 
 chamber, and lying down on one of the 
 couches was soon in a heavy, dreamless sleep.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 AN ENCOUNTER ON THE HIGH SEAS 
 
 WHEN Alice again opened her eyes the 
 chimes of the clock in the library were just 
 striking nine. Exhaustion, incident to the 
 mental strain she was under, had caused her 
 to sleep well into the day, but the sleep 
 had refreshed her and restored in a great 
 measure her poise and self-confidence. She 
 quickly decided that she would not endure 
 another day in the solitary confinement of 
 her apartment. She determined to carry the 
 war into the enemy's country. Even if the 
 individual she had encountered was^ not 
 amenable to reason he must have accom- 
 plices, and they certainly must have em- 
 barked on the enterprise for gain. Could 
 she not bid as high as anyone for their alle- 
 giance? The thought comforted her and 
 renewed her confidence. She would show 
 this man that though helpless and isolated, 
 
 42
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 43 
 
 she was an antagonist not to be despised 
 no weak and submissive victim ready to his 
 hand. 
 
 Knowing full well the power of her beauty, 
 and having a correct appreciation of the ac- 
 cessories necessary to render it completely 
 effective, she selected a walking suit of blue 
 serge, which fitted perfectly her tall and 
 gracefully rounded figure, and hastily don- 
 ning it started on her foray into the enemy's 
 country. 
 
 The main cabin was deserted when she 
 entered it, but a broad staircase on her right 
 led evidently to the deck above. Quickly 
 ascending this Alice found herself in a glass 
 enclosed apartment, and for the first time 
 she had a chance to take in her situation. 
 She was in the chart room of what seemed 
 to be a large ocean-going motor boat. A 
 sliding door in the after end opened on to 
 the promenade deck, while forward, one on 
 either side gave access to a short flight of 
 steps which led up to the forecastle deck, 
 which was raised to about the level of the 
 windows. In the circular sweep of the for-
 
 44 The Dominant Chord 
 
 ward end of this chart house stood the bin- 
 nacle, a heavy column of white marhle, which 
 looked more like the pedestal of a sun-dial 
 than a nautical device. Alice had a consid- 
 erable fund of nautical lore gleaned from her 
 many cruises on her father's yacht, and she 
 noticed at once the peculiar construction of 
 this binnacle. The compass, a disk of ground 
 glass, with raised compass points in blue 
 enamel, was not swung in brackets, as is 
 usual on vessels, but set flush in the top of 
 the pedestal with apparently no provision 
 made for any displacement caused by the 
 rolling and pitching of the vessel. Two 
 small metal balls of dull bronze about the 
 size of billiard balls, were mounted on the 
 pedestal on either side of the compass card, 
 while a pointer, of the same material, was 
 pivoted at its centre, its forward end ter- 
 minating in an arrow point, while the other 
 carried a small knob which was arranged to 
 slide over a scale marked on the arm. A 
 segment of the same metal was also set in 
 the top of the pedestal edging the after end 
 of the compass plate and extending on each
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 45 
 
 side almost to the two metal balls previously 
 mentioned. Of wheels, levers and other con- 
 trolling devices usually found in the pilot 
 house of a vessel there were absolutely 
 none. 
 
 As Alice approached to examine this pecul- 
 iar binnacle, she perceived Craig standing on 
 the raised forecastle deck, and, true to her 
 determination, proceeded at once to carry the 
 action to close quarters. Stepping out on the 
 deck she ascended the short ladder which 
 gave access to his coign of vantage. 
 
 The Sabine was cutting her way through 
 an absolutely smooth sea. Above the sun 
 was shining brightly in a perfectly clear sky. 
 Not a cloud revealed itself in all the blue 
 dome above save in the south, where a few 
 fine wreaths of vapour, delicate and feathery 
 as plumes of distant cannon smoke, were 
 wafted up from below the horizon to stain 
 with their whiteness the celestial purity of 
 that overarching sphere. All around, the 
 blue of the sky met the deeper blue of the 
 ocean in a sharply defined, unbroken ring. 
 
 As Alice ascended the stairs Craig heard
 
 46 The Dominant Chord 
 
 her step and lifting his cap he turned to meet 
 her. 
 
 " A most beautiful morning, Miss Alice, I 
 suppose this is what ' Old Salts ' would call 
 a weather breeder." 
 
 Alice felt the note of calm not assurance, 
 but confidence in his voice, and instantly 
 her combative temperament rose in arms. 
 She noticed that he even had had the au- 
 dacity to address her by her given name, 
 although she admitted that he did have the 
 grace to prefix a title. Eealizing that there 
 was nothing to be gained by a display of 
 temper, however, she curbed herself, and an- 
 swered coldly, "I am not greatly inter- 
 ested in the state of the weather, Mr. Craig. 
 What I came here for was to ask you how 
 much longer this farce is going to con- 
 tinue." 
 
 " I am glad you look upon it as a farce; 
 I feared you might possibly regard it in the 
 light of a tragedy." 
 
 " It may easily become a tragedy," re- 
 plied Alice tensely. 
 
 " Yes," continued Craig reflectively, " you
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 47 
 
 are quite right, it may easily become a trag- 
 edy. You have a strong and determined na- 
 ture, Miss Huntington; so have I; it is eas- 
 ily possible that one or the other may break 
 in the bending." 
 
 " You will never bend me, never! ' 
 
 " That is as it may appear in the book of 
 fate, but we shall have plenty of time to dis- 
 cuss that question later." 
 
 " We shall not have plenty of time to dis- 
 cuss that or any other question, except the 
 question of returning immediately to New 
 York." 
 
 " I am sorry, but that is the one question 
 I cannot discuss with you at present." 
 
 " Cannot or will not? " 
 
 Craig shrugged his shoulders, " As you 
 please." 
 
 Alice bit her lip in a furious effort to keep 
 back her rising anger. " This is unbear- 
 able ! ' ' she said, her low voice vibrating with 
 passion, "I I will appeal to your crew. 
 There must at least be one man among them 
 who will aid a woman in distress." 
 
 " So you would stir up mutiny on the high
 
 48 The Dominant Chord 
 
 seas, would you? I am sorry to disappoint 
 you, but you see I happen to be the crew, 
 
 ." ' For I am the cook and the captain bold, 
 
 And the mate of the Nancy Brig, 
 And the bo'sun tight and the midshipmite, 
 And the crew of the Captain's gig.' 
 
 I believe that is the way the old doggerel 
 runs, or something to that effect." 
 
 ' * Do you mean to tell me that you sail this 
 ship alone? " 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 11 But the steward, your chef? " faltered 
 Alice. 
 
 " Forgive me, but I also am the chef. I 
 hope the cuisine is satisfactory." 
 
 Alice was dumfounded. She was abso- 
 lutely alone in the midst of the ocean with 
 this man. He might be a madman, monster, 
 or what not. Her heart sank at the thought. 
 She was trying to grasp with her mind the 
 full significance of the situation, when the 
 faint distant stroke of chimes broke the mo- 
 mentary pause. 
 
 Craig turned quickly. Far away on the 
 distant horizon a dull smudge stained the
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 49 
 
 pure sapphire blue. The smoke of a steamer 
 was in sight. Craig and Alice watched it 
 with divergent and conflicting emotions. The 
 vessel, a large liner, rose rapidly. The Sa- 
 bine was driving easily along at a speed of 
 about ten knots, her lean prow cutting the 
 long ground swell as smoothly as a knife 
 shears through butter. When first seen, the 
 smoke was about one point on her port bow. 
 If no change was made in the course the two 
 ships would pass close to each other. Craig 
 stepped into the pilot house and returned 
 with a telescope, through which he examined 
 the oncoming liner attentively. 
 
 " She must be the Prince Karl of the 
 North German Lloyd line," he announced. 
 " My old friend, Captain Scott, commands 
 her. I saw by the papers that she was going 
 to the Windward Islands with a party of ex- 
 cursionists. " 
 
 Alice did not reply. All her attention was 
 concentrated on the approaching ship. In 
 less than half an hour she would be abeam, 
 and she saw that if the course was not 
 changed they would pass within a half a mile
 
 50 The Dominant Chord 
 
 of each other. She expected momentarily to 
 see Craig make some movement to alter his 
 direction, but he gave no sign, continuing to 
 gaze at the liner through his glass. Eapidly 
 the two ships drew together. Alice could see 
 the flash and glitter of the brass work, the 
 details of her boats, funnels and rigging, and 
 the figures of men upon her bridge. Would 
 it be possible to signal! Suddenly a thought 
 flashed upon her which set her heart beating 
 violently. " The Meyer Code! " 
 
 Quietly she stepped back, and softly de- 
 scended the stairs to the deck on the further 
 side of the pilot house. She knew that the 
 important news of the day was communicated 
 to all the large liners by wireless. Her mys- 
 terious disappearance must by this time have 
 been flashed all over the world. Craig ap- 
 parently did not heed her movements, but 
 continued to gaze through his telescope. 
 
 As soon as she gained the shelter of the 
 deck house, Alice stepped quickly toward the 
 stern until she came out upon the open deck. 
 Here she was shielded from Craig's view by 
 the pilot house, which she had placed squarely
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 51 
 
 between them, at the same time being in plain 
 sight from the deck of the liner. The two 
 ships were now fairly abeam and passing 
 rapidly. Drawing out her handkerchief, 
 Alice began to signal frantically in the 
 " Meyer Code," 
 
 1 * Help ! Help ! I am a prisoner here. 
 Help! Rescue! " 
 
 Majestically the liner proceeded on her 
 way. The ships had passed now and were 
 rapidly drawing apart. Alice heard the tele- 
 scope close with a snap, and Craig's step on 
 the ladder. 
 
 Tears of rage and bitter disappointment 
 blinded her eyes. With one last despairing 
 effort she signalled again, 
 
 " Help! I am Alice Huntington." 
 
 Craig found her leaning against the chart 
 house, one tense hand clutching a fold of her 
 skirt, her handkerchief pressed against her 
 lips to stifle a sob. 
 
 " Too bad," he remarked sympathetically. 
 Suddenly < ' Hello ! what 's this ! " he 
 cried, as he cast a look at the receding liner. 
 A commotion seemed to be going on upon
 
 52 The Dominant Chord 
 
 her bridge. Men were swarming up the 
 ladders and one levelled a telescope at 
 them. 
 
 Suddenly the huge bows of the ship swung 
 sharply to port. With a majestic sweep she 
 altered her course and sheered up into the 
 wake of the Sdbine, while up at the mast- 
 head went her ensign with the red and white 
 pennant of the International Code fluttering 
 beneath it. 
 
 11 So he wants to have a little conversa- 
 tion, does he? " remarked Craig. " Well, I 
 guess we can oblige him." Going into the 
 chart house he soon returned with a large 
 canvas bag and a leather-covered copy of the 
 code book. Giving the latter to Alice, he set 
 the answering pennant at the " dip " and 
 awaited results. 
 
 The two vessels had been moving at such 
 speed that by the time the liner had swung 
 around and was fairly in the wake of the 
 Sabine, she was some five miles astern. 
 Smoke was pouring from her funnels in 
 heavy clouds, showing that her turbines were 
 being forced to their utmost capacity.
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 53 
 
 Alice noticed that the Sabine also had in 
 some unaccountable way increased her speed, 
 and was now driving through the water at 
 a rapid rate, but in her mind the issue was no 
 longer in doubt. She knew the Prince Karl, 
 a new ship, and credited with being one of 
 the fastest liners afloat ; her speed of twenty- 
 nine knots would make the effort of any 
 motor boat to escape appear ridiculous. 
 Gradually the liner cut down the distance 
 between them. 
 
 As Craig finished setting his code pennant 
 a mass of bunting was broken out from the 
 end of her signal yard. 
 
 Craig studied it through the glass, * ' Let 
 us see; code flag over red and white verti- 
 cal stripe, that is * H,' I think. Will you 
 look it up, Miss Alice, and see what he 
 says? " 
 
 Alice turned to the table and ran her 
 glance down the column until it came to 
 " H." The light of battle was gleaming 
 brightly in her eyes. In a voice from which 
 she tried in vain to exclude the ring of tri- 
 umph, she read, " Stop, heave to, or come
 
 54 The Dominant Chord 
 
 nearer, I have something important to com- 
 municate." 
 
 " I don't think we want to hear his im- 
 portant communication," remarked Craig. 
 " Will you let me take the book a moment, 
 Miss Huntington? ' He ran his eye rapidly 
 over the tables and then selected two flags 
 from the pile of brilliant-hued bunting at his 
 feet. A yellow flag with a black ball in the 
 centre, and another with blue and white hori- 
 zontal stripes. 
 
 11 It is fortunate that you will not be able 
 to hear the remarks of my friend, Captain 
 Scott, when he reads that signal. In any 
 newspaper office they would probably be 
 labelled ' unprintable.' 
 
 Alice picked up the code book and saw that 
 the two flags flying were " I " over " J." 
 Turning to the table she read, * ' Unless your 
 communication is very important, I must be 
 excused. ' ' 
 
 The supreme effrontery of the man amazed 
 her. Craig was standing by the rail watch- 
 ing the oncoming liner, not with the cool 
 composure of the strong man who suddenly
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 55 
 
 finds his plans gone awry j not with the bra- 
 vado of a coward caught in his own trap, but 
 with the concentrated interest of one who 
 is solving an absorbingly interesting prob- 
 lem. 
 
 The signal they had shown evidently acted 
 like a spur on the liner, for the volume of 
 smoke from her funnels increased and a new 
 display of bunting fluttered from her signal 
 yard. 
 
 " Blue with a white St. Andrew's cross, 
 and a blue and white checkerboard. ' M ' 
 over ' N,' " remarked Craig. " What does 
 he say this time, Miss Huntington? " 
 
 " Stop instantly! " replied Alice, refer- 
 ring to the table. 
 
 * ' Hum ! That is rather peremptory. I 
 guess there is no answer to that signal. 
 Won't you come astern, where you can sit 
 down and watch the proceedings? " Craig 
 hoisted the answering pennant and then low- 
 ered it as a sign that the last signal had been 
 understood, and then thrusting the brilliantly 
 coloured flags into their receptacle disap- 
 peared into the chart house.
 
 56 The Dominant Chord 
 
 In a few moments he rejoined Alice at the 
 stern, and seating himself on the taffrail 
 studied the liner as one who had no partic- 
 ular interest in her movements. The furious 
 stoking which was going on in her fire room 
 seemed to be producing results, however, for 
 she had now drawn up to within ahout three 
 miles, but the gain was being made very 
 slowly, and Alice awoke to the fact that the 
 Saline was now tearing along at a phenom- 
 enal rate of speed. So easily did she slip 
 through the water, however, that enly the 
 rapid drift of the spume astern betrayed the 
 tremendous speed at which she was travel- 
 ling. 
 
 Slowly the minutes dragged by. Alice, 
 keyed to the highest tension, saw that the 
 liner was now drawing no nearer, indeed in 
 the last few minutes it almost seemed as if 
 she had lost a little. A knot of men were 
 working hurriedly around some object on the 
 forecastle, and the officers on her bridge were 
 watching the Sabine intently through their 
 glasses. Suddenly the signal flags, which 
 were still flying from her mast, were replaced
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 57 
 
 by another set; the same yellow flag over 
 a blue pennant with a white ball. 
 
 " ' I," D,' " translated Craig. " What is 
 it this time? " 
 
 Alice consulted the book with feverish 
 haste. " ' I ' < D,' < I ' ' D,' " would she 
 never find it! 
 
 ' * l Heave to ! or I will fire into you ! ' " 
 she cried. " You had better give up, 
 Mr. Craig, the odds are too much against 
 you." 
 
 Craig only smiled. " This bids fair to 
 become interesting. May I ask you to go 
 below, Miss Huntington? Captain Scott is a 
 pretty determined fellow when aroused, and 
 I do not know how far he might be disposed 
 to push this matter." 
 
 " He'll push it to a decisive conclusion if 
 he is the man he should be. No, I will not 
 go below, I will take my chances in the open. 
 The satisfaction of seeing you beaten and 
 humiliated will more than repay me for any 
 risk I may run." 
 
 " Oh, very well. As you choose." 
 
 Finding that, in spite of his efforts, he
 
 58 The Dominant Chord 
 
 was no longer gaining on the chase, the cap- 
 tain of the liner determined to play his trump 
 card. There was a flash, a puff of white 
 smoke streamed out from the forecastle deck 
 of the liner, and the shell from a six pounder 
 went screaming over the Sabine and struck 
 the water a quarter of a mile beyond. 
 
 " Pretty close," muttered Craig. " I did 
 not think he would dare to do it. He must 
 be very sure of his ground." 
 
 The whistle of the shot seemed to act like 
 magic on the Sabine. Like a frightened 
 thing she leaped forward and Alice saw with 
 chagrin that the liner was now being dropped 
 rapidly. 
 
 The first shot was quickly followed by a 
 second, which struck close to the port bow, 
 and then the shells came rapidly, striking 
 now on one side, now on the other, moan- 
 ing and whining overhead and occasionally 
 sprinkling them both with splashes of 
 spray. 
 
 Alice felt that she was taking part in a 
 battle. She stood with tightly clenched hands 
 and flashing eyes watching the pompons of
 
 An Encounter on the High Seas 59 
 
 smoke as they rose, and listened to the sharp 
 staccato reports of the gun as they drifted 
 down the wind to her. If they would only 
 shoot to hit, but the gunner evidently had had 
 his instructions and the range was increasing 
 every moment. 
 
 In the twenty minutes following the crack 
 of the first gun the liner had been dropped 
 over two miles, and now the shells were be- 
 ginning to fall in their wake. Farther and 
 farther she dropped astern. Alice watched 
 her with bitter despair and chagrin. Sud- 
 denly she saw the lofty bows swing to star- 
 board. Soon her whole port side was ex- 
 posed, and in another moment the big liner 
 had swung around on her course and was 
 rapidly disappearing to the north. As she 
 turned, Alice saw a man wigwagging with a 
 big red flag from the end of her flying bridge, 
 but she was too dispirited to translate the 
 message. Choking down a sob, she hurried 
 into the chart house, and descended to her 
 cabin. 
 
 Craig watched her go with an expression 
 in which sympathy struggled with satisfac-
 
 60 The Dominant Chord 
 
 tion. He had read the message and a smile 
 of comprehension had gleamed upon his fea- 
 tures. " Cannot assist. Will report you. 
 Keep up courage. "
 
 CHAPTEE V 
 
 THE JAPANESE BAGGER 
 
 As Alice began to recover her equanimity 
 the full realization of her situation com- 
 menced to dawn upon her. The Sabine had 
 run away from the Prince Karl with ease. 
 Evidently it would take a scout cruiser or a 
 destroyer to overhaul her, and what chance 
 was there for such a ship to find them upon 
 the pathless waters of the ocean? She had 
 no means of knowing where she was or 
 whither she was going, and no means of com- 
 municating that knowledge had she possessed 
 it. The telltale compass overhead still 
 pointed due south, it is true, but that en- 
 lightened her only in a general way. 
 
 With no one on board to whom she could 
 appeal she felt supremely isolated and de- 
 fenceless, but as she grew calmer this fact, 
 instead of reducing her to despair, aroused 
 her natural fighting instinct. Alone and un- 
 aided and with only a woman's weapons she 
 
 61
 
 62 The Dominant Chord 
 
 told herself she would conquer and subdue 
 this man. After all he was only a man, and 
 what man had ever been able to withstand 
 the fascination of her charms ? The fact that 
 superficially he appeared to have the man- 
 ners of a gentleman only made him the more 
 vulnerable. Accustomed as she had been 
 from childhood to receive the homage and 
 attention which her wealth and beauty 
 evoked, and relying upon an unbroken series 
 of successes in school, college and society, 
 she looked forward to the conflict, if not with 
 assurance, at least with confidence. In less 
 than a week she would have the mighty Mr. 
 Craig at her feet. He might be " the mate, 
 and the captain, too," but she would be the 
 one to give the orders. Yet when she re- 
 called his firm set jaw and the keen gray eyes 
 she felt that she had a task cut out for her. 
 However, if man is the proper study of man- 
 kind, he is eminently, exhaustively and con- 
 tinually the study of woman, and Alice felt 
 that she knew her quarry. 
 
 It is an axiom of war that a night attack 
 is often successful where an assault by day-
 
 The Japanese Dagger 63 
 
 light would fail. Alice determined to make 
 her first advance on the enemy's entrench- 
 ments after dinner when her adversary might 
 naturally be supposed to be in his most bea- 
 tific and plastic mood. As her stay on board 
 the Sabine was evidently destined to be of 
 some duration she decided to occupy the time 
 before her attack in unpacking her trunks 
 and arranging her belongings. As she delved 
 among the mysteries of lace, satin and lin- 
 gerie she fervently thanked the fates which 
 had provided her so abundantly with the ac- 
 cessories necessary to carry on her cam- 
 paign. As she came to the bottom of the last 
 trunk she discovered tucked down in one cor- 
 ner a tiny automatic pistol with several mag- 
 azines of cartridges. With a cry of joy she 
 pounced upon it and thrust it into a secret 
 pocket in her skirt. She had always been 
 accustomed to handling firearms and the pos- 
 session of this little gun gave her a sense 
 of security which she had not felt since she 
 found herself on the Sabine. So rapid was 
 the rebound of her spirits that as she moved 
 about in the boudoir, giving a touch here and
 
 64 The Dominant Chord 
 
 there to its arrangements with the deftness 
 which is the exclusive attribute of a refined 
 and cultured woman, her voice unconsciously 
 bubbled forth in an aria from one of her 
 favourite operas. Craig, in the chart room 
 above, heard it and wondered at the sudden 
 revulsion in her feelings. 
 
 As darkness fell, Alice, from her assort- 
 ment of dinner and ball gowns, selected the 
 weapon she would use in her preliminary 
 assault a soft, filmy, clinging affair of dull 
 gold which displayed all the superb perfec- 
 tion of her figure. To insinuate herself into 
 this elaborate creation of the modiste's art 
 without the assistance of her maid was a task 
 of no small magnitude, but feminine ingenu- 
 ity has too often achieved the impossible to 
 be balked by such a trifle as an inaccessible 
 hook and eye. Having carefully arrayed 
 herself in this she waited until she thought 
 that Craig must have finished his dinner, and 
 then, with a heart beating somewhat faster 
 than usual, she opened the library door and 
 stepped into the saloon. 
 
 Craig was seated by the table apparently
 
 The Japanese Dagger 65 
 
 lost in profound thought. He had evidently 
 just been cutting the leaves of a magazine, 
 for the book lay beside him on the table and 
 with it a Japanese dagger which he had been 
 using as a paper cutter. He was leaning 
 slightly forward in his chair, one arm rest- 
 ing on his knee while the other supported his 
 chin. His face was turned slightly from her. 
 The attitude, the expression, the clean-cut 
 profile, the look of melancholy abstraction, 
 all strongly suggested the seated figure by 
 Michael Angelo from the tomb of Lorenzo 
 de Medici the younger. 
 
 Alice paused momentarily to study this 
 striking and unusual countenance. It was a 
 face of extreme refinement as well as of 
 unusual strength. The face of a dreamer 
 but also that of a man of action. Tenacity, 
 initiative, imagination and that subtle some- 
 thing which suggests the artistic tempera- 
 ment all were there. 
 
 Despite her hatred of the man Alice felt 
 the power emanating from him, the magnet- 
 ism of his personality and, for the moment, 
 a misgiving as to her final success smote her.
 
 66 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Banishing the feeling instantly however, she 
 advanced to the table. The quick light of 
 admiration which leaped into Craig's eyes at 
 sight of her brought, in spite of herself, the 
 rich blood to her cheeks. 
 
 ' * You are radiantly beautiful this evening, 
 Miss Huntington. ' ' 
 
 11 Mr. Craig, you appear to have the super- 
 ficial attributes of a gentleman; I think, 
 under the circumstances, you might at least 
 spare me your compliments." 
 
 " How can you expect anything different 
 when you burst upon one in such a vision of 
 loveliness? I heard you singing to-day. One 
 might almost imagine that you had won this 
 morning instead of lost." 
 
 Instantly the light of battle flamed in 
 Alice's eyes. 
 
 " Mr. Craig, there are two very old and 
 trite sayings which I will recall to you, * He 
 laughs best who laughs last,' and ' The race 
 is not always to the swift nor the battle to 
 the strong.' " 
 
 " Pardon me for disagreeing with you, but 
 I think that history will bear me out in say-
 
 67 
 
 ing that the battle is always to the strong, 
 though one 's strength sometimes lies in one 's 
 weakness, and the strength of the intellect is 
 as often returned the victor as the power of 
 brute force. The strength of the intellect is 
 apparent in the choice of the weapons with 
 which you attack me this evening. They are 
 very effective.'* 
 
 " It was very considerate or perhaps in- 
 considerate in you to provide them. I con- 
 fess I am curious. I should like to know how 
 you succeeded in doing it. ' ' 
 
 " It was very simple. I can easily tell you. 
 Some years ago I had the opportunity of 
 helping a young fellow out of a very serious 
 scrape. He turned out to be the brother of 
 your maid. When I conceived the idea that 
 a sea voyage would be a good thing for your 
 health and future peace of mind, I went to 
 her, and in consideration of the old debt of 
 gratitude she consented to help me. I told 
 her that some of your friends were going to 
 get you away on a short cruise as a surprise, 
 and asked her to pack such things as you 
 would need. I remember her scorn when I
 
 68 The Dominant Chord 
 
 said a trunk. She haughtily informed me 
 that a lady of your station could not possibly 
 travel as far as Jersey City with only one 
 trunk, and insisted that it was impossible for 
 you to get along with less than four. Well, 
 I told her to go ahead, mark them for the 
 yacht Sabine and have them sent to the Club 
 House. As she was acting in your name, of 
 course, no questions were asked, and it was 
 a simple matter when they arrived to have 
 them brought on board." 
 
 " A simple matter truly. I think I shall 
 have something to say to Anna when I get 
 back." 
 
 11 1 hope you will not be severe. She 
 thought she was acting in your interests. 
 However, I have promised to stand between 
 her and your wrath." 
 
 " You take a great deal upon yourself." 
 
 " One must in these days if one wants to 
 succeed." 
 
 " You are evidently a genius in planning. 
 If I am not too curious, perhaps you will tell 
 me what you were planning just now when I 
 entered."
 
 The Japanese Dagger 69 
 
 " The emancipation of the race." 
 " A mighty project truly. Perhaps if I 
 may be allowed to suggest it would be more 
 to the purpose if you directed a portion of 
 your thought towards the emancipation of 
 one defenceless and unprotected woman." 
 " All in good time I assure you." 
 ' ' Mr. Craig, do you realize that it is abso- 
 lutely necessary for me to be in New York 
 by the first of next week! " 
 
 " Yes, to carry out your contract with the 
 Duke of Buckminster. " 
 " The reason concerns only myself." 
 " You are mistaken, Miss Huntington. 
 The reason concerns me, and every other 
 honest man who respects and reverences the 
 womanhood of our country. I shall deserve 
 the approbation of every true American in 
 preventing this I shall not call it interna- 
 tional alliance international disgrace would 
 be the better term; and prevent it I will, 
 regardless of the fate of my own cherished 
 desires. You have pledged yourself to a 
 notorious libertine with a reputation that 
 spreads over the length and breadth of two
 
 70 The Dominant Chord 
 
 continents, and if you do not know it you 
 ought to be told. You have sold yourself, 
 your body and your wealth, to a broken- 
 down, world-worn sprig of nobility, and for 
 what for the dearly bought right to wear 
 a coronet, the right to social precedence, the 
 right to appear in court circles, to be talked 
 of as one of the first ladies of a degenerate 
 society. In what are you better than the 
 women of the street who sell themselves for 
 money, for the clothes to cover their naked- 
 ness, for a night's shelter? In what, I ask 
 you, are you better than they? " 
 
 Alice was struck dumb by this outburst. 
 Never in all her life had anyone dared to 
 address such words to her before. A tense 
 and terrible anger, a wild, consuming rage 
 seemed to mount within her as she listened. 
 A white hot iron seemed to be searing her 
 brain back of her eyeballs. It was as if the 
 lash of his words were being laid upon her 
 naked, quivering soul. As she grasped at 
 the table for support, her hand touched the 
 hilt of the Japanese knife. Instinctively her 
 fingers closed around it. Her vision became
 
 The Japanese Dagger 71 
 
 restricted, her surroundings were blotted out 
 by a black, impenetrable mist, save only a 
 luminous circle in the centre through which 
 she saw Craig's earnest face and glowing 
 eyes looking up at her from a great distance 
 as through a tunnel. The loose collar of his 
 flannel shirt was rolled away from his throat, 
 and the vital current could be seen pulsating 
 beneath the smooth bronzed skin. The pupils 
 of Alice's eyes contracted to glowing points. 
 Her breath came in laboured gasps. With a 
 low, inarticulate cry she grasped the knife, 
 leaned forward and struck struck full 
 where the round, smooth column of the neck 
 merged into the thorax. Then her vision 
 cleared suddenly. She saw the startled look 
 leap into Craig 's eyes as he leaned quickly 
 forward to intercept her. She saw the point 
 of the knife enter the firm, bronzed flesh; 
 saw the jet of crimson which leaped forth at 
 the touch of the steel : then her senses reeled. 
 Staggering like one mortally stricken she 
 gained the library, dragged to the door and 
 fell in a senseless heap upon the hearth rug.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A NIGHT OF HORROR 
 
 WHEN Alice recovered consciousness she 
 lay for some time in a dazed stupor. The 
 library was flooded with a soft light from 
 the luminous panels in the ceiling. Not a 
 sound broke the stillness. Not a footfall 
 resounded on the deck above. Slowly the 
 incidents of the terrible episode in the after 
 saloon came back to her. With a shudder she 
 dragged herself to her feet. A tiny spot of 
 blood showed on the round, white flesh of 
 her forearm. Mechanically she moistened 
 her handkerchief with her lips and rubbed it 
 off, and then with a sudden start dropped 
 the filmy square of lace to the floor. 
 
 The triple dial of the clock over the fire- 
 place indicated ten-thirty, and as she looked, 
 the chimes slowly and solemnly struck the 
 half hour. With a shudder she looked toward 
 the library door and saw that the heavy bolt 
 
 72
 
 A Night of Horror 73 
 
 was in place; then, with a sudden accession 
 of fear, she fled through the apartments, lock- 
 ing every door behind her until she crouched, 
 a trembling, terror-stricken thing, in the far- 
 thest corner of the lavatory. 
 
 The memory of that night of slowly dis- 
 tilled horror is one which Alice will never 
 forget. Her mind and body seemed to be 
 working independently, each regarding the 
 other as some strange phenomenon it had 
 never encountered before. Violent fits of 
 trembling would be followed by long periods 
 when she would sink into a semi-conscious 
 condition, almost approaching a swoon. A 
 dull pain seemed to be gnawing at the base 
 of her brain. 
 
 The resplendent goldfish darting about in 
 the placid pool beneath her flashed before 
 unseeing eyes. The soft sheen of mother- 
 of-pearl glowed before unheeding senses. 
 The face given back to her from the long 
 mirrors was one she did not know: hollow, 
 drawn, and ashen, with heavy black circles 
 underneath the eyes. She turned her head 
 away from it with a shiver. Her right hand
 
 74 The Dominant Chord 
 
 was stretched from her as if to remove the 
 rest of her body as far as possible from its 
 contaminating touch. At intervals she would 
 seize a towel and scrub it feverishly, as if 
 to remove an invisible stain. Like a hunted 
 animal her eyes wandered continually to the 
 door as though she expected to see a shape, 
 impalpable and grisly, materialize through 
 the solid panel. 
 
 She felt that she was going mad. As the 
 long hours dragged away, however, her mind 
 gradually became calmer, through sheer ina- 
 bility of the senses to sustain the tension. 
 To her strong young brain the power of self- 
 command, the power to think connectedly 
 gradually returned. Yet this did not lessen 
 the horror of the situation. She was trapped 
 in her rooms by that terrible, ghastly thing 
 in the after cabin. She was alone in mid- 
 ocean, on a craft of whose method of control 
 she knew nothing. She tried to tell herself 
 that she had acted in self-defence, that she 
 was justified in using any weapon at her 
 command, but she knew it was not so. She 
 had acted in the blind fury his scathing ar-
 
 A Night of Horror 75 
 
 raignment had engendered. She had struck 
 in the fierce tempest of passion his words had 
 lashed into being. It was murder nothing 
 less than murder. She shuddered violently 
 as her thoughts framed the word. 
 
 Slowly the soft gray of the dawn filtering 
 through the skylight above drove her into 
 action. It was impossible to stay where she 
 was, she must gain the deck at all costs, 
 though the thought of passing through the 
 cabin gave her a trembling fit that lasted for 
 half an hour. It was an hour before she 
 could bring herself to unfasten the bath room 
 door and several before she could force her- 
 self to the door of the saloon. At last, sum- 
 moning all her courage, she opened it and 
 looked into the cabin. It was empty. As she 
 gazed into the apartment with dilated, un- 
 comprehending eyes, a faint, sweet thread of 
 melody reached her ears. It was the distant 
 sound of a violin playing the " Melody in 
 F." Awe-stricken and with shaking knees 
 she followed the sound. It seemed to come 
 from the innermost recesses of a suite of 
 rooms on the opposite side of the ship from
 
 76 The Dominant Chord 
 
 her own. As her trembling, outstretched 
 hand touched the knob of the door the per- 
 former paused a moment and then launched 
 into a brilliant burst of pyrotechnics from 
 Paganini's " Concerto for the G string." 
 Alice pushed open the door. Craig, who was 
 at the further end of the room, turned and 
 saw her white face framed in the doorway. 
 Laying down the violin he hastened toward 
 her. Alice regarded him with incredulous, 
 unbelieving eyes. 
 
 " I thought I had killed you! " she whis- 
 pered in a hushed, awe-stricken voice, " I 
 thought I had killed you! " 
 
 " Oh, no, not as bad as that," laughed 
 Craig. 
 
 " I thought I had killed you! " she re- 
 peated. 
 
 Craig saw that she was completely un- 
 strung. 
 
 " You must sit down and I will get 
 you something," he commanded. Placing a 
 hand on her shoulder he drew her into the 
 room. 
 
 Alice yielded to him weakly like a child.
 
 A Night of Horror 77 
 
 Her limbs were shaking so that she could 
 hardly support herself. 
 
 Craig placed her in the depths of a huge 
 armchair, and going to the cupboard returned 
 with a glass of port wine and a plate of 
 crackers. 
 
 " Here, this will make you feel better." 
 
 " Are you sure you are not dead! " Alice 
 pleaded, looking up at him wistfully. 
 
 " Dead! Of course not," laughed Craig. 
 " It was touch and go, though. You missed 
 the carotid artery by less than an inch. As 
 it was, you struck over, and the only harm 
 done was a slash across the shoulderblade. 
 A little collodion and absorbent cotton fixed 
 it up in short order." 
 
 * ' How thankful ! How thankful I am I " 
 
 " I thought you knew," he said contritely. 
 " Not for the world would I have let you 
 pass through the night under such an impres- 
 sion." 
 
 " OH, it was horrible! horrible! " Alice 
 leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. 
 
 Craig watched her with a glance in which 
 sympathy was not unmixed with satisfaction.
 
 78 The Dominant Chord 
 
 To remould a nature it is often necessary 
 first to break it. 
 
 After a time, under the stimulus of the 
 wine, Alice's nerves began to recover their 
 tone sufficiently to enable her to look about. 
 
 Craig's apartments were decidedly differ- 
 ent from her own. The place occupied by her 
 library and boudoir was thrown into one long 
 room. Through a door at the further end 
 she could look into the bedroom and bath, all 
 plain and severely simple. The fittings were 
 of white enamel. There was nothing that 
 suggested a den. The bed, a narrow white 
 iron affair, proclaimed the anchorite rather 
 than the voluptuary. A long drawing table 
 occupied one end of the largest room. A few 
 pieces of gymnastic apparatus were fastened 
 to the wall, while the book shelves, which oc- 
 cupied the recesses in the partition, were 
 filled with technical works, among which, 
 books on hydraulic and electrical engineer- 
 ing seemed to predominate. The ornate 
 magnificence of decoration which obtained in 
 the suite she was occupying was conspicu- 
 ously absent.
 
 A Night of Horror 79 
 
 As Alice's glance travelled over the simple 
 furnishings of the rooms it rested on the 
 violin. 
 
 " I wish you would play for me," she said 
 simply. " I think it would make me feel 
 better." 
 
 " I would gladly but I am such a wretched 
 amateur. If you feel able to come into the 
 saloon I will let you listen to some real 
 music." 
 
 Alice acquiesced, and as soon as she was 
 comfortably ensconced in an easy chair, 
 Craig opened a cabinet in the wall which 
 seemed to be filled with rolls of perforated 
 music. 
 
 " What would you like? " he asked, * The 
 Tannhauser Overture,' or * A Hot Time in 
 the Old Town To-night? ' " 
 
 " Please make the selection yourself." 
 
 Craig studied the labels for a moment, and 
 then selected a roll from the collection and 
 slipped it into a panel in the wall. In a 
 moment the saloon was flooded with the mel- 
 low, golden tones of the opening movement 
 of the Pastoral Symphony. The whole place
 
 80 The Dominant Chord 
 
 seemed to be bathed in a shower of harmony ; 
 of horns and strings and wood wind, and of 
 many instruments that Alice had never heard 
 before and whose character she could not 
 determine. The volume of sound rose and 
 fell, crescendoed and fell again, overflowing 
 and filling every nook and corner, yet never 
 exceeding the acoustic capacity of the room. 
 It seemed as if the Symphony were being 
 performed by an orchestra of seraphims just 
 beyond the ceiling. 
 
 " What is it? " Alice whispered. 
 
 " "Why, Beethoven's ' Sixth Symphony/ " 
 responded Craig. 
 
 " Yes, of course," impatiently, " but what 
 is the instrument? " 
 
 " Why, that is the Tel-orchestrion," re- 
 plied Craig, as the music ceased. * l It might 
 well be called the divine harmony, the music 
 of the spheres. Have you never heard of 
 it?" 
 
 * ' Never. It is certainly wonderful. Please 
 tell me about it." 
 
 " The music you have heard is produced 
 entirely by electricity. Each fundamental
 
 A Night of Horror 81 
 
 tone is formed by the distinctive hum of an 
 alternating dynamo. By combining, building 
 up and superimposing the tones of several 
 machines one upon the other, a musical note 
 is produced, and by varying the selection of 
 the over tones the distinctive timbre of any 
 musical instrument can be reproduced, and, 
 in fact, the tones of instruments that never 
 have and never will exist. The enormous 
 first cost of the plant and the complicated 
 problem of transmission have prevented the 
 commercial development of the idea until 
 wireless transmission of power came along 
 to release this supreme harmony from bond- 
 age. I expect within a short time to see the 
 Tel-orchestrion displace every other form of 
 music. Human fingers can never hope to 
 acquire the power and flexibility of the elec- 
 tric current." 
 
 " But there is a pleasure in producing 
 music quite apart from the pleasure of hear- 
 ing it, don't you think so? If not, why do 
 you devote time to the study of the violin? ' 
 
 " What you say is true, Miss Huntington. 
 There is a pleasure in producing good music,
 
 82 The Dominant Chord 
 
 and there will always be musicians who will 
 study our known instruments for the pleas- 
 ure their own performances give them, but I 
 believe that the professional concert will soon 
 be a thing of the past. We will all be ama- 
 teurs, that is, those of us who are not dis- 
 couraged by having the acme of perfection 
 constantly before us." 
 
 "It is wonderful ! certainly wonderful ! 
 But how can you install such a battery of 
 machines on a ship like this? ' 
 
 ' ' The dynamos that generate these sounds, 
 Miss Huntington, are hundreds of miles from 
 here. The current is brought to the producer 
 by wireless. There is a producer in your 
 apartment. If you wish, I will show you how 
 to operate it." 
 
 " Thank you, you are very kind." 
 
 " By the way, Miss Huntington, would you 
 like to communicate with your father? It 
 occurs to me that they are probably getting 
 somewhat anxious about you at home." 
 
 Craig's remark suddenly recalled to Alice 
 a fact which she had temporarily lost sight 
 of, she was a prisoner here. She had been
 
 A Night of Horror 83 
 
 holding an intimate and friendly conversa- 
 tion with her jailer. Her anger rose swiftly 
 at the thought, but diplomacy constrained her 
 to control it. She replied simply : 
 
 1 ' Is it possible ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Certainly. If the tones of a violin or an 
 oboe can be transmitted for hundreds of 
 miles, the tones of the human voice can be 
 transmitted with equal facility. If you will 
 go into your library I will give you the con- 
 nection." 
 
 Alice retired to the library. Hardly had 
 she closed the intervening door when she 
 heard a harsh, familiar grinding sound ; then 
 a strident voice, which seemed to come from 
 the ceiling, inquired: 
 
 " What number, Courtland? " 
 
 She was so startled that the question had 
 to be repeated before she recovered her wits. 
 
 " What number, Courtland? Anything the 
 matter with this line f ' ' 
 
 " Oh, yes. No, I mean. Give me Broad 
 9763." 
 
 "Hello, Broad! Give me 9763. What? 
 All right."
 
 84 The Dominant Chord 
 
 There was a pause for a moment, and then 
 Alice heard a deep masculine voice which 
 she immediately recognized as that of her 
 father. 
 
 "Hello!" 
 
 " Oh, father! father, dear! It is I, 
 Alice. Listen to me." 
 
 " Alice, what the d 1! What does this 
 meant Where are you? Don't you know 
 that you have had us about distracted for 
 the last two days? George has been sending 
 a dozen times a day to learn if we have heard 
 anything. The poor fellow is all broken up 
 with" 
 
 " Father, dear! Listen. I am a prisoner. 
 I was chloroformed on the way home from 
 the opera and carried on board a ship. ' ' 
 
 " The infernal scoundrels! How did you 
 get away? Where are you now? ' 
 
 " I didn't get away. We are at sea. 
 Where, I do not know, except that we are 
 apparently steering south. I am talking to 
 you by wireless." 
 
 " Wireless! Are you sure? ' 
 
 " Positively. Listen, father. You must
 
 A Night of Horror 85 
 
 send a warship after us. Send a fast one; 
 the fastest there is. Yesterday we were 
 chased by a liner, the Prince Karl, and we 
 beat her to a froth. ' ' 
 
 " To a what? " 
 
 " I mean we distanced her completely. I 
 signalled to her as she was passing." 
 
 11 But what does it all mean? Who are the 
 parties responsible for this? " 
 
 11 There is only one man in it, his name is 
 Craig." 
 
 " But what is his object? What does he 
 want? Is he holding you for ransom? Find 
 out his price. We must have you back at any 
 cost." 
 
 ' ' He is not after money. He he says he 
 loves me." 
 
 " Loves you ! damn him ! If I ever get my 
 hands on him ! ' ' 
 
 " Father, you must not talk so. He is 
 really rather remarkable; not at all the sort 
 of person you would expect. If it was not for 
 this wretched affair, and the fact that he an- 
 gers me so, I think I might have liked him. 
 He infuriated me so last night that I almost
 
 86 The Dominant Chord 
 
 killed him. I stabbed at him with a paper- 
 cutter." 
 
 ' ' Good ! I wish you had. ' ' 
 
 " I am glad I didn't. It was horrible, and 
 afterwards " 
 
 " Well, enough of that; it will show him 
 what stuff the Huntingtons are made of any- 
 way. ' ' 
 
 " Father, you must use your influence to 
 get a warship started after us at once. The 
 boat is named the Sdbine. She is a ' ' 
 
 " Finished? " 
 
 " Get off the line, Central, will you? I am 
 talking. ' ' 
 
 " Well, your party has gone. What num- 
 ber were you talking with ? ' 
 
 "Broad 9763." 
 
 " Well, I will call you if I can get 
 them." 
 
 Alice waited, but there was no further re- 
 sponse. She stamped her foot in impotent 
 rage. There was no bell to ring. Not even 
 a hook to rattle. Evidently Craig had de- 
 cided that she had communicated quite 
 enough information and had broken the con-
 
 A Night of Horror 87 
 
 nection. To control her indignation she 
 selected a volume of Scott's from the book- 
 shelves and tried to lose herself in the trials 
 and tribulations of the fair Rebecca.
 
 CHAPTER VH 
 
 A FLAG OF TRUCE 
 
 WHEN Alice appeared on deck the next 
 morning it was long after sunrise. On her 
 breakfast table she had found a great bunch 
 of fresh violets and the New York papers of 
 the day before. The Sdbine had evidently 
 slipped into some port under cover of the 
 night. The papers were principally devoted 
 to sensational accounts of her disappearance 
 and the remarkable despatch which had come 
 by wireless of the exciting but unsuccessful 
 chase of a mysterious motor boat by the liner 
 Prince Karl. 
 
 On rising Alice had unconsciously thrust 
 the violets into her corsage, but their odour, 
 recalling the big mass of flowers she was 
 accustomed to receive daily from the Duke, 
 made her aware of her action, and she re- 
 moved them and placed them back on the 
 table. And this man loved her, too. Well, 
 
 88
 
 A Flag of Truce 89 
 
 there was nothing unusual in that. She won- 
 dered at the thought occurring to her. So 
 the Duke was inquiring a dozen times a day 
 to see if anything had been learned regard- 
 ing her whereabouts. She wondered idly if 
 Craig, under similar conditions, would have 
 confined himself to inquiries. But then Craig 
 was an entirely different sort of person, she 
 told herself. Suddenly she realized that she 
 had been instituting comparisons. She 
 flushed angrily and put on her jacket pre- 
 paratory to going on deck. Why should Mr. 
 Craig's actions under any circumstances have 
 any possible interest for her? Why, indeed? 
 
 She reached the chart house just as the 
 subject of these cogitations was finishing the 
 task of taking the morning observation. 
 
 " We are in latitude 47 50' north; longi- 
 tude 76 20' west," he announced casually as 
 he stepped in from the deck. " I hope you 
 rested well last night, Miss Huntington. Let 
 us see how we are on the comparison." He 
 stepped to the table as he spoke and turned 
 a switch. 
 
 Alice instantly saw that the table top,
 
 90 The Dominant Chord 
 
 which she had supposed to be of oak, was, 
 in reality, a heavy sheet of plate glass. 
 Under it, and illuminated from beneath, was 
 a large chart of the North Atlantic on the 
 Mercator projection. The ocean was shown 
 in deep blue, while the coast lines, parallels 
 and meridians appeared as of white enamel. 
 A zigzag white line with small white dots at 
 intervals, which started from New York and 
 ran in a general southerly direction to a 
 point off Cape Hatteras, was terminated by 
 a tiny luminous point. Craig consulted the 
 chart attentively. 
 
 " Very good," he announced, " only six 
 seconds out of the way. Are you interested 
 in nautical devices, Miss Huntington? This 
 is the telautographic chart. The tablet on 
 which the Sabine automatically records her 
 wanderings." 
 
 " It looks quite interesting," remarked 
 Alice, " how is it operated? " 
 
 Craig made an adjustment to bring the 
 pointer into coincidence with his observation 
 and then replied: 
 
 ' ' There is nothing particularly intricate in
 
 A Flag of Truce 91 
 
 the idea. It is merely the adaption of the 
 telautograph to the wireless transmission of 
 power. We have established two experi- 
 mental stations to test its capabilities in the 
 North Atlantic, one near Cape Henry and 
 one on the coast of Spain. The current which 
 we receive from each varies directly with the 
 distance and acts on the solenoids which con- 
 trol the arms of the telautograph, causing the 
 pointer to travel over the chart in precisely 
 the same path that the Sdbine travels over 
 the ocean." 
 
 " How interesting. I should think that 
 such a device perfected would put the pro- 
 fessional navigator out of business." 
 
 " Not entirely. The cautious and careful 
 commander would always want to check his 
 telautographic position with an observation 
 whenever possible, and, besides, even with a 
 perfected device there would always be the 
 error incident to the representation of the 
 curved surface of the earth on a plane to be 
 compensated for. However, it is a long way 
 ahead of dead reckoning." 
 
 ' ' I should think it would be. But if I am
 
 92 The Dominant Chord 
 
 not too curious I should like to know how you 
 steer and control the craft. I can see no 
 wheel or anything. I confess I am mysti- 
 fied." 
 
 " It is all very simple. You see our bin- 
 nacle here? This pointer attached to the 
 compass card and swinging with it acts 
 through relays on the electrical steering 
 apparatus. Whenever the pointer swings to 
 one side or" the other of the l lubber's point,' 
 it produces a corresponding correcting angle 
 of the helm which brings the ship back on 
 her course again. If you wanted to steer a 
 course due south, as we are now, it is merely 
 necessary to turn the pointer to the south 
 point on the compass card, and the compass 
 does the rest. The outer circumference is, as 
 you see, adjusted to allow correction for the 
 magnetic variation so that you can always 
 steer a true course." 
 
 " But I always supposed that electric cur- 
 rents around a compass affected the needle. ' ' 
 
 " So they do; but the material of which 
 this is made is a new discovery and under 
 certain conditions is an absolute insulator to
 
 A Flag of Truce 93 
 
 electric fields, so that the compass needle is 
 not affected." 
 
 " But you certainly would not trust the 
 entire control of a ship to a device like 
 that? " 
 
 " Why not? Of course in restricted waters 
 steering would have to be done by hand, that 
 is why the knob is provided on the after end 
 of the pointer. In such case you would sim- 
 ply use the pointer as a wheel or any other 
 steering device is used, but in the open ocean 
 it is quite competent to take care of itself." 
 
 " But what would happen if you met an- 
 other ship? You cannot expect everyone to 
 get out of your way. There are rules of the 
 road to be respected." 
 
 " We met a steamer yesterday. We were 
 directly in her course, but there was no col- 
 lision." 
 
 " That was luck and you were on deck to 
 look out for it. ' ' 
 
 1 ' No, Miss Huntington, it was not luck and 
 I did not interfere. The emergency which 
 you suggest is provided for, but I shall have 
 to leave the explanation of it for another
 
 94 The Dominant Chord 
 
 time. From the looks of the barometer I 
 should say that we are in for a storm." 
 
 As Alice looked through the windows of 
 the pilot house she saw that the indications 
 looked portentous. The few wisps of light, 
 diaphanous, cirrus clouds of the preceding 
 morning had concentrated in the south until 
 a heavy, murky veil was formed which was 
 rapidly mounting upward and obscuring the 
 zenith. The wind was taking on force and 
 weight with every puff, and the ocean was 
 stirring with that restless, uneasy heave 
 which indicates a distant commotion on its 
 waters. 
 
 Craig had mounted to the forecastle deck 
 to study the signs of the weather, and as 
 Alice watched him she could not but observe 
 his alert, erect carriage, and the easy grace 
 of his movements. Towering over six feet, 
 his well proportioned, muscular figure did 
 not give the impression of great size until 
 one stood beside him. Physically, Alice was 
 forced to admit, the Duke showed rather 
 poorly in comparison. She caught herself 
 up as she found her brain again drawing
 
 A Flag of Truce 95 
 
 parallels. There was a dominant personality 
 about the man that compelled her attention in 
 spite of herself. To escape from her reflec- 
 tions she stepped out on to the deck and 
 joined him. The Sabine was driving through 
 the swell with the. smooth, gliding motion 
 peculiar to the craft, throwing the water 
 from either bow in great sheets of spray. 
 
 1 ' This is a most remarkable craft of yours, 
 Mr. Craig; there is absolutely no motion to 
 her. It is almost like riding on rails." 
 
 Craig laughed. ' ' That is due to the steady- 
 ing power of the gyrostats. In conducting 
 laboratory experiments it is sometimes neces- 
 sary to have a steady floor to work on. I 
 had them installed to give her the necessary 
 stability. The sea is rising fast, however. 
 I am afraid that we shall not be able to keep 
 them running much longer." 
 
 As Craig spoke, the Sabine drove her nose 
 into the side of a great green wall of water, 
 which poured over the turtle-back deck and 
 struck the breakwater in a solid mass of 
 foam. The little craft shivered in all her 
 parts. Craig hastily drew Alice within the
 
 96 The Dominant Chord 
 
 shelter of the chart house as the next green 
 mountain came tumbing aft over the decks. 
 
 " That is what they would call down on 
 Cape Cod ' a Nantucket sleigh ride ; ' they 
 usually come in threes. I guess we shall have 
 to ease her." 
 
 Craig opened a cabinet and pulled several 
 switches, and soon the Sdbine was rising 
 easily to the seas, riding them duck fashion 
 instead of burying her nose in the side of 
 each oncoming comber. When Craig went 
 below to prepare dinner the motion had be- 
 come so violent that Alice, good sailor though 
 she was, was beginning to show the effects 
 of it. She felt herself growing pale, and the 
 awful sinking of her stomach warned her of 
 what was coming. In an effort to stave off: 
 the inevitable she dragged herself to the 
 after door of the chart house in the hope 
 that the air would revive her. 
 
 Craig, returning, saw at a glance the situ- 
 ation. " I have to report that luncheon is 
 served," he announced formally. 
 
 " Luncheon! Oh, don't mention it." 
 
 " Are you not going to partake? The lob-
 
 A Flag of Truce 97 
 
 ster salad is fine, if I did make it myself, and 
 the fried oysters are delectable. ' ' 
 
 " You are perfectly beastly. Please go 
 away and let me alone. ' ' 
 
 11 I don't suppose there is any illness that 
 commands less sympathy than mal de mer," 
 he laughed, " but I haven't any desire to 
 torture you unnecessarily. I guess we will 
 have to submerge." 
 
 " To what? " 
 
 " Submerge. Go below. Explore, if you 
 will, the recesses of * Davie Jones ' Locker. ' 
 
 Craig closed a switch as he spoke, and 
 instantly the three doors of the chart house 
 slid into place. The springing of the panels 
 showed that they were being forced into their 
 sockets by an enormous pressure. 
 
 Alice, looking forward, saw the bows of the 
 Sabine settle heavily into the crest of a wave. 
 The next one drove over her and struck the 
 chart house windows, a solid mass of water. 
 The next enveloped them in a gloom from 
 which they did not emerge. 
 
 Alice sprang to her feet in alarm. 
 
 " Do not be disturbed," said Craig, as he
 
 98 The Dominant Chord 
 
 switched on the light in the luminous ceiling, 
 " there is no danger." 
 
 * ' But the windows ! The glass will 
 break! " 
 
 The panes were indeed buckling in, their 
 rounded surfaces showing the extent of the 
 pressure outside. 
 
 11 That is not glass," replied Craig reas- 
 suringly. " Those windows have many times 
 the strength of steel and the elasticity of 
 pure India rubber. They would stretch until 
 they filled this entire room before they would 
 crack. We are only down about forty feet 
 anyway," he continued, consulting the pres- 
 sure gauge glass. " I will send her down 
 about twenty feet more to be sure nothing 
 hits us, and then we will have luncheon. 
 Do you think you could eat something 
 now? " 
 
 With submergence the disquieting motion 
 of the Sabine entirely ceased. The wave dis- 
 turbances of the most violent storm would 
 never reach to the depth they had attained. 
 Alice felt herself rapidly recovering from 
 her indisposition.
 
 A Flag of Truce 99 
 
 " How long is it possible to stay down? ' 
 she inquired. 
 
 * * Oh, we could remain submerged for from 
 twelve to twenty hours without resorting to 
 the air flasks. By having recourse to our 
 reserve supply it would be possible to remain 
 submerged for several days, if necessary." 
 
 Alice was reflecting on the possibility of 
 being rescued from a craft that could dis- 
 tance a liner with ease and could sink to the 
 unexplored depths of the ocean at will. She 
 had to admit that the prospect did not appear 
 rosy. Evidently it was to be a duel to the 
 death between them, and the stronger spirit 
 would win. 
 
 " Would you like an opportunity to study 
 the submarine world? " Craig continued. 
 
 Alice expressed her assent and Craig shut 
 off the light from the ceiling. For a moment 
 they were shrouded in a black, impenetrable 
 gloom, and then a long gleam of radiance, 
 a dazzling beam or pencil of light shot out 
 from the roof of the pilot house. 
 
 Standing beside Craig in the semi-gloom 
 of the chart house, Alice looked down this
 
 100 The Dominant Chord 
 
 brilliant lane of light, and observed the move- 
 ments of the curious denizens of the deep 
 which were attracted by its glare. A school 
 of frightened, flying fish, like a shower of 
 silver spangles, came tumbling down the 
 golden pathway, beating their frail bodies 
 against the panes of the windows in a vain 
 effort to escape their pursuing foes. Dog 
 fish and many-hued dolphins shot swiftly by 
 in pursuit. The great shadow of a huge 
 hammerhead shark loafed casually across 
 their path, nosing the railing of the pilot 
 house with an inquisitive insouciance. A 
 magnificent tarpon sheathed in his armour 
 of silver plates flashed by them in a wanton 
 burst of speed as if vaingloriously to show 
 that in this element he alone was king. 
 
 Alice, absorbed in the contemplation of 
 these wonders, suddenly felt something im- 
 pending; the atmosphere seemed to have 
 become tense and highly charged; her wom- 
 an 's intuition, that strange sixth sense of the 
 feminine, had unaccountably taken alarm. 
 Stepping quickly back she spoke in a sharp, 
 staccato voice :
 
 A Flag of Truce 101 
 
 * ' Please, Mr. Craig, turn up the light, 
 I have seen enough. ' ' 
 
 Craig complied immediately. He was un- 
 accountably pale, and the hand which 
 dropped from the switch trembled percep- 
 tibly. 
 
 As Alice retired to her apartment her 
 heart was beating rapidly, and her smooth, 
 white forehead was wrinkled in a thoughtful 
 frown.
 
 CHAPTER VIH 
 
 A PASSAGE AT ABMS 
 
 WHEN Craig entered the saloon that eve- 
 ning Alice was seated at the piano running 
 desultorily through Raff's beautiful bit of 
 tone- weaving, " The Spinning Song." She 
 looked up as he entered. 
 
 " "When are you going to take me back to 
 New York? " she asked. 
 
 11 When you decide to become Mrs. Gordon 
 Craig instead of the Duchess of Buckmin- 
 ster." 
 
 Alice's lips tightened. 
 
 " I was beginning to hope that you were 
 a gentleman in spite of the lawless nature 
 of your occupation. I see you are not. ' ' 
 
 " Gentleman is a much abused term now- 
 adays, Miss Huntington. I remember read- 
 ing once that a gentleman was easily dis- 
 tinguished by the fact that he always and 
 
 invariably wore kid gloves. If that were 
 
 102
 
 A Passage at Arms 103 
 
 true I certainly should merit your stric- 
 tures." 
 
 " It pleases you to be facetious." 
 
 " At all events, Miss Alice, if I am not a 
 gentleman I am at least a man and not a 
 tailor's model." 
 
 " Neither is the Duke of Buckminster," 
 replied Alice hotly. 
 
 " I did not suggest the Duke," smiled 
 Craig, " but I see you have followed out the 
 inference to its logical conclusion." 
 
 Fire smouldered in Alice's eyes. 
 
 " I had thought I was merely indifferent 
 to you. I perceive that I am going to hate 
 you, ' ' she replied slowly, and with conviction. 
 
 "It is quite possible that you may hate 
 me. I think, however, that ultimately you 
 will love me. ' ' 
 
 "Never! " 
 
 " You certainly will not remain indiffer- 
 ent." 
 
 " I shall never love you. Never! Never!' 
 
 " I see you appreciate the value of repeti- 
 tion in impressing a thought upon the sub- 
 conscious mind. Would it be presuming in
 
 104 The Dominant Chord 
 
 me to inquire if your resolution requires such 
 fortifying at this early stage of the proceed- 
 ings? " 
 
 " You would be exasperating if you were 
 not so trivial. Seriously, Mr. Craig, do you 
 for a moment suppose that any woman would 
 consider the proposals of a man of whom she 
 knew absolutely nothing; to whom she had 
 not even been introduced? ' 
 
 " I introduced myself." 
 
 11 And you introduced a number of other 
 objectionable features into my life at the 
 same time." 
 
 11 Among which are? ' 
 
 " Constraint, confinement, and not the 
 least, the affliction of having to listen to your 
 sentimentalities. ' ' 
 
 " I am glad you did not include the loss 
 of the society of his Grace of Buckminster in 
 your list." 
 
 " I have told you that that is a subject in 
 which you can have no possible concern." 
 
 1 1 Not now. I dismissed his Lordship from 
 my scheme of things the moment we struck 
 blue water. In less than a month you will
 
 A Passage at Arms 105 
 
 find that you have done the same. Indeed, 
 I will wager that you have not thought of 
 him to-day. ' ' 
 
 Alice's eyes blazed in suppressed fury. It 
 was indeed true. In the crowding events of 
 the last forty-eight hours the Duke had been 
 almost obliterated from her thoughts. 
 
 " I see by the papers," went on Craig 
 easily, " that the strain is proving too much 
 for his Grace. His physicians have ordered 
 him to Florida on a shooting trip to escape 
 the worry and the reporters. Looks rather 
 like retreating under fire, but I suppose the 
 delicate sensibilities of the scion of nobility 
 must be protected at all costs. ' ' 
 
 Alice bit her lip, but remained silent. 
 
 " To return to the subject of introduc- 
 tions," Craig continued, " if that is the only 
 thing which stands in the way of a better 
 understanding, I will relieve your mind by 
 informing you that I was formally presented 
 to you at the Embassy Ball in Washington 
 three years ago, when you were having your 
 first introduction into society. I recall that 
 on that momentous occasion you regarded me
 
 106 The Dominant Chord 
 
 with the same personal and vivid interest 
 that you extended to the figures on the tapes- 
 try hangings." 
 
 " You apparently received all the consid- 
 eration you deserved," replied Alice icily. 
 
 " All that you thought I deserved, at any 
 rate. My name was not emblazoned in the 
 bright lexicon of society in those days." 
 
 " Nor is now, nor ever shall be." 
 
 " Probably not. I support the affliction 
 with commendable equanimity, however. At 
 any rate, it was on that occasion I deter- 
 mined that you should be my wife. ' ' 
 
 " Apparently you have lost nothing in 
 presumption in the interval. You will have 
 ample time in the future to reconsider your 
 determination. ' ' 
 
 " I shall not reconsider it. On the con- 
 trary, I reiterate it with emphasis and con- 
 viction. You shall be my wife. ' ' 
 
 " I beg to assure you that you are quite 
 mistaken," replied Alice coldly. " I shall 
 never be your wife. You seem to think, Mr. 
 Craig, that all you have to do is to strike the 
 dominant chord and I will fill in the harmony
 
 A Passage at Arms 107 
 
 to any theme you may choose to elabo- 
 rate." 
 
 " Harmony," rejoined Craig, with lifted 
 eyebrows, " I fear your present conception 
 of harmony is rather "VVagnerian. Your sug- 
 gestion of the power of the dominant chord 
 is a good one, however. I hope the time will 
 soon come when the dominant chord in your 
 life, the one that draws you the strongest, 
 will be the one which draws you to me." 
 
 " Really, Mr. Craig, for a pirate, a bold 
 buccaneer, a lawless sailor of the seas, a cap- 
 tor of weak and defenceless women, you are 
 growing tiresome, positively tiresome. With 
 your permission I will retire. I wish to see 
 if your library contains anything that is 
 really thrilling. ' ' 
 
 Craig watched her go with eyes that openly 
 proclaimed their admiration. Then he se- 
 lected a cigar from the casket on the table 
 and bending over his drafting board was soon 
 absorbed in the profound study of the draw- 
 ing which was growing under his hand.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A DISCOVEEY AND AN ADVENTURE 
 
 IT was at an unusually early hour that 
 Alice appeared on deck the following morn- 
 ing. The sun had hardly risen from his 
 ocean bed, and the last black shadows had 
 not wholly disappeared below the western 
 horizon, when she appeared in the observa- 
 tion house. She had hoped to forestall Craig 
 and have an hour or two to rummage among 
 the mysteries of this most mysterious chart 
 room, but on looking out on to the deck she 
 saw that he had already preceded her. He 
 was standing at the rail looking idly astern, 
 as though he were waiting for something. 
 Alice noticed that a short boat-boom with a 
 bronze ball on the end had been rigged out 
 from the starboard gangway. A boat-crane 
 was also in place at the rail, ready for use. 
 Alice's curiosity was at once aroused. 
 
 Craig was apparently expecting someone, 
 
 108
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 109 
 
 but whom? Not a vessel was in sight. Not 
 even the shadow of the land loomed on the 
 horizon. As she stood within the shelter of 
 the chart house watching, the deep tones of 
 the cathedral chimes came faintly to her ears. 
 Craig evidently heard them too, for he began 
 to overhaul the tackle of the boat-crane. The 
 sound of the bells was repeated at intervals, 
 each time louder and louder. It seemed as 
 if they must be steering straight for some 
 invisible campanile. 
 
 Alice involuntarily glanced over her shoul- 
 der towards the bows, as if she half -expected 
 to see the spires and pinnacles of some Gothic 
 cathedral rising up out of the deep. As she 
 followed Craig's glance astern she suddenly 
 saw a dark green object break through a 
 wave on the starboard quarter, its rounded 
 sides glistening like a porpoise in the level 
 rays of the sun. In a moment, in spite of the 
 speed at which the Sabine was travelling, it 
 was alongside, gliding quietly under the end 
 of the boat-boom as if it were attached to 
 the bronze knob on its extremity by a strong, 
 but invisible thread. Alice could now see that
 
 110 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the object was a large cigar-shaped cylinder 
 like a torpedo. 
 
 Craig swung out the boat-crane, and the 
 powerful electro-magnet, at the end of the 
 fall, soon clapped on to a plate on the back 
 of the torpedo and it was quickly swung in 
 board and lowered through a sliding hatch- 
 way in the deck. 
 
 Having made everything secure, Craig 
 turned to enter the chart house. He gave 
 a start of surprise as he saw Alice standing 
 there. Then he laughed good-humouredly. 
 " You are an early riser this morning, Miss 
 Huntington, but you see, as usual, the earlier 
 bird has gathered the worm. I see you have 
 solved for yourself the mystery of fresh flow- 
 ers and the morning papers." 
 
 " I seem to have solved something, but I 
 don't know exactly what that something is." 
 
 ' ' That was our supply train which you saw 
 coming on board, the elusive and invisible 
 line of communication which links us to civi- 
 lization." 
 
 "Is it permissible to ask how it is 
 done! "
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 111 
 
 11 Certainly. The torpedo is in reality a 
 small submersible like the Sabine, and her 
 motors are run by the same system of wire- 
 less transmission. As speed is the principal 
 consideration, the entire lower half of the 
 shell is given up to the motive power, while 
 the upper part is divided into compartments 
 for carrying supplies, an ice box, fireless 
 cooker, etc. The device is set to run about 
 fifty feet below the surface so as not to inter- 
 fere with any vessel, and the speed developed 
 is often as high as one hundred miles per 
 hour. Its position is indicated and controlled 
 at our laboratories by an adaption of the 
 principle of the wireless telautograph until 
 it comes within range of our detector, and 
 then we do the rest. My boys in New York 
 have orders to despatch one every morning, 
 so if there is any particular commission you 
 would like to have executed I can have it 
 attended to for you. ' ' 
 
 " Thank you, you are very kind, but you 
 speak of the detector; pray what may that 
 be? " 
 
 " That is the device which takes care of
 
 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the emergency you were worrying about yes- 
 terday. But if I should stop to explain it 
 to you, your breakfast would be seriously de- 
 layed, and a woman without her breakfast is 
 more dangerous than a live wire charged with 
 ten thousand volts alternating. If you will 
 excuse me I will descend to the galley and 
 start Bridget about her duties." 
 
 " Do not call it the galley, please," pro- 
 tested Alice; " if you do I shall never be 
 able to eat a thing. The word galley always 
 suggests grease and potato peelings to me. 
 I suppose I must have gathered the impres- 
 sion from W. Clark Eussell or some of those 
 writers of sea tales. I think pantry sounds 
 much better, don't you? ' 
 
 " All right, Highness, pantry it shall be, 
 now, henceforth and for ever after. I did 
 not suppose it made any difference whether 
 the panter panted in the pantry or the galley 
 slave grubbed in the galley, so long as we 
 got something to eat. Is it also your pleas- 
 ure that the scuttle-butt shall hereafter be 
 known as the aqua reservoir? ' 
 
 " It might sound more euphonious."
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 113 
 
 " And is it also your pleasure that your 
 humble servant shall be called blessed? ' 
 
 " It seems to me that you are forgetting 
 your sage and recent pronunciamento in re- 
 gard to the live wire. If you really are going 
 to get breakfast I should advise you to go and 
 get it, and not stand there all the morning 
 talking nonsense." 
 
 Craig laughed, and after casting a careful 
 glance around the horizon, descended the 
 stairway to the saloon, and Alice soon heard 
 him busily engaged with his pans and broil- 
 ers. 
 
 She was secretly elated to have him go. 
 She would now have a long half hour to delve 
 into the mysteries of this most cryptic craft 
 on which she was confined. She could hear 
 her jailer whistling away as he worked in 
 the galley beneath. Apparently he had not 
 a care in the world. 
 
 And she herself, were her feelings such as 
 would naturally be expected under the cir- 
 cumstances? She had to admit that they 
 were not. As she stood there gazing idly at 
 the swinging compass card, and pondering on
 
 114 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the strangeness of her situation, and the men- 
 tal incertitude which it seemed to have en- 
 gendered, the sound of the cathedral chimes 
 again came faintly to her ears, two sweet, 
 sonorous strokes: 
 
 On the edge of the ground glass surface of 
 the compass card under her unseeing, intro- 
 spective eye there appeared a tiny spot of 
 light. Alice watched it, fascinated, as it 
 moved slowly and diagonally across the card 
 towards the centre. It must have something 
 to do with the management of the yacht, but 
 what! As the spot of light approached the 
 southeast point on the compass card, the bells 
 which had continued to sound at intervals 
 suddenly changed their song. 
 
 m 
 
 Alice felt that she was on the verge of a 
 discovery, but what could it be? The de-^ 
 tector! The thought darted through her 
 brain like a flash. Instantly she raised her 
 eyes and looked out through the pilot house
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 115 
 
 windows. Sure enough! Broad on the port 
 bow and in a direct line with the tiny spot 
 of light on the compass card the tall white 
 sides of a steamer glistened in the sun above 
 the horizon. The ship, though distant, was 
 approaching at good speed and would evi- 
 dently pass within a mile. Alice watched her 
 with a vivid and personal interest. Could it 
 be possible that here at last was an oppor- 
 tunity to escape? She saw the detail of the 
 stranger's hull and rigging gradually grow 
 and develop under her gaze ; saw the figures 
 of men upon her bridge ; the flash of the sun 
 upon her pilot house windows, and the broad, 
 red band with its white, diamond-shaped loz- 
 enge on her yellow funnel. It was one of the 
 fast fruit steamers which ply between Boston 
 and the Jamaican ports. 
 
 Here was a possibility of rescue, faint, it 
 is true, but still a possibility. If Craig would 
 only remain below, she might perhaps get 
 close enough to signal. Suddenly she no- 
 ticed that the Sabine, in some unaccountable 
 manner, was gradually edging away from 
 the stranger. The tiny pinpoint of light
 
 116 The Dominant Chord 
 
 was no longer approaching the centre of the 
 compass card, hut seemed to be sliding off 
 toward the edge. As she noticed this phe- 
 nomenon, the chimes, which had been repeat- 
 ing their warning louder and more insistent 
 as the fruiter approached, now added another 
 measure to their admonitory peal 
 
 On the southwest edge of the compass card, 
 in a position corresponding with the first, ap- 
 peared a second spot of light. Alice turned 
 her head and scanned the ocean in the new 
 direction, but nothing was in sight. Nothing 
 but a low lying bank of fog on the starboard 
 bow about five miles distant. As she looked 
 at it she observed that the vapour was curi- 
 ously piled up in three regularly disposed 
 cones which seemed to be slowly moving 
 across the surface of the main fog bank like 
 a triple row of pyramids endowed with mo- 
 bility. 
 
 As Alice paused momentarily to watch this 
 strange freak of the fog and the air currents,
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 117 
 
 the bowsprit and flying jibboom of a coasting 
 schooner poked its way out of the murky veil 
 and was leisurely followed by the remainder 
 of the fabric. The clinging wreaths of va- 
 pour streamed backward from her shrouds 
 and rigging like shreds of cannon smoke, 
 while her three topsails, which had presented 
 the appearance of moving pyramids above 
 the fog, gleamed whitely in the sunlight as 
 they gently bellied under the breath of the 
 early morning breeze. The schooner was 
 hauled up close to the wind on the port tack, 
 and was pointing directly for the Sdbine. 
 The fruit steamer also, Alice noticed, had 
 changed her course slightly and was now 
 heading straight for the yacht. 
 
 The two vessels were approaching the Sa- 
 bine along the sides of an isosceles triangle 
 of which the motor boat was the apex. The 
 schooner, though moving slowly, was very 
 much the nearer of the two. Alice noticed 
 that the yacht had ceased to edge away from 
 the approaching steamer and was evidently 
 trying to pass between the two vessels, 
 though there was a hesitancy and incertitude
 
 118 The Dominant Chord 
 
 about her movements which had not been 
 present before. 
 
 The steering pointer trembled and oscil- 
 lated as if it was in the grip of two powerful 
 contending forces whose opposition produced 
 nothing but an unstable and precarious in- 
 ertia. 
 
 The three converged rapidly. Alice's 
 hopes were running high. If the conditions 
 held for five minutes more she would be 
 within signalling distance. Suddenly as she 
 watched, she saw the bows of the schooner 
 swing sluggishly up into the wind. The head 
 sails shivered for a moment and then slowly 
 filled away on the other tack. Alice felt as 
 if she could cry with vexation and disappoint- 
 ment. The tacking of the schooner had evi- 
 dently destroyed the state of unstable equilib- 
 rium between the forces which controlled the 
 Sabine's movements, for, as the bows of the 
 schooner fell away on the other tack, the 
 steering pointer suddenly swung half way 
 round the card. The yacht swept about in a 
 short circle to starboard and was soon rap- 
 idly scurrying away from her inquisitive
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 119 
 
 neighbour in white, while the old hooker 
 loafed contentedly on her way northward, ap- 
 parently unconscious of the part she had 
 played in the drama. 
 
 Alice watched her hopes receding into the 
 distance with bitterness and chagrin. The 
 Sabine was travelling at a speed which was 
 rapidly leaving the fruiter astern, fast 
 steamer though she was. Evidently nothing 
 short of a warship could catch this wonder- 
 ful craft. She heard Craig whistling away 
 cheerily in the pantry as he laboured at his 
 task of preparing the breakfast. 
 
 The dying notes of the chimes sang out a 
 song of triumph and farewell. The Sabine 
 seemed endowed with an uncanny, almost hu- 
 man intelligence. Alice bit her lips in help- 
 less, impotent rage. Must she stand there a 
 passive spectator while her hope of succour 
 vanished before her very eyes? No! Set- 
 ting her teeth tightly she stretched out a 
 hand and grasped the knob on the end of the
 
 120 The Dominant Chord 
 
 steering pointer. The Sabine responded to 
 the touch like a well-trained steed. Swinging 
 the pointer to the right Alice caused the 
 yacht to circle to starboard, and in another 
 moment she was approaching the steamer, 
 much more rapidly than she had previously 
 been leaving her astern. 
 
 But the alarm bells had again taken up 
 their warning peal. If she could only stop 
 their eternal clangour. She looked about for 
 some switch that might control them, but 
 found none. She wondered that Craig did 
 not appear upon the scene, but the rattle of 
 pots and pans below went merrily on. If 
 she could only get near enough, she deter- 
 mined, as a last desperate resort, to throw 
 herself overboard, trusting to her splendid 
 swimming powers to keep her afloat until a 
 boat could be lowered to rescue her. 
 
 The strange movements of the motor boat 
 had evidently produced a commotion on the 
 steamer, for Alice could see that her rail was 
 lined with excited heads, while the group of 
 officers on her bridge were regarding her 
 intently through their telescopes. Five min-
 
 A Discovery and an Adventure 121 
 
 utes three minutes one minute one 
 short minute more would bring her along- 
 side. 
 
 The clamour of the alarm bells had now 
 become deafening and incessant. The Sa- 
 bine was cutting through the water like a 
 thing of life. The excited passengers on the 
 fruiter were leaning over the rail cheering 
 and waving encouragement to her. Alice, 
 lost to everything, was bending over the con- 
 troller with flashing eyes, all her powers 
 concentrated in the one thought, to place the 
 yacht as close alongside the steamer as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 The Sabine was now within one hundred 
 yards and going like the wind. On Alice's 
 tongue was trembling a cry of triumph when 
 in the fingers which grasped the knob of 
 the steering pointer a strange, prickling sen- 
 sation commenced, as though the hand were 
 asleep. The feeling quickly spread up 
 through her arm to the shoulder. A power- 
 ful electric current was flowing through her 
 body. 
 
 The strength of the current quickly in-
 
 122 The Dominant Chord 
 
 creased, and now it came in pulsating waves, 
 causing her hand and arm to twitch and jump 
 convulsively, and every joint in her body to 
 creak and ache with the stiffness of extreme 
 age. Could she hold on another moment? 
 Alice set her teeth and wrapped her hand- 
 kerchief around the knob of the controller, 
 but the filmy square of lace, quickly per- 
 meated with the moisture from her excited 
 fingers, afforded her no protection. Sud- 
 denly a powerful shock, which almost brought 
 her to her knees, caused her to release her 
 hold and stagger back against the wall of 
 the chart house with a stifled cry. As she 
 did so she saw Craig standing half way up 
 the stairway, one hand grasping the railing, 
 the other thrust into the bosom of his soft 
 flannel shirt
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 EXPLANATIONS 
 
 THE instant that Alice released her hold 
 upon the controller things began to happen. 
 The steering arrow swung around until it 
 pointed directly away from the steamer. 
 The speed controller slid back along the arm 
 and struck the stop at the after end with a 
 sharp metallic click. From below came the 
 roar and thunder of a hundred cataracts. 
 The Sabine spun around like a thoroughbred 
 at the barrier, burying her rail until her 
 decks were awash. For a moment it seemed 
 as if she were going to turn turtle entirely, 
 but she quickly righted herself and leaped 
 forward like a projectile from a gun. The 
 sea seemed actually to smoke as she hurled 
 herself through it. Craig sprang to the con- 
 troller and slowed the yacht down to a nor- 
 mal rate of speed, then turned to face his 
 captive. Alice was crouching on the leather 
 covered divan eyeing him defiantly. 
 
 123
 
 124 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " So you thought you would take charge 
 of the ship in the absence of the captain," 
 he remarked banteringly. " Do you know 
 that such an act constitutes mutiny on the 
 high seas? ' 
 
 " I neither know nor care. I am not sub- 
 ject to your control. I shall fight you with 
 whatever weapons come to my hand." 
 
 Craig regarded her a moment with open 
 admiration. " I believe you," he remarked 
 finally. " There is an old proverb which I 
 see I shall have to remember in future: 
 ' When the cat's away the mice will play.' 
 
 " You certainly are a cat. You have 
 proved your willingness and ability to show 
 your claws when the occasion requires." 
 
 " A cat! I thought that term was appro- 
 priated by and applied exclusively to the fair 
 sex. ' ' 
 
 " Perhaps it is. I am inclined to think 
 that tiger would be the more appropriate 
 characterization, anyway. ' ' 
 
 " Surely not that; you could not com- 
 pare me with anything so cruel and carnivo- 
 rous. ' '
 
 Explanations 125 
 
 " Why not? You seem to be capable of 
 anything. ' ' 
 
 " If I were a tiger, liking you as I do, I 
 might want to eat you." 
 
 * ' I am not so sure that you are absolutely 
 incapable even of that. It is said that a 
 sultan of Sulu once had a wife he was 
 so fond of that he ate her," replied the 
 girl. 
 
 " Your parallel falls down in one essential 
 particular, but perhaps we can remedy that 
 in time. ' ' 
 
 " And perhaps not. I think we will pre- 
 serve the point of divergence in order to 
 prevent it from becoming a parallel in real- 
 ity." 
 
 Craig leaned against the pedestal of the 
 controller and regarded her for some mo- 
 ments critically. " Speaking of eating re- 
 minds me," he said at length, " that in 
 the language of polite society ' breakfast 
 is served.' Will you partake of it here in 
 my company just to show that there are no 
 hard feelings? " 
 
 " Certainly not. While I am forced to
 
 126 The Dominant Chord 
 
 remain on board this ship I prefer to take 
 my meals in private. ' ' 
 
 " Really, Miss Huntington, that is not 
 fair. * To the victor belongs the spoils,' you 
 know. (The spoiled child I guess it is in 
 this case.) The Huntingtons have always 
 been good losers. Your father won out in 
 the end by being a good loser in the begin- 
 ning. ' ' 
 
 "HI thought that history would repeat 
 itself I might reconsider." 
 
 " Please do." 
 
 Alice hesitated. She was really very an- 
 gry, but at the same time she was also 
 very curious. In the end curiosity pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 " I will, on one condition," she announced 
 finally. 
 
 " What is it? " 
 
 " That you explain the thing to me; tell 
 me how it works." 
 
 " I would explain the entire solar system 
 to you in exchange for a happiness so great," 
 cried Craig, radiant with boyish enthusiasm. 
 " May I serve it here? "
 
 Explanations 127 
 
 11 I suppose so, since you are so persist- 
 ent." 
 
 Craig touched a spring and Alice's break- 
 fast table ascended on the dumb-waiter 
 through a concealed trap in the floor. It 
 bore its accustomed burden of gleaming sil- 
 ver, linen and glass, and was set and laid 
 for two. Craig had evidently anticipated his 
 victory. 
 
 Alice bit her lip in vexation, but it was too 
 late to draw back, so she decided to ignore 
 the circumstance. Craig rolled the table 
 over to a position in front of the divan and, 
 seating himself on the opposite side of the 
 angle which it formed, proceeded to serve 
 the strawberries and grapefruit which he 
 had prepared with all the suppressed delight 
 of a school boy out with his first sweetheart. 
 
 The fruit steamer was by this time some 
 five miles astern and heading northward 
 again. She was evidently aware of the use- 
 lessness of trying to catch Craig's elusive 
 and slippery craft. 
 
 Alice took a sip of her coffee and then set- 
 tled herself back against the cushions.
 
 128 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " You may begin now," she said. 
 
 " Begin! Begin what! " 
 
 " Why, your explanations, of course. The 
 detector, what is it? How does it work? " 
 
 " Oh, bother the detector," cried Craig 
 petulantly. " Let us enjoy our breakfast 
 and leave explanations until afterward." 
 
 Alice laid down her napkin and rose de- 
 cisively to her feet. 
 
 " Don't, please don't," pleaded Craig. 
 ' * The omelet will get cold and you will spoil 
 everything. ' ' 
 
 " A bargain is a bargain," she replied 
 firmly. 
 
 " Well, if you must, you must, I suppose. 
 I thought it could wait until after the break- 
 fast had been disposed of, though." 
 
 Alice reseated herself with dignity, " Go 
 on," she commanded. 
 
 " What do you want to know? ' 
 
 1 ' I want to know about the detector. How 
 it works. I want to know what prevents the 
 Sabine from running down the first craft 
 that crosses her path. I want to know 
 everything."
 
 Explanations 129 
 
 " Well, I must say you are moderate in 
 your demands. Do you expect me to eluci- 
 date all this within the compass of a single 
 breakfast hour! ' 
 
 11 That ought not to seem a stupendous 
 task for one who, a moment ago, was willing 
 to explain the workings of the entire uni- 
 verse; but you may begin with the detector, 
 and your collision-preventing device, and 
 then I shall be able to judge how long it 
 will take you to explain the entire cos- 
 mos." 
 
 " Oh, well," said Craig resignedly, " you 
 want to know how we prevent collisions; it 
 is very simple. You know, of course, that 
 every ship is the centre and core of a mag- 
 netic field, whose strength varies according 
 to the size of the mass. Practically every 
 ship of to-day is of iron or steel, and in the 
 few rare cases of wooden vessels there is 
 still enough iron entering into their construc- 
 tion to affect our exceedingly delicate instru- 
 ments. You remember the knob on the after 
 end of the steering arrow which became so 
 hot just now? Well, as soon as that knob
 
 130 The Dominant Chord 
 
 enters one of these magnetic fields it is at- 
 tracted towards the object from which the 
 field emanates, and the attraction deflects the 
 steering arrow in a greater or less degree, 
 as it is strong or weak. Now, as the mag- 
 netic attraction of the compass needle for the 
 pole is always striving to bring the pointer 
 back to the course, and as the attraction from 
 the disturbing field of the distant vessel is 
 continually trying to deflect it, we have a 
 parallelogram of forces whose resultant will 
 be the course which the Sabine steers. 
 As the attraction of the compass needle is 
 constant, and as the attraction of the ap- 
 proaching vessel varies directly with the 
 distance, it is possible to adjust the instru- 
 ment so that the presence of a distant ship 
 will produce very little, if any, departure 
 from the true course, but if a vessel should 
 get so near as to overcome the pull of the 
 compass entirely, then the steering arrow 
 would be swung around so as to point di- 
 rectly from her, and the Sabine would at 
 once show her her heels." 
 " But suppose it did not work? " asked
 
 Explanations 131 
 
 Alice. " So delicate a device is susceptible 
 of derangement surely? " 
 
 1 i I perceive that you must have every con- 
 dition satisfied," laughed Craig. " That is 
 where the detectors come in. It is not suf- 
 ficient that the Sabine should be able to avoid 
 automatically any craft she may meet. It is 
 also desirable that her captain should know 
 when any vessels are in sight. For that pur- 
 pose we have a series of separate needles 
 mounted in the base of the pedestal called 
 the micro-detectors. These are arranged to 
 come into action successively, and the pres- 
 ence of a mass of iron or steel of the bulk 
 of a ship will attract one of these needles 
 at a distance of over twenty miles. Each 
 needle carries on its point a tiny electric 
 light which is arranged to slide toward the 
 centre of the arm as the attractive force 
 increases, and which throws its light up 
 from below on to the compass card. It 
 is only necessary to arrange an audible 
 signal to show when these needles are de- 
 flected to provide for every possible emer- 
 gency. ' '
 
 132 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " And the chime bells are your audible 
 signal? " interrupted Alice. 
 
 " Precisely. That is an idea of my own," 
 replied Craig with a whimsical smile. " Be- 
 ing of a somewhat aesthetic turn of mind I 
 object to having my nerves torn and jangled 
 by the sound of harsh and strident gongs or 
 whistles every time the Sabine happens to 
 meet a stranger on the highway of the na- 
 tions. By taking advantage of the flexible 
 qualities of the Tel-orchestrion we have con- 
 structed a set of cathedral bell tones with a 
 range of two octaves. This is connected 
 electrically with the needles of the detectors, 
 and small producers are located in various 
 parts of the vessel. When one of the needles 
 is deflected a bell-like tone is given forth 
 from the producers and the interval of that 
 tone as compared with the treble ' C ' of 
 the scale, which is struck immediately before 
 it indicates the amount of deflection. I have 
 divided my two octaves among the sixteen 
 principal points of bearing, which, with the 
 addition of a sharp in each scale, gives an 
 individual note to each point so that the
 
 Explanations 133 
 
 presence of a strange ship is not only an- 
 nounced, but her position audibly indicated, 
 as well as being shown on the compass card 
 and on the various telltales." 
 
 " It is perfectly evident to me, Mr. Craig, 
 that you have mistaken your vocation," re- 
 marked Alice with conviction. " Anyone 
 who could originate an idea like that is 
 wasting his time in the bold and nefa- 
 rious occupation of a pirate. You ought 
 to be well, I don't know just where 
 your peculiar qualifications would best 
 fit." 
 
 " They seem to fit here pretty well. At 
 least it appears so to me." 
 
 " That is purely masculine self -apprecia- 
 tion. The field here is too limited for your 
 talents. You should head for New York at 
 once. Come, let us turn the steering arrow 
 north. They are looking for just such a man 
 as you there." 
 
 " I suppose you mean the authorities are 
 looking for me. No, Miss Huntington, I am 
 afraid it won't do just yet, and besides, it 
 would bring us back in time for a certain
 
 134 The Dominant Chord 
 
 ceremony which at present is indefinitely 
 postponed." 
 
 " You seem to have a genius for bringing 
 up disagreeable subjects," said Alice, drop- 
 ping at once her tone of badinage. 
 
 " I am glad the subject has become a dis- 
 agreeable one. There is certainly a ray of 
 hope in that." 
 
 " The subject is not a disagreeable one. 
 It is the discussion of it with you that is dis- 
 agreeable." 
 
 11 Well, I am willing to substitute any- 
 thing else you wish. Suppose we discuss the 
 rising prospects of a humble engineer, one 
 Gordon Craig by name." 
 
 11 You are conceited, Mr. Craig, abso- 
 lutely conceited, and I detest conceit even in 
 a pirate. I am going out on deck to enjoy 
 some of this invigorating morning air, and 
 if you have anything to do I advise you to 
 go and do it."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 A MOMENT OF MADNESS 
 
 AFTER Craig and the breakfast table had 
 silently and unobtrusively disappeared be- 
 low, Alice drew a steamer rug carelessly 
 about her and ensconced herself in a bamboo 
 reclining chair which her captor had thought- 
 fully placed for her under the awning at the 
 stern. 
 
 The day was one of those rare ones which 
 is sometimes encountered in February on 
 the edge of the tropics. The breath of the 
 ocean was like old wine and the razor edge 
 of the horizon stood out sharp and clear, so 
 close that it seemed as if one might almost 
 reach out and touch it with his hand. 
 
 Alice had found a well-thumbed leather- 
 covered copy of the Iliad on one of the divans 
 in the chart house, and she was soon ab- 
 sorbed in the struggles of the * ' well greaved 
 Greeks " against the hosts of Priam, the 
 135
 
 136 The Dominant Chord 
 
 clash of spear upon buckler and the thunder 
 of contending war chariots. 
 
 Crafts of all kinds came up out of the 
 south and passed them, heralded always 
 more or less insistently by the warning bells 
 of the detector. Only one, a large tramp 
 steamer with a gridiron of wireless antennae 
 strung between her masts, seemed to give 
 them any special attention, but the Sabine 
 slipped away from her so rapidly that she 
 soon turned her prow northward again. 
 
 Alice scarcely noticed these interruptions; 
 she had ceased to hope for any assistance 
 except from some of the fast scouts of the 
 first cruiser squadron, which she knew by 
 this time must be on the lookout for them. 
 
 A battleship passed them going north, evi- 
 dently detached from the fleet, which was at 
 target practice off Guantanamo, but she was 
 so distant that Alice could only make out her 
 funnels and the two towers of her skeleton 
 masts. 
 
 For over an hour the sonorous, well- 
 rounded periods of the Iliad held her atten- 
 tion enchained, until, tiring at length of the
 
 A Moment of Madness 137 
 
 martial exploits of the fiery Hector and the 
 god-like Achilles, she closed the book on her 
 lap and gave herself up to reverie. The 
 smooth gliding motion of the Sabine soothed 
 her senses and quieted her nerves until she 
 stretched herself out luxuriously in her chair 
 and then curled up among the cushions like 
 a kitten basking sleepily in the sunshine. 
 The strain of the last few weeks in New 
 York had worn on her more than she was 
 aware of, and the rest and relaxation she 
 was beginning to find on the Sabine were 
 tonics which she needed more than perhaps 
 she herself would have been willing to admit. 
 In this idle retrospective mood she let her 
 thoughts, for perhaps the first time since 
 she had been immured in her present float- 
 ing prison, drift back to the scenes she had 
 so recently quitted. The picture of the Duke 
 banished to Florida to escape notoriety and 
 the reporters caused her to smile under- 
 standingly. Should not she of all others 
 appreciate the hypersensitive nature of her 
 titled wooer? She idly wondered what sort 
 of a man George would have been had he
 
 138 The Dominant Chord 
 
 lived in the strenuous times of which she 
 had just been reading, when a man had to 
 win his wife by the strength of his arm and 
 the length of his sword, and no rank was 
 valid which could not be maintained with 
 spear and shield in the forefront of the bat- 
 tle. She tried to imagine him garbed in 
 sandals, corslet and helmet, with waving 
 horsehair plume, but the effort was too great 
 and only produced a smile. Craig, she could 
 easily picture, his gray eyes gleaming from 
 beneath a brazen vizor, but the Duke, that 
 was different. Her sense of humour pre- 
 vented her from pursuing her thoughts fur- 
 ther in that direction. George was emi- 
 nently not of the fighting type, although he 
 had served his country manfully and well 
 during the closing days of the war in South 
 Africa, and had achieved the distinction of 
 going through the last campaign with only 
 three steamer trunks and four body serv- 
 ants. Whether he ever arrived within sight- 
 ing distance of the embattled Boers she did 
 not know, but that did not matter. The good 
 old days when warriors stood knee to knee,
 
 A Moment of Madness 139 
 
 buckler to buckler, gazing into each other's 
 glowing eyes through their barred and fluted 
 vizors while they hacked and hewed away 
 with short sword, or martel-de-fer, were 
 gone never to return. The modern fighting 
 man now murders his fellow secretly and 
 by stealth at ranges of from one to seven 
 miles, without even a puff of smoke to tell 
 from whence the fatal messenger comes. 
 War is indeed stripped of its pomp and 
 glamour. 
 
 The tide of her reflections was interrupted 
 by the march of the trumpets from Aida, 
 sounded by the Tel-orchestrion producer in 
 the chart house as a signal that luncheon 
 was ready. Glancing at her watch she saw 
 that it was one-thirty. Craig had not ap- 
 peared. Encouraged by his success of the 
 morning, she had anticipated that he would 
 try to secure her company at luncheon, and 
 she had mentally planned a courteous but 
 firm refusal to his plea, but nothing of the 
 kind occurred. Looking through the door 
 into the chart house she saw that her table 
 was once more standing by the trap door of
 
 140 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the lift. It was set and laid for one. Evi- 
 dently Craig had not thought of pursuing his 
 advantage at present. 
 
 Alice was secretly piqued and annoyed. 
 She wished to even up the score, but appar- 
 ently she was not soon to have the oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon before her 
 jailer finally appeared. He had evidently 
 been working hard, for his usually immacu- 
 late hands were stained with carbon ink, and 
 his hair looked as if his fingers had been fre- 
 quently run through it. Alice received him 
 with a chilling reserve which she thought 
 appropriate to the occasion. 
 
 " It is evident, Mr. Craig, that your duties 
 as host and jailer do not extend to, or in- 
 clude, providing entertainment for your 
 guests, or prisoners, whichever you choose 
 to call them." 
 
 " Entertainment! I thought you were 
 deeply engrossed when I glanced out on the 
 deck this morning. Had I thought my pres- 
 ence could have added anything to your hap- 
 piness I should have hastened to your side."
 
 A Moment of Madness 141 
 
 11 It could not. Happiness is quite out of 
 the question when one is a prisoner, but even 
 the study of the more inferior forms of ani- 
 mal life serve to pass away the time when 
 one has nothing but a painted sky and a 
 painted ocean to gaze upon." 
 
 " Thank you for the compliment implied. 
 I am sorry you find confinement growing irk- 
 some. You may put an end to it at any time 
 you wish, however." 
 
 "I! How?" 
 
 " By cancelling your engagement with the 
 Duke of Buckminster and substituting in his 
 stead one who really cares for you." 
 
 " Thank you. There are some things that 
 one instinctively prefers imprisonment to." 
 
 1 ' I am sorry you feel that way. However, 
 in the end the strongest thing will win. If 
 love is not the strongest thing it won't win, 
 and it ought not to win. I think it will win, 
 however. ' ' 
 
 " Mr. Craig, are you a fighting man? ' 
 
 "It Certainly not. I am by birth, train- 
 ing and inclination an engineer. War is 
 destruction, and the constructive tempera-
 
 142 The Dominant Chord 
 
 merit is always and unalterably opposed to 
 the destructive. I have at times been obliged 
 to take up the rifle during some of the 
 troubles on the Isthmus and elsewhere, but 
 I am always ready to quit when the other 
 fellow is. ' ' 
 
 " I don't understand how one of your 
 peaceful and conciliatory trend of mind ever 
 expected to gain anything in a woman's esti- 
 mation by resorting to force. You seem to 
 lack the courage of your convictions. Hav- 
 ing commenced in that manner it would seem 
 to be the part of consistency to carry out 
 your conquest along similar lines." 
 
 " Because one is obliged to use force occa- 
 sionally it does not necessarily follow that 
 he must do so always to be consistent. Napo- 
 leon and even Alexander himself sheathed 
 the sword at times. One may use force to 
 win his opportunity, but one does not use 
 force to win love itself, because the result 
 would not be love but something else. How- 
 ever, could I win the love I want in that way, 
 I would take you as ruthlessly as ever Roman 
 legionary wooed a Sabine maid."
 
 A Moment of Madness 143 
 
 " You would not dare." 
 
 " Dare? Dare is a dangerous word to use 
 to a man with red blood in his veins." 
 
 They were standing by the door of the 
 chart house; for a moment she looked 
 at him, scorning taunting. Craig paled 
 slightly ; in his gray eyes danger lights were 
 leaping. 
 
 The next instant Alice felt herself swept 
 into his arms. For one wild, mad moment 
 she was crushed against him. For one su- 
 preme heart-beat she thrilled to the passion 
 of his lips pressed full upon hers. 
 
 Then panting, dishevelled, defiant, she felt 
 herself released. Craig was looking at her 
 with white face and burning eyes. 
 
 " Oh! Oh! OH! " she cried, every fibre of 
 her outraged womanhood clamouring for ex- 
 pression. 
 
 For a moment she gazed at him; then 
 turning, fled swiftly along the deck, her one 
 unreasoning impulse being to place as much 
 space between herself and her captor as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 She had almost reached the taffrail before
 
 144 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Craig divined her purpose. His already pal- 
 lid face turned ashen. Hastily thrusting his 
 hand into his pocket he pressed one of the 
 remote control switches which he always car- 
 ried about him, one designed to turn a heavy 
 current of electricity into the guard rail as 
 a protection against possible intruders. 
 
 Alice's flying form was already in the air. 
 In another moment she would have been in 
 the water, battered, bruised, and broken by 
 the powerful jets that were forcing the Sa- 
 bine along at express train speed ; but, as she 
 rose to the leap, as her outstretched hands 
 touched the railing, the powerful electric cur- 
 rent shunted through her body. Like a bird 
 shot on the wing, like the deer stricken in 
 full career, her body crumpled up in mid-air, 
 and with a choking moan she fell limp and 
 senseless to the deck.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 A DECLARATION OF WAS 
 
 WHEN Alice recovered consciousness she 
 found herself lying on a divan in the chart 
 room. Craig was bending anxiously over 
 her chafing her hands and wrists. From the 
 marks of his fingers on her arms, and the 
 leather cushion which was placed uncomfort- 
 ably beneath her shoulders, she knew that he 
 had been resorting to artificial respiration 
 to resuscitate her. 
 
 " How do you feel now? " he asked in a 
 voice from which he vainly tried to exclude 
 the emotion. 
 
 Alice was too weak to answer. She could 
 only look at him with unspeakable loathing. 
 
 Craig, seeing that she was not likely to 
 relapse again into unconsciousness, hurried 
 below and quickly returned with a liqueur 
 glass filled with brandy, which he poured be- 
 tween her unresisting lips. The powerful 
 
 145
 
 146 The Dominant Chord 
 
 liquor soon revived her sufficiently so that 
 she was able to sit up propped against the 
 cushions he placed for her. 
 
 " How do you feel? ' he again asked 
 anxiously. 
 
 Alice gazed at him scornfully for a full 
 moment before replying. 
 
 " ' How do I feel! ' " and she laughed 
 bitterly. " How should you expect me to 
 feel? You have violated me, insulted me, 
 killed me, almost, how should you expect 
 me to feel? ' 
 
 11 I could not help it; there was no other 
 way. If you had gone overboard you would 
 inevitably have been lost." 
 
 " You could not help degrading me either, 
 I suppose. You could not help subjecting 
 me to the indignities you would force upon 
 any ignorant and helpless girl that fate 
 threw into your power. ' ' 
 
 " But you drove me to it." 
 
 ' ' I drove you to it ! And I also drove you 
 to your first attack upon my happiness? I 
 drove you into this mad enterprise you have 
 embarked upon, I suppose."
 
 A Declaration of War 147 
 
 " Indirectly, yes. You have never known 
 a passionate love; you do not realize the 
 desperate lengths it will force a man to." 
 
 " And I drove you to it, did I? Well, I 
 will drive you to a good many other things 
 before we are done with each other. Why 
 don't you go on as you have begun? Why 
 don't you complete your nefarious work? I 
 am quite in your power." 
 
 " Alice, this is unjust. You know you 
 have nothing to fear from me." 
 
 " Fear from you! I do not fear you, I 
 merely hate you. Hate you with an all- 
 consuming hatred that will never die. I shall 
 live henceforth only to see you suffer. And 
 you shall suffer. You shall pay for the rav- 
 ishing of my lips in the sweat of your soul. 
 You shall know desire, fierce, intense, con- 
 suming desire that shall make your days a 
 misery and your nights a horror. Desire that 
 shall grow and burn unceasingly, that shall 
 never be realized, never satiated, never sat- 
 isfied." 
 
 " I know it now," replied Craig gravely. 
 
 " You know it now? " Alice looked at
 
 148 The Dominant Chord 
 
 him long and searchingly out of her hollow, 
 burning eyes. Then she turned her face to 
 the pillow with a wild, hysterical laugh. 
 ' ' You know it now ! What you know is noth- 
 ing." 
 
 11 You are overwrought and unstrung," 
 replied Craig gravely. " Won't you drink 
 this that I have prepared for you? It will 
 quiet your nerves. ' ' 
 
 " I will do anything if you will only go 
 away. If you will only leave me." 
 
 Alice drained the cup which he placed to 
 her lips and turned her face again to the 
 pillows, while Craig lighted a cigar and 
 passed moodily out upon the deck. 
 
 On returning to the chart room half an 
 hour later he found her sleeping as quietly 
 and peacefully as a child. Picking her up 
 in his strong arms he carried her below and 
 deposited her gently on one of the couches 
 in the library. Then throwing a light slum- 
 ber robe over her lie went quietly out and 
 closed the door. 
 
 In the days that followed Craig had good 
 reason to feel that Alice had not forgotten
 
 A Declaration of War 149 
 
 her threat. The whole nature of the girl 
 seemed changed and transformed. The 
 haughty, supercilious, and somewhat frivo- 
 lous society girl was gone, and in her place 
 he found a woman wise in the wisdom of the 
 world, fully conscious of the power of her 
 sex, and an adept in applying this power to 
 accomplish the results she aimed at. All the 
 arts of a Circe, of a Calypso, seemed latent 
 in her nature, all the allurements with which 
 Cleopatra enchained the rough and soldierly 
 Anthony; all the fascinations with which 
 DuBarry bound to herself the monarch of 
 France; all the languishing loveliness with 
 which Helen of Troy wrought the ruin of 
 men and accomplished the destruction of a 
 happy and prosperous people, she brought 
 to bear upon the object of her vengeance. 
 
 So rapid and kaleidoscopic were the 
 changes in her moods that the slower mov- 
 ing masculine mind could hardly tell where 
 one began and the other left off. At times 
 she would dazzle him with an assumption of 
 frank comradeship and interest, drawing 
 him on to talk of his plans and aspirations
 
 150 The Dominant Chord 
 
 only to dash him, in the height of his en- 
 thusiasm, to the ground with some cynical 
 comment or sudden recurrence of cold indif- 
 ference. 
 
 In raiment she bewildered him with the 
 diversity and beauty of her gowns, and she 
 never ceased to thank the fates that had 
 placed this most powerful weapon in her 
 hands. In her task of self-adornment she 
 often had cause to thank fortune for her long 
 arms and Yankee ingenuity, but as time went 
 on and she became expert with practice, she 
 missed the services of her maid much less 
 than a short time before she would have 
 believed possible. She would spend whole 
 hours on a toilet that Craig would but catch 
 a glimpse of as she swept through the saloon 
 or passed him in the chart house. She would 
 gladden his eyes with jaunty walking suits 
 that displayed to perfection her superb 
 young figure, fascinate them with voluminous 
 and lacy morning gowns of which he would 
 catch but a glimpse as she selected a book 
 from the shelves in the saloon; madden them 
 with filmy, clinging evening gowns which
 
 A Declaration of War 151 
 
 revealed her round, white arms and gleam- 
 ing alabaster shoulders to his hungry gaze, 
 leaving him always restless, dissatisfied, un- 
 satisfied. 
 
 Well knowing the power of her voice she 
 would seat herself in the evening at the 
 piano, when she knew that Craig was work- 
 ing in his laboratory, and croon away in her 
 deep, rich contralto some tender Polish love 
 song, some haunting Biscayan berceuse, 
 until Craig, his soul in his eyes, would be 
 drawn to the door, when she would rise from 
 the stool with a wicked, malicious, little laugh 
 and go on deck, leaving her victim, his brain 
 in a turmoil and work impossible. 
 
 The boundaries of her caprice were limit- 
 less. At one moment she would overpower 
 him with her graciousness and the frank 
 acceptance of his society; in the next she 
 would become as cold and inaccessible as 
 some remote, snow-capped peak of the Him- 
 alayas. She would fan and feed the flames 
 of his passion with every art known to the 
 coquette and the courtesan, watching with 
 malignant satisfaction to see his lips grow
 
 152 The Dominant Chord 
 
 white as her skirts brushed past him in the 
 passageway, or the tension of his muscles 
 when she came and innocently stood beside 
 him at the rail, so close that he could feel 
 the warmth of her, and inhale the delicate, 
 elusive perfume of her hair. 
 
 Craig was helpless against these attacks. 
 Having once crossed the boundaries of con- 
 vention and subjected her to the force of his 
 passion, he shrank from a repetition of the 
 incident with a fear born of the knowledge 
 of the desperate lengths to which this girl's 
 tempestuous nature would drive her, and 
 Alice, knowing, and knowing that he knew, 
 used her advantage with the relentless cru- 
 elty which only a woman can show. The 
 ingenuity and skill with which she devised 
 ways and means to torture him would have 
 driven a savage, or a religious fanatic, to 
 envious despair. It was a dangerous game 
 she was playing, and, with a nature less 
 forceful and less self-contained than that of 
 her victim, the tragedy would have come 
 sooner than it did. 
 
 One night just at sunset she ascended to
 
 A Declaration of War 153 
 
 the deck, and found Craig standing by the 
 rail watching the glowing orb of day as it 
 slowly sank into the tumbling waste of water 
 to the westward. With an assumption of 
 unconscious interest in the scene, which was 
 one of her favourite weapons, she came and 
 stood beside him, watching the vivid ever- 
 changing glory in the sky, and apparently 
 unconscious of his presence. She was garbed 
 in a simple gown of white lace cut square 
 at the throat, and Craig, in his despair, 
 thought he had never seen her more beautiful 
 or more alluring. The fresh southwest 
 breeze had loosened some of the tendrils of 
 her hair from their confinement, whipping 
 the strands across the bronzed face of the 
 man, like tiny lashes goading him to mad- 
 ness. 
 
 Alice, out of the corner of her eye, watched 
 the compression of his whitening lips and 
 the small red spot which was burning in his 
 well-bronzed cheek. A sort of telepathic un- 
 derstanding was gradually growing up be- 
 tween them. Each knew the thought that 
 was in the other's mind, and each knew that
 
 154 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the other knew. At length one of the strands 
 of her hair got caught in his nostril, causing 
 him to sneeze. Alice laughed, a short, mad- 
 dening little laugh with a catch in it. 
 
 Then the storm broke. With burning eyes 
 Craig turned swiftly towards her. 
 
 " By all the gods you are mine and I will 
 have you ! " he cried hoarsely. 
 
 Like a rifle bullet came back the clear and 
 cutting reply. 
 
 " By the one eternal God you will not! " 
 
 Craig, his hands clenched at his side, took 
 one step towards her. Suddenly he felt the 
 muzzle of the little automatic pistol pressed 
 against his breast. Back of it was Alice's 
 white, uncompromising face, with a gleam 
 in the eyes which he had seen there once 
 before. 
 
 At the touch of the steel his madness fell 
 away from him, leaving him cold and deadly 
 calm. 
 
 11 Well, why don't you shoot? " he asked 
 evenly. " You are perfectly justified. " 
 
 " Why should I shoot? " she replied scorn- 
 fully. " If I kill you, you would cease to
 
 A Declaration of War 155 
 
 suffer. There is no suffering in death but 
 for those who remain, and I want you to 
 suffer. ' ' 
 
 " You want me to suffer, do you! " he 
 replied, with sombre eyes glowing into hers. 
 11 Well, you shall have your wish." 
 
 Suddenly Alice felt the hand that held the 
 pistol seized in a vise-like grip, long, slender 
 fingers of steel were closing around her own, 
 compressing her grasp upon the trigger. 
 With a muffled scream she wrenched at her 
 hand, striving to divert the muzzle of the 
 weapon, but too late. There was a flash, a 
 confused ringing in her ears, and Craig sank 
 to the deck without a sound. 
 
 For a moment she stood petrified, horror- 
 struck. A thin wreath of smoke curled up 
 from the muzzle of the pistol in her hand and 
 quickly dissolved in the atmosphere. The 
 awning over the taffrail flapped twice. For 
 a moment the lace above her bosom ceased 
 to rise and fall, seeming in its motionlessness 
 as though it covered the bust of a waxen 
 image. Then with a low moan she dropped 
 to her knees beside the motionless form and
 
 156 The Dominant Chord 
 
 began to search hurriedly, blindly, for the 
 wound. 
 
 Craig's soft flannel shirt was scorched and 
 blackened over his breast by the round ring 
 of the powder charge, so close had the 
 weapon been held. It seemed as though her 
 terror-numbed fingers would never be able 
 to unfasten the buttons. At last she got it 
 open, and tearing away the thin gauze row- 
 ing shirt, which she found beneath, she 
 passed her trembling hands over the smooth, 
 white flesh in search of the fatal spot. Then 
 her fears gave place to wonder. On the firm, 
 well-rounded contour of the thorax there was 
 no mark, no crimson blood, no gaping wound ; 
 nothing but a round, red spot above the heart, 
 an abrasion, as though the skin had been 
 bruised by a sharp blow. 
 
 Thrusting her hand into the pocket of his 
 shirt in search of an explanation of the mira- 
 cle Alice drew forth Craig's watch, shattered 
 beyond repair. The hardened steel of the 
 back plate had deflected the bullet, causing 
 it to pass out under his arm without even 
 breaking the skin. As Alice made this as-
 
 A Declaration of War 157 
 
 tonishing discovery, Craig's lips fluttered, 
 and with a great, gasping intake of breath 
 he opened his eyes and looked up at her as 
 she bent over him. 
 
 " Well, am I safely ticketed for the Great 
 Beyond? " he asked faintly. 
 
 " Ticketed for nowhere." 
 
 Alice, in the reaction from her terror, was 
 growing angry. " You are not hurt. You 
 are not even wounded. Your watch case de- 
 flected the bullet. I am afraid it is ruined, 
 though. ' ' 
 
 " Oh, it is merely a question of time then, 
 and not of eternity. ' ' He smiled. 
 
 " I don't see how you, who have been so 
 close to death, can jest about it." 
 
 1 1 Why not ? Death is always at our elbow 
 in this world, and an inch of a miss is as 
 good as a mile. It was certainly a solar 
 plexus you handed me, though. I wonder if 
 I can stand up? " 
 
 " Oh, please, please," cried Alice, wring- 
 ing her hands as Craig rose unsteadily to 
 his feet. "If we must remain here until 
 you are cured of your mad infatuation, can't
 
 158 The Dominant Chord 
 
 we at least live in harmony: can't we avoid 
 these terrible scenes? " 
 
 " With all my heart," cried Craig joy- 
 fully. " Harmony is the one desire of my 
 life. These scenes, as you call them, have 
 not been of my seeking." 
 
 " I know it. I know it," cried the girl 
 eagerly, " I acknowledge my fault. Here, I 
 will give you a pledge. ' ' She stooped as she 
 spoke, and seizing the pistol, threw it far 
 over the side into the sea. " There, I am 
 quite at your mercy now. I shall have to rely 
 on your honour as a gentleman to protect 
 me." 
 
 " I have nothing to throw overboard but 
 myself," responded Craig gravely, " and 
 that would leave you with rather more than 
 your share of the work to do on board. Are 
 we going to be chums in the future? Will 
 you shake hands on it? ' 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And are we not some day going to be 
 something even nearer and dearer? ' he 
 asked seriously. 
 
 " No. Certainly not," cried Alice, bri-
 
 A Declaration of War 159 
 
 dling at once, and withdrawing her hand. 
 " That was not a part of the contract." 
 
 " Perhaps you are right, but I do not think 
 so. In the end the strongest thing will win."
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A STRANGE HUNTING 
 
 WHEN Alice awoke from her siesta the 
 following day, the intuitive perception of 
 conditions on board the Sabine, which she 
 was rapidly acquiring, told her that the yacht 
 was no longer in motion. Pushing back the 
 sliding door of the library and stepping out 
 into the saloon, she found herself in the 
 semi-darkness of an unilluminated apart- 
 ment. What light there was entered the 
 cabin through a series of large panels which 
 extended entirely around the exterior wall 
 of the apartment between the pilasters, and 
 occupied the entire space between the low 
 wainscoting and the cornice work which sup- 
 ported the ceiling. 
 
 Alice had never examined the walls of the 
 saloon particularly, further than to note that 
 they had been treated in dark green of neu- 
 tral tint to harmonize with the colour scheme 
 
 160
 
 A Strange Hunting 161 
 
 obtaining in the rest of the apartment. She 
 now perceived that this unobtrusive decora- 
 tive effect had served to conceal heavy trans- 
 parent plates which had been wrought into 
 the vessel's side and through which one 
 standing within could obtain a view in every 
 direction. 
 
 The Sabine was resting motionless upon 
 the smooth, sandy floor of the ocean bottom 
 in the midst of a leafless forest of gnarled 
 and stunted coral formations, interspersed 
 with dense thickets of kelp and seaweed, 
 whose delicate waving tips swayed and 
 tossed in the currents that agitated them, 
 like aspens quivering responsively to the 
 amorous touches of an April zephyr. The 
 yacht seemed to be the core and centre of a 
 soft, diffused light which penetrated in every 
 direction to the distance of perhaps a hun- 
 dred yards, illuminating the sombre isles of 
 the coral forest until its pervasive radiance 
 was lost and dissipated in the eternal gloom 
 of the ocean's tenebrious depths. 
 
 What the nature of this light was, Alice 
 could not discover, but it had evidently
 
 162 The Dominant Chord 
 
 served to attract all the fishes in the vicinity, 
 for the yacht was surrounded by myriads of 
 the finny denizens of the deep, who wheeled 
 and circled and darted through the branches 
 of this submarine sylvania, like flocks of 
 brilliant-hued birds. 
 
 As Alice stood spell-bound watching this 
 beautiful and ever-changing spectacle, she 
 saw a figure emerge from a thicket of tan- 
 gled marine plants and approach the yacht 
 along the sandy ocean bottom. It was Craig, 
 clad in a diving suit, and bearing on the top 
 of his huge, ungainly submarine helmet a 
 small electric light, which glowed and glis- 
 tened through the transparent green of the 
 water like a luminous star. 
 
 Alice, suspecting that he was engaged in 
 some secret occupation, drew back in the 
 shadows to watch him. A few steps brought 
 the engineer to the bows of the yacht, where 
 he temporarily disappeared from view. He 
 soon reappeared, however, staggering under 
 the burden of one of the heavy mushroom 
 anchors, which Alice had seen stacked up in 
 the storeroom of the yacht. This he pro-
 
 A Strange Hunting 163 
 
 ceeded to bury in the soft ooze a short dis- 
 tance away. When this was accomplished 
 he disappeared again, and soon returned 
 dragging after him a length of heavy cable 
 whose other end was apparently connected 
 to something which was still concealed from 
 view in the diving chamber of the submarine. 
 
 Alice's curiosity was now thoroughly 
 aroused. She was burning to know what 
 all these preparations could mean. She was 
 soon enlightened, for shackling the cable to 
 the stock of the anchor, Craig returned to 
 the diving chamber. 
 
 Alice saw the cable suddenly tighten and 
 jerk upward, and raising her eyes she beheld, 
 tugging and straining at the end of its short 
 tether, dipping and swaying in the current 
 like a captive balloon floating in the atmos- 
 phere, the device on which the engineer had 
 long been working, and which he had once 
 told her was a tide motor. The shackled 
 servant of his brain being safely enchained, 
 Craig reappeared bearing a couple of buck- 
 ets of what appeared to be some form of 
 cement. This he piled up around the anchor
 
 164 The Dominant Chord 
 
 stock until after a number of trips a pyramid 
 had been raised, which the action of the 
 water was rapidly turning into a solid block 
 of stone. On returning from his last trip he 
 perceived Alice watching him, her face 
 pressed against the transparent panel in 
 absorbed, unconscious interest. He waved 
 his hand to her in greeting, disappeared 
 within the diving chamber, and a few min- 
 utes later she heard his approaching foot- 
 steps in the passageway. 
 
 * * Congratulate me ! Miss Huntington, ' ' 
 he cried with beaming face, as he entered the 
 saloon, " the first unit of the power that will 
 one day move the world is placed and in 
 action. I am sure you wish the experiment 
 success. ' ' 
 
 11 If it is to be for the good of humanity, 
 I most certainly do, but you can hardly ex- 
 pect the captive to share in her jailer's en- 
 thusiasm. ' ' 
 
 " Now, that is what I call unkind. In the 
 moment of my exaltation you remind me that, 
 while nominally your captor, I am in reality 
 your slave, bound by withes of steel to your
 
 A Strange Hunting 165 
 
 chariot wheels. But what think you, Serene 
 Highness, is it not worth the inconvenience 
 of being abducted to behold a sight like this? 
 Can the birds of the air discover a more vivid 
 and varied picture of form, colour and mo- 
 tion? " 
 
 Craig waved his hand toward the panel as 
 he spoke. It was, indeed, a wonderful sight. 
 The submarine was surrounded by myriads 
 upon myriads of fish, attracted and fasci- 
 nated by the light which emanated from her. 
 Fish of all sizes, shapes and colours, squirrel 
 fish, angel fish, tangs, pork fish, with their 
 brilliant yellow stripes, soap fish, negro fish, 
 hound fish, with their slender attenuated bod- 
 ies and light blue and silver colourings ; mul- 
 lets, horse-heads, carboneros, mouse fish 
 with their grotesque forms and fussy little 
 personalities ; blue and yellow seweyas, those 
 cutthroats of the finny tribe, ready on the 
 instant to rip open the side of an enemy with 
 the sharp curved spine, which they carry 
 within their bodies near the caudal fin like 
 a stiletto in its sheath ; amber fish, old wives, 
 Spanish ladies, pompanos, and a thousand
 
 166 The Dominant Chord 
 
 others wheeled and circled and flocked around 
 the submarine in a kaleidoscopic mass of 
 colour and motion until the long, dark form 
 of some predatory member of the selachoides 
 darted out of the gloom, sending them scur- 
 rying to cover like song birds at the appear- 
 ance of the red-tailed hawk. Every pigment 
 and colour known to art was represented in 
 their gleaming bodies gold, purple, violet, 
 scarlet, amber, pink, green, yellow, mauve 
 and blue grouped and arranged in the most 
 bizarre patterns. Forms as slender and 
 graceful as a mermaid, forms so grotesque, 
 so distorted, so terrible that they seemed like 
 the fragments of some long forgotten night- 
 mare ; forms that the most vivid human im- 
 agination never could have conceived, drifted 
 and darted across the field of vision. 
 
 ' * Oh, see ! ' ' cried Alice suddenly, * ' here 
 is one which looks for all the world like a 
 sultana roll." 
 
 The fish which had drawn forth this ex- 
 clamation was indeed arrayed in a brilliant 
 and variegated motley. It had stopped be- 
 fore one of the transparent panels and
 
 A Strange Hunting 167 
 
 seemed to be regarding them curiously out 
 of its great, amber-coloured eyes. Its body 
 was marked with six perpendicular black 
 stripes intersecting brilliant horizontal bands 
 of purple, green, red, yellow, blue and gray, 
 while the head was variegated with green 
 and wine-coloured markings radiating from 
 its eyes after the pattern of the rising sun 
 ensign of Japan. 
 
 11 That is strange," remarked Craig, curi- 
 ously. " It looks like a flower parrot, the 
 Mai Guawah of the Singhalese. I have never" 
 known of its being found except on the south- 
 ern coast of Ceylon. I guess we will have to 
 have that fellow for our aquarium." 
 
 * l Aquarium ! ' ' echoed Alice, ' ' I don 't see 
 what you want of an aquarium when you can 
 immerse yourself at will in the midst of the 
 greatest aquarium in nature." 
 
 " That is true if I desired to observe only 
 for the sake of amusement, but there are 
 many inhabitants of the deep whose habits 
 and mode of life are little known which one 
 ought to desire to study and observe more 
 closely. For such as these we have provided
 
 168 The Dominant Chord 
 
 temporary accommodations on board, where 
 they can range at will among their natural 
 surroundings and yet still be always under 
 a watchful and friendly eye. You shall see. ' ' 
 
 As he spoke, he stepped to the cabinet 
 where the electric switches were concealed 
 and closed a circuit. Instantly the soft, 
 purring sound of an electric dynamo was 
 heard, and in the midst of the dark green 
 onyx panels, which formed the dividing par- 
 tition between the saloon and the apartments 
 beyond, milky spots appeared. These spread 
 rapidly, driving the dark green markings of 
 the onyx before them as clouds dissolve upon 
 the surface of a photographic plate, leaving 
 the panels as clear and crystalline as flawless 
 plate glass. 
 
 Alice at once perceived that a space had 
 been left in the thickness of the partition 
 some two feet deep, which was backed by a 
 sheet of softly luminous material similar to 
 that which was used in the lighting panels 
 of the ceiling. The space was entirely filled 
 with clear and sparkling sea water, and the 
 floor had been strewn with fine white sand
 
 A Strange Hunting 169 
 
 and was decorated with kelp and seaweed 
 and graceful coral formations. 
 
 " These are the temporary quarters of our 
 finny guests," smiled Craig. " Do you ap- 
 prove of them? ' 
 
 " They are certainly very ingenious," re- 
 plied Alice, * ' but how do you induce them to 
 enter? ' 
 
 " Oh, that is the easiest part of it. We 
 simply extend them an earnest and pressing 
 invitation to step into our parlour, as the 
 hospitable spider once did to the bashful and 
 retiring fly. I have been waiting until we 
 reached the warmer waters of the tropics 
 before stocking up our crystal palace, as the 
 fish of the equatorial region are much more 
 varied and interesting than those of the tem- 
 perate seas. But I guess we shall have to 
 make a beginning on your sultana roll 
 friend." 
 
 As Craig spoke, he closed another switch, 
 and Alice saw that the tank was connected 
 with the exterior ocean by a large tube of 
 what appeared to be glass, which ended in 
 a funnel-shaped opening in the side of the
 
 170 The Dominant Chord 
 
 ship. In a recess of this tube a curious form 
 of valveless diaphragm pump was sucking 
 the water into the conduit and discharging 
 it through a syphon-like tube into the tank. 
 
 The Mai Guawah was still swimming 
 around near the window when the Sabine 
 began to move slowly backward, bringing it 
 opposite the inlet. The unsuspecting quarry 
 was soon drawn gently towards the opening 
 by an imperceptible current, until suddenly, 
 realizing that something was wrong, it 
 started to dart away, but too late. With a 
 rapid increase of speed the pump injected a 
 powerful jet into the tank, drawing the fish 
 into the opening in spite of its struggles, and 
 throwing it up through the syphon tube into 
 the aquarium, where it was soon swimming 
 calmly about as if it had entirely forgotten 
 its strange experience, and displaying its 
 vivid and glowing colours against the lumi- 
 nous background like a small, animated sec- 
 tion of a solar-spectrum. 
 
 The first specimen having been safely se- 
 cured, Craig moved the yacht slowly about, 
 searching for others. A fine specimen of a
 
 A Strange Hunting 171 
 
 blue tang was soon captured, together with 
 a red hind, a gold bridal parrot fish, a flying 
 gurnard, or bat fish, and several of the funny 
 little black, white and yellow mouse fish be- 
 fore mentioned. 
 
 Craig, in making his captures, was careful 
 to select only those specimens which were 
 reasonably sure to live together in harmony, 
 as the introduction of one of the smaller 
 selachoides into his happy family would have 
 quickly depleted his collection. As there was 
 no lack of game to furnish quarries for this 
 strange hunting, the aquarium was soon filled 
 with specimens of every form, variety and 
 colour. 
 
 As the Sabine moved slowly forward 
 through the waving tendrils and coral 
 branches of the submarine forest, Alice sud- 
 denly clutched Craig's arm. " Look! " she 
 cried excitedly. On the outer edge of the 
 luminous circle of which the Sabine was the 
 core and centre, a dark mass rose up from 
 among the twining branches of the coral for- 
 est like a great, gray ledge. As the Sabine 
 moved closer, it was seen to be the hull of a
 
 172 The Dominant Chord 
 
 vessel, weed-grown and covered with shells 
 and coral, but still recognizable. The wreck 
 was evidently of great antiquity, for the 
 high, carved poop and castellated forecastle 
 revealed a type of marine architecture prev- 
 alent in the fourteenth and fifteenth centu- 
 ries. The masts had broken close off, and 
 stood, short, coral-encrusted stumps, above 
 the deck, like ghostly accusing fingers point- 
 ing up to Heaven. 
 
 Craig manoeuvred the yacht so as to pass 
 entirely around the hull, marvelling at the 
 wonderful preservation of the timbers and 
 the quaintness of its lines. 
 
 As they passed slowly under the stern he 
 stopped the yacht suddenly. Barnacle en- 
 crusted and draped in a heavy growth of 
 seaweed, but still legible, they read, in great 
 raised, curiously carved letters, the name 
 " Santa Maria, Parlos." 
 
 " Can it be possible? " whispered Alice, 
 awe and wonder struggling in her voice. 
 
 " The flagship of Columbus? " questioned 
 Craig. " Possible, but not probable; there 
 were many Santa Marias in those days. The
 
 A Strange Hunting 173 
 
 name was a favourite among the old Spanish 
 mariners, and doubtless many a Santa Maria 
 has sailed out of Parlos never to return. 
 History is rather vague and uncertain as to 
 the fate of the original ship of Columbus. 
 Some accounts have it that she was lost on 
 the Mosquito Coast in an attempt to discover 
 the western passage; others that she was 
 broken up at Cadiz as unseaworthy; others 
 that she went down in a sirocco in the Le- 
 vant. This is worth investigating, however." 
 
 Craig hurried from the saloon as he spoke, 
 and Alice soon saw him clad in his diving 
 suit on the ocean bottom. Approaching the 
 stern of the wreck, he selected a position 
 directly beneath the latticed cabin windows, 
 and admitting a small quantity of water 
 through a valve into the acetyline chamber of 
 his diving suit, floated gently up to the curi- 
 ously carved gallery which extended around 
 the stern. Gaining a foothold on this, he 
 quickly disappeared within one of the dark, 
 cavernous openings and Alice was left a prey 
 to hopes and fears and expectations. 
 
 Craig was lost to sight for almost half an
 
 174 The Dominant Chord 
 
 hour, and Alice was beginning to be seriously 
 alarmed, when she was relieved to behold the 
 light on the top of his helmet emerging from 
 a hatchway on the poop. As he came en- 
 tirely into view, she saw that he was carrying 
 in his arms something, the nature of which 
 she could not make out. Leaping lightly 
 from the poop to the ocean bottom, Craig 
 quickly regained the diving chamber, and 
 Alice soon heard him in the passageway. 
 
 " Well, I don't know whether I have dis- 
 covered the treasure of the Incas, or the 
 crown jewels of Castile," he laughed, as he 
 deposited his find on the table. " I know 
 it is heavy enough, though, when you get it 
 out of the water. " 
 
 The object was evidently a cadenas of sil- 
 ver or some other metal, tarnished and cor- 
 roded a deep black, and thickly encrusted 
 with minute sea shells and coral. 
 
 Craig went forward to the storeroom, and 
 soon returned with a hammer and chisel, and, 
 after knocking off most of the foreign growth 
 which covered the casket like the frosting on 
 a wedding cake, he succeeded, with a few
 
 A Strange Hunting 175 
 
 well-directed strokes, in prying off the lid. 
 The box was entirely filled with a loose and 
 heterogeneous mass of old and water-worn 
 coins. Spanish doubloons, pieces of eight, 
 English sovereigns, coins from all the mari- 
 time countries which border on the Mediter- 
 ranean, and little bars and ingots of metal, 
 whose weight and discolouration indicated 
 them to be gold and silver. At the bottom 
 of the box was discovered a beautifully 
 wrought crucifix attached to a heavy silver 
 chain and the silver hilt of a poniard ex- 
 quisitely picked out in delicate arabesques, 
 a superb example of the armourer's art. 
 The blade of the dagger had been entirely 
 eaten away, a brown, rusty streak only show- 
 ing where the tang had entered the hilt. A 
 beautifully carved tourmaline had been set 
 in the pommel, and in examining the stone 
 Craig accidentally touched a secret spring, 
 when the piece came off in his hand, showing 
 it to be a heavy signet ring which had been 
 cunningly contrived to fit into a recess in the 
 pommel, for the convenience, doubtless, of 
 the owner when he did not wish to wear it
 
 176 The Dominant Chord 
 
 on his finger. The stone was skilfully quar- 
 tered with the arms of Castile and Leon, and 
 on rubbing the heavy filigree setting, the 
 salient points of the gold soon began to gleam 
 with their pristine lustre. 
 
 " This is indeed a find," cried Craig glee- 
 fully; " this can be nothing less than the 
 signet of the renowned Isabella herself. We 
 will say it is, at any rate, and who is there 
 to dispute us? Would you like to see how 
 the insignia of royalty becomes your patri- 
 cian finger? " went on Craig, banteringly. 
 
 Alice was intently examining the marvel- 
 lous carving of the crucifix, and stretched out 
 her hand for the ring without looking up. 
 The next thing she realized Craig had taken 
 it in his own and slipped the heavy signet 
 over her third finger, at the same time saying 
 in a deep and solemn voice : ' ' With this 
 ring I thee wed." 
 
 For a moment the unexpectedness of the 
 thing held her motionless; a powerful cur- 
 rent seemed to be flowing through the contact 
 which their fingers made, permeating and 
 thrilling her entire body, and then : snatch-
 
 A Strange Hunting 177 
 
 ing her hand from his reluctant grasp, she 
 sprang erect, facing him, her eyes flashing 
 lightning glances and every fibre of her form 
 quivering with anger. For a moment thus, 
 and then, tearing the heavy signet from her 
 finger, she flung it to the farthest corner of 
 the cabin and swept from the room. 
 
 Craig stood motionless for a moment look- 
 ing after her with his inscrutable smile, and 
 then, starting the pumps which brought the 
 Sabine to the surface, he ascended to the 
 deck. 
 
 On returning to the saloon an hour later, 
 a careful search of that part of the cabin 
 where Alice had thrown it failed to reveal 
 the ring. Craig went over the ground care- 
 fully several times. The silver cadenas, with 
 its heap of coins, the crucifix, the carved hilt 
 of the poniard, all were there, but the signet 
 of the royal Isabella had unaccountably dis- 
 appeared.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE POWERS OP OMNIUM 
 
 DAY after day the Sabine held her course 
 leisurely southward. The biting February 
 gales of the Hook gave place to the warm 
 and languorous breath of the tropics. By 
 day the ocean surrounded them a sheet of 
 glittering sapphire, while at night the stars 
 glowed on the soft black velvet of the sky 
 like luminous lamps of love beckoning them 
 to some enchanted region below the horizon. 
 Often they passed small, heavily wooded 
 cays or islands clothed in a luxuriance of 
 tropical verdure, and at times the air would 
 be heavy with the scent of orange blossoms 
 and the flowering eucalyptus. 
 
 One day the luminous pointer of the telau- 
 tographic chart told Alice that they had 
 forced the Mona Passage and had entered 
 that realm of romance, that treasure house 
 of story and legend, the Caribbean Sea. At 
 178
 
 The Powers of Omnium 179 
 
 last they were floating on the waters where 
 had ploughed the treasure-laden galleons of 
 old, where Drake and Morgan had led their 
 picturesque cutthroats and buccanneers, 
 where the great Columbus had steered his 
 caravels in search of the western passage, 
 and where Cortez, Pizarro and Balboa had 
 led their conquistadors to the subjugation of 
 a new world. 
 
 As the days passed away in this enchanted 
 region of warmth and sunshine, Alice grad- 
 ually ceased to think of the strangeness of 
 her situation. The old life back in New York, 
 with its round of teas, theatres and recep- 
 tions, its many insistent, inconsequential 
 trivialities, seemed infinitely remote. The 
 pure patrician pallor of her face had given 
 place to the ruddy glow of perfect and ex- 
 uberant health. The charm, the alluring 
 mysticism, the sensuous appeal of the trop- 
 ics was entering into her and claiming her 
 for its own. 
 
 Something was growing and expanding 
 within her nature, something which she little 
 suspected and still less understood. In Craig
 
 180 The Dominant Chord 
 
 she found an interesting companion as well 
 as a stubborn jailer. It could not be said 
 that he suited his moods to hers, rather that 
 he moulded and bent her moods to his. To 
 a certain extent he dominated her, and the 
 occasional realization of the fact never failed 
 to throw her into a violent outburst of tem- 
 per, as if to repudiate what her very vehe- 
 mence revealed. These outbursts gained in 
 violence as they became less frequent, as if 
 they hoped to make up in intensity what they 
 lacked in pertinacity. After one of these 
 outbursts Alice would confine herself to her 
 cabin for days at a time. 
 
 Craig bowed his head to the storms, and 
 busied himself with Ms drafting board until 
 curiosity, impatience or anger drove her out 
 of retirement again. There was a whimsical, 
 boyish ingenuousness about him at times that 
 drew her strangely without her knowing it, 
 a mood which masked but did not conceal the 
 man of iron will and inflexible purpose. 
 
 These days of aimless wandering on an 
 ocean of dreams were not days of idleness 
 for Craig. For hours at a time he would sit
 
 The Powers of Omnium 181 
 
 bending over his drafting table or figuring 
 out stresses and strains in the new mate- 
 rial he was developing. For hours at a time 
 they would sit together in the chart house, 
 or, in the evening, under the awning over the 
 stern, talking of his plans, hopes, and aspira- 
 tions, and Alice was acquiring an insight into 
 a phase of life, a strata of activity, of the 
 existence of which she had before been 
 hardly conscious. 
 
 It was on one of these balmy, tropical eve- 
 nings, as they sat under the taffrail awning, 
 that Craig told her his story and of the won- 
 derful substance whose discovery he expected 
 to revolutionize social and economic condi- 
 tions ; a story which held her breathless and 
 spellbound until its close. She had asked 
 him about the marvellous windows of the 
 chart house, and of what they could be made 
 to resist the enormous pressure of the water 
 in submerging. 
 
 " That material," replied Craig, in answer 
 to her question, " is omnium, the most won- 
 derful substance in the world to-day, the 
 story of the discovery and development of
 
 182 The Dominant Chord 
 
 which is practically the story of my recent 
 life." 
 
 " It must be very interesting. Won't you 
 tell it to me? " 
 
 " Willingly. If you can imagine a sub- 
 stance having the specific gravity of alumi- 
 num, forty times the tensile strength of va- 
 nadium steel, the elasticity of pure rubber, 
 the transparency of glass, ten times the con- 
 ductivity of pure copper under certain con- 
 ditions, and an absolute electrical insulator 
 under certain others, you can form a partial 
 conception of this remarkable substance. 
 
 " The story of how I came to be mixed up 
 in it is briefly told. I had just landed in 
 New York from a three years' sojourn on 
 the Isthmus, where I had been engaged on 
 some of the engineering work in the Canal 
 Zone, and was strolling aimlessly up Broad- 
 way when I ran into an old friend, a chum 
 of my student days. We were delighted to 
 see each other, and promptly adjourned to 
 the Engineering Club to swap experiences. 
 He had just returned from an exploring ex- 
 pedition to Labrador in the interest of the
 
 The Powers of Omnium 183 
 
 Government at Quebec, and was full of en- 
 thusiasm regarding a wonderful water power 
 located in the unexplored interior of that 
 little known country, rumours concerning 
 which he had picked up among the Indians 
 of the fishing villages along the coast. The 
 wanderlust, the thirst for exploration, was 
 burning strong within him, and his thrilling 
 tales of this marvellous country fell on sym- 
 pathetic ears. 
 
 " There must have been something con- 
 tagious in his enthusiasm, for, before we 
 parted that evening, his suggestion that we 
 get up an expedition to discover this mys- 
 terious waterfall, or at least satisfy our- 
 selves that it did not exist, had been agreed 
 to, and we had planned to meet the following 
 week and work out the details. 
 
 " To make a long story short, three months 
 later found us at a little fishing village on 
 the east coast, waiting for the snow to give 
 us a firm footing for our dog teams. 
 
 " 111 luck seemed to pursue our expedition 
 from the start. We had hardly penetrated a 
 hundred miles into the interior before small-
 
 184 The Dominant Chord 
 
 pox broke out among the party, and in spite 
 of all we could do, four of our men were car- 
 ried off by it. Charlie was the last one to 
 come down with it. We did everything we 
 could for him, but on the twentieth day from 
 the time we left the coast he died, and we 
 buried his body beside the trail. Almost his 
 last words were, ' Push on, Jack, I know you 
 will find it.' 
 
 " Well, I determined to push on with what 
 was left of the party, but though the small- 
 pox seemed to have left us, our trials were 
 by no means over. A malignant disease soon 
 broke out among the dogs, wiping out some 
 of the teams and so weakening the others 
 that we were obliged to cache some of our 
 provisions and leave them behind. 
 
 " In spite of these difficulties we had suc- 
 ceeded in penetrating into the region where 
 I knew the waterfall must be located, if it 
 existed at all, when one day, on returning 
 to camp from a short detour, I found that 
 my party had decamped. They had become 
 alarmed by the shrinkage of the provisions 
 and our distance from the coast, and had
 
 The Powers of Omnium 185 
 
 taken advantage of my absence to hit the 
 back trail. My position was, as you may sup- 
 pose, pretty desperate, and would have been 
 more so but for my plan of dividing supplies 
 among the sledges so that the outfit of each 
 sledge would be complete in itself. Thanks 
 to this practice it turned out that I was bet- 
 ter supplied with the one team I had with 
 me than were the rest of the party with their 
 larger numbers to feed. 
 
 " As I am of a somewhat tenacious dispo- 
 sition, I determined to take one more day in 
 exploring the range before turning back, the 
 more so as I judged from the conformation 
 of the region that I must be in the immediate 
 vicinity of the falls, if falls there were. My 
 search did not reveal anything, however, and 
 I had turned my dogs' heads to the coast, 
 convinced that the cataract of the ' "White 
 Spirit ' was a myth, when on crossing a range 
 my ear was saluted by a distant booming 
 which I at once recognized as the sound of 
 falling water. 
 
 " All that morning I followed the sound, 
 until late in the afternoon I came out on the
 
 186 The Dominant Chord 
 
 banks of a swiftly flowing river at the foot 
 of a wall of cliffs, and saw a sight which I 
 shall never forget. The cliffs rose sheer 
 from the valley to a height of six hundred 
 feet, and from the top the bellowing cataract 
 made its leap into space. The volume of 
 water was not as great as that which flows 
 out of Lake Erie, but the height of the falls 
 made the Horseshoe seem like a mill dam 
 in comparison. Here was a water power 
 without rival in the world. 
 
 " I spent the following day in climbing to 
 the tableland above the falls and examining 
 the conformation of the watershed and the 
 character of the country. The valley was 
 sheltered from the north by a high range of 
 mountains and showed indications of great 
 mineral wealth. Of my journey back to the 
 coast I will spare you the details. Sufficient 
 to say that I arrived at the settlement with 
 nothing but my rifle and the shinbone of my 
 last dog hanging over my shoulder. 
 
 " In another month I was back in New 
 York again and wondering for what purpose 
 I had expended so much energy and labour,
 
 The Powers of Omnium 187 
 
 when the question was unexpectedly an- 
 swered for me in a most remarkable manner. 
 " It seems there had been an accident on 
 the transmission line of the Niagara Falls 
 Power Company; an enormous short circuit 
 had occurred which had jumped through 
 everything, partially destroying the plant and 
 putting the lighting system of several cities 
 and towns out of commission. Its source was 
 traced to the laboratory of a German scien- 
 tist, one Herr Rothe by name, who had been 
 killed by the flash and whose little plant had 
 been burned down. In searching among the 
 ruins of the latter a small rod about twelve 
 inches long and a half an inch in diameter of 
 what appeared to be glass was discovered, 
 but on examination it was found to possess 
 qualities unknown in any glass up to that 
 time. It happened to fall into the hands of a 
 man who brought it to me to test. I soon 
 found that I had a remarkable substance un- 
 der examination. Though apparently noth- 
 ing but a rod of perfectly clear glass, it had 
 the strength and toughness of the finest tool 
 steel. No tool, not even a diamond could
 
 188 The Dominant Chord 
 
 make any impression on it. If sufficient 
 power were applied it could be bent into a 
 circle, but when the pressure was removed 
 it would spring back to its original shape, 
 uninjured. One day, in seeking to determine 
 its elasticity, I tested it to the point of 
 destruction, and after stretching it out to 
 about twenty times its natural length it broke 
 in the middle, and I had two pieces where 
 before I had had but one; and now comes 
 the wonderful part of the story. 
 
 " One day I was testing one of the pieces 
 in an electrical circuit to determine its insu- 
 lating qualities, when my assistant happened 
 to pick up the other piece, which was lying 
 on a table nearby. With a yell he dropped it 
 like a red-hot coal. 
 
 " ' What is the matter! ' I asked. 
 
 11 i Matter,' he replied angrily, ' matter 
 enough. I got a shock off of that darn thing. 
 It's hotter than Hades.' 
 
 ' ' ' Nonsense, ' I laughed, and picked up the 
 piece from the floor. As I grasped it in my 
 hand I felt nothing, but happening to put my 
 thumb over the end of the rod, I received a
 
 The Powers of Omnium 189 
 
 shock which knocked ine half way across the 
 room. 
 
 " It was now my assistant's turn to laugh, 
 but I did not mind, I felt that I was on the 
 trail of something big. I at once started to 
 investigate, and found that the piece of rod 
 which I held was evidently receiving its cur- 
 rent from the piece which I had connected 
 with the dynamo circuit. I carried it into 
 the next room and the result was the same. 
 I carried it home with me to the other end 
 of the town, and there was apparently no 
 diminution in the strength of the current. 
 My head was beginning to swim with the 
 magnitude of the discovery. By arrange- 
 ment with the superintendent of the lighting 
 plant, I substituted my two pieces of rod in 
 place of the return leg of one of his lighting 
 circuits, and succeeded in transmitting the 
 full amperage over a distance of over four 
 miles without wires. Then I knew that I held 
 in my hand the solution of the wireless trans- 
 mission of power, but the problem was how 
 to duplicate the wonderful substance. 
 
 " Herr Rothe had died evidently at the
 
 190 The Dominant Chord 
 
 moment of success and had taken his secret 
 with him. I made a careful investigation 
 among his effects to determine the materials 
 with which he had been experimenting, and, 
 so far as possible, his methods, and after 
 months of discouraging work and innumer- 
 able failures, and after again almost wreck- 
 ing the plant of the power company, I suc- 
 ceeded in producing a small rod about 
 three inches long of what I have called 
 omnium. 
 
 " The rest is merely a story of develop- 
 ment. I had at my command the knowledge 
 of a vast water power, and the means to 
 transmit that power and make it valuable. 
 The obtaining of the grants from the Gov- 
 ernment at Ottawa, and the building of the 
 laboratories and the power plant at the foot 
 of the falls have consumed the three years 
 since I first met you at the Embassy Ball, 
 but now the roar of my battery of transmit- 
 ters at the top of the cliff is drowning the 
 thunder of the cataract, ready to furnish 
 power to all who may apply." 
 
 " And you mean to tell me that the power
 
 The Powers of Omnium 191 
 
 which drives this boat is derived from a 
 waterfall in the wilds of Labrador? " 
 
 " Precisely. This cruise was undertaken 
 in part to test the limits of transmission and 
 the losses entailed. We are now some three 
 thousand miles from our base and there has 
 been as yet no apparent drop in our power. ' * 
 
 " I can hardly believe it. Have you any 
 theory which satisfactorily explains the phe- 
 nomena! " 
 
 " Only vaguely. The development of the 
 substance is too recent to have all of its 
 eccentricities reduced to scientific formulas. 
 We only know that under certain conditions 
 it does certain things. The how and the why 
 are still matters of conjecture. My own the- 
 ory (hardly a scientific one, I fear, but filling 
 the bill as far as a working hypothesis goes) 
 is roughly this : Science, in order to satis- 
 factorily explain the transmission of light 
 and heat, had to create ether a hypothet- 
 ical element of extreme tenuity and elas- 
 ticity, pervading all matter and filling the 
 vastness of interstellar space, having the 
 property of transmitting light and heat, and
 
 192 The Dominant Chord 
 
 of producing the phenomena of electricity and 
 magnetism. Now bearing in mind the ex- 
 treme elasticity of omnium, why is it not 
 reasonable to suppose that when a rod of the 
 substance is stretched to the point of frac- 
 ture, its broken ends are still connected by 
 an intangible, impalpable essence beyond the 
 detection of our dull and imperfect senses, 
 and that this emanation, essence, or what- 
 ever you choose to call it, has the power to 
 transmit electrical currents practically with- 
 out loss." 
 
 " Then all you have to do to obtain power 
 at a distance is to take a mass of omnium, 
 pull it apart, connect one piece to a dy- 
 namo and carry the other piece where you 
 will? " 
 
 ' ' That is the idea precisely. ' ' 
 
 ' l How wonderful ! ' ' murmured Alice. 
 
 " Would you like to see the mechanism of 
 our receiving end? " 
 
 " Very much." 
 
 Rising, Craig led the way to the saloon, 
 and sliding back a panel under the staircase, 
 revealed a long passageway which led for-
 
 The Powers of Omnium 193 
 
 ward, between his apartments and those 
 which she herself occupied. 
 
 Alice had never ventured into this part of 
 the boat before. As they made their way 
 forward, they passed through the small gal- 
 ley or kitchen of the yacht, equipped upon 
 one side with refrigerating compartments, 
 cupboards and closets for stores, and on the 
 opposite side above the mixing table the 
 walls were filled with a number of electric 
 ovens and broilers, each with its automatic 
 time switch and control. 
 
 " You see our chef has no excuse for fail- 
 ures," Craig remarked. " The temperature 
 of our ovens is automatically regulated and 
 shut off by a time clock, so that we always 
 get accurate results. ' ' 
 
 Alice would fain have lingered to inspect 
 this modern kitchen, but Craig led her for- 
 ward into the very eyes of the ship, where 
 the power plant was located. Here, mounted 
 on a heavy rail, like a buss-bar, was a large 
 hemisphere of what appeared to be dull 
 bronze metal, on the flat upper surface of 
 which innumerable tiny, electric sparks were
 
 194 The Dominant Chord 
 
 dancing and crackling, giving off the fresh 
 pungent odour of liberated oxygen. 
 
 " That does not look very formidable, does 
 it? " remarked Craig. " But from the other 
 half of that ball, which is mounted on the 
 cliff overlooking our power house, a stream 
 of electric fire several yards long is shooting 
 out into space with the roar of a hundred 
 Gatling guns." 
 
 * ' It must be a wonderful sight to see your 
 entire battery in operation." 
 
 " It is. Some day you shall see it." 
 
 " You speak very confidently." 
 
 "Why not! " 
 
 " You must not think that the interest I 
 take in your work, Mr. Craig, extends to 
 yourself. ' ' 
 
 " No, not now perhaps, but it will in time. 
 * All things come to those who wait.* 
 
 ' ' Yes. If they wait in the right spirit. I 
 am afraid that you have not discovered the 
 right spirit." 
 
 " Well, I am willing to seek for that also." 
 
 " I am sorry, but it is too late. You elected 
 to take things into your own hands to try
 
 The Powers of Omnium 195 
 
 and shape the course of events, and the inevi- 
 table consequences will inevitably follow." 
 
 " I interfered to preserve the status quo. 
 If I had not, what would have been the re- 
 sult? By this time you would have been the 
 Duchess of Buckminster, and probably the 
 most wretchedly unhappy woman in the 
 world, while I well, all the waiting in the 
 world would not have helped my case. ' * 
 
 " You are referring to a subject which I 
 have repeatedly told you I could not discuss 
 with you. You recall to me the fact that I 
 am still a prisoner here. With your gracious 
 permission I shall retire to my cell."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 A STAETLING ENCOUNTER 
 
 ONE afternoon, as the Sabine was slowly 
 drifting by a densely wooded gem of an 
 island, Alice, who happened to be in the chart 
 house, expressed a wish to land and explore 
 it. It was the first time since she had come 
 on board that she had voluntarily expressed 
 a desire for anything. Craig, now as quick 
 to please as he had at first been firm and 
 uncompromising, immediately slowed down 
 the yacht and ran her nose gently up on the 
 beach. 
 
 " Suppose we prepare a lunch and make 
 a picnic of it," he suggested with boyish 
 enthusiasm, that seemed to communicate it- 
 self to Alice. 
 
 Hardly waiting for her assent, he plunged 
 below, and soon returned with rugs and cush- 
 ions, and a hamper plentifully stored with 
 good things. Depositing these at the gang- 
 
 196
 
 A Startling Encounter 197 
 
 way, he next brought to light from a con- 
 cealed pocket in the deck a fairy craft as light 
 and delicate as Cinderella's crystal slipper. 
 It was a canoe made of a perfectly clear sheet 
 of the wondrous substance omnium, and when 
 launched it floated lightly on the water, like 
 a chalice of flashing, glittering crystal. 
 
 Alice hardly dared to step into the frail 
 craft. It seemed as if she must certainly put 
 her foot straight through the bottom. Craig 
 laughingly reassured her by his example, and 
 they were soon embarked and skirting along 
 the shore, looking for a suitable place to land. 
 
 Gazing down through the bottom of their 
 tiny craft, Alice could see the fish, frightened 
 by their approach, darting away to places of 
 concealment among the stones. Once her 
 heart came into her mouth as a big rock 
 bumped against the side of the canoe, but 
 the seemingly frail craft sustained the im- 
 pact without damage. 
 
 Soon a shelving beach with an open grove 
 back of it tempted them to land, and drawing 
 the canoe up the shingle, Craig spread out 
 the rugs under the shade of the overhanging
 
 198 The Dominant Chord 
 
 foliage and set out the contents of the 
 hamper in the most attractive manner pos- 
 sible. 
 
 " Now, this is what I call living/' he an- 
 nounced, as he leaned back against the trunk 
 of a huge eucalyptus tree, a puree de foie gras 
 sandwich in one hand and a huge olive im- 
 paled on a spear in the other. 
 
 " Confess now, Miss Alice, would you not 
 rather be a prisoner on this gem of a tropical 
 island with even such a fierce, untamed ogre 
 as myself for a jailer, than to be locked up 
 in a musty, old tumbled-down castle, where 
 a shower bath is an anachronism and electric 
 lights are unknown, and with his Grace the 
 Duke keeping watch and ward at the outer 
 portal? ' 
 
 " Since I apparently have no choice in the 
 matter, I fail to see of what use a confession 
 would be." 
 
 Alice's spirits were expanding with her 
 advent on terra-firma, and she could not seem 
 to muster the necessary resolution to be an- 
 gry just then. 
 
 " Confession is said to be good for the
 
 A Startling Encounter 199 
 
 soul," remarked Craig comfortably, " just 
 as puree de foie gras is good for the 
 body." 
 
 " When taken internally. Thank you, I 
 think I prefer to retain my confessions 
 within, where they will do me the most 
 good." 
 
 " Silence is often a confession," remarked 
 Craig. 
 
 " Yes, if one chooses to take it that way. 
 I cannot help the interpretation you place 
 upon my actions. ' ' 
 
 " I don't interpret them. I should soon 
 be a fit subject for a sanatorium if I tried. 
 Actions lead to results; I am content to 
 await the results." 
 
 " Oh, you are? " 
 
 " Yes, why notf We are here; what could 
 anyone desire more than this? A beautiful 
 tropical island for a domain. The sound of 
 the sea to soothe one's slumbers, a peaceful 
 circumscribing ocean to gaze out upon and 
 to keep visitors off the front lawn, and 
 * Thou beside me singing in the wilder- 
 ness.' "
 
 200 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " Your poetic fancy is leading you astray, 
 Mr. Craig. I am not singing. ' ' 
 
 " Well, you look as if you might on slight 
 provocation. I never have seen you appear 
 so thoroughly contented since your advent 
 on board the Sabine." 
 
 " Appearances are often deceptive. For 
 instance, you look as if you were in a deeply 
 contemplative frame of mind, when I know 
 that in reality you are merely anxious to 
 take a nap." 
 
 " Sleep on a day like this! No, perish the 
 thought. I am going to leave you to the 
 contemplation of your shortcomings and take 
 a trip of exploration along the beach." 
 
 * * Well, bon voyage ! If you don 't find me 
 here when you come back, you will know that 
 I have started on the return trip to New 
 York." 
 
 Alice watched Craig's tall, athletic figure 
 as it swung down the beach, and wondered 
 at the change that had come over her feel- 
 ings in three short weeks. This man had 
 forcibly removed her from her accustomed 
 station in life, and was still holding her cap-
 
 A Startling Encounter 201 
 
 tive against her will, yet she was treating 
 him not only with tolerance but even with 
 intimacy. She told herself that she was 
 merely making the best of the situation, 
 but that hardly seemed to satisfy the re- 
 quirements of her searching self-investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 The earliest form of wooing was with a 
 club, and abduction, in olden times, was the 
 only recognized method of obtaining a wife. 
 Alice idly wondered whether the modern 
 daughters of humanity had entirely emanci- 
 pated themselves from those old, primeval 
 customs. To get away from the thought she 
 determined to make an exploration for her- 
 self, and as Craig had taken the beach, she 
 decided to strike into the woods and try to 
 cross the island, which she knew could not 
 be of any great extent. 
 
 The undergrowth was thicker than she had 
 supposed, however, and after penetrating 
 some distance she was about to give up the 
 attempt when she suddenly broke through the 
 dense leafy screen and came out on the shore 
 of a little cove closely sequestered between
 
 202 The Dominant Chord 
 
 two heavily wooded promontories, and al- 
 most entirely landlocked. 
 
 Lying quietly in the centre of this natural 
 basin, Alice was rather startled to behold a 
 small, black schooner. She had fine and 
 graceful lines, and was evidently capable of 
 considerable speed, but there was a general 
 air of carelessness and neglect about her 
 which was at once apparent to Alice's nau- 
 tical eye, and which gave her a forbidding 
 and sinister appearance. Her sides, which 
 had once been painted black, were streaked 
 palewise with long bands of rust from her 
 channel plates. One of her topmasts was 
 missing, and her running rigging was hang- 
 ing loose and unkempt from her slender, 
 tapering masts. There was not a sign of 
 life about her, but a small whaleboat, as rusty 
 and ill-conditioned as the craft it tended, was 
 drawn up on the beach, showing that some, 
 at least, of the crew were on the island. 
 
 Alice felt an instinctive suspicion of the 
 character of a craft that would be found 
 tucked away in such an out of the way place. 
 She might be a sponge fisherman or a trader
 
 A Startling Encounter 
 
 among the islands, but the trading schooners 
 were hardly more than pirates of a smaller 
 growth, and seldom refrained from turning 
 their hands to anything that promised to 
 yield a dollar, honest or otherwise. 
 
 Alice determined to quietly retrace her 
 steps, and inform Craig of the presence of 
 the stranger, and was just turning to carry 
 out her intention, when a shadow fell at her 
 feet, and looking up she found herself face to 
 face with a man.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE BATTLE ON THE BEACH 
 
 THE stranger was carefully dressed in a 
 suit of blue yachting cloth; a broad felt 
 sombrero was perched picturesquely on his 
 jet black hair, and through a brilliant red 
 sash about his waist was thrust a long sti- 
 letto in a sheath of lizard's skin. The face 
 was singularly handsome, and at the same 
 time singularly sinister, dark, oval and clear 
 cut, with deep-set, brilliant eyes and a small, 
 jet-black moustache, which pointed straight 
 out and revealed rather than concealed two 
 rows of gleaming white teeth. The soft, 
 white shirt which he wore was scrupulously 
 clean and was rolled away from the throat, 
 exposing the smooth olive skin. The whole 
 appearance of the man was of a nature one 
 would hardly expect to find among the crew 
 of such a disreputable looking craft. 
 
 Alice had difficulty in suppressing a 
 
 204
 
 The Battle on the Beach 205 
 
 scream at the suddenness of this apparition. 
 The stranger stood smiling quietly, but made 
 no attempt to address her. Although his 
 eyes were bent on her, his head was turned 
 slightly aside, as though he was listening for 
 something. Alice dropped her eyes and 
 made a movement to pass him, but the 
 stranger stretched out a detaining hand. 
 
 " Don't go," he said, in excellent English, 
 showing his teeth in an evil smile. 
 
 " Pardon," said Alice hurriedly, " but I 
 must rejoin my party." 
 
 " Don't go," he repeated. 
 
 Alice fell back a step. Her heart was 
 beating rapidly, but she managed outwardly 
 to retain her composure. 
 
 At this moment three men broke through 
 the undergrowth and came out on the shore 
 of the cove. Two of them were small, under- 
 sized men of nondescript appearance, evi- 
 dently Cubans or low-class Spaniards, of the 
 riffraff which one meets along the beaches 
 of the "Windward Islands. The third was a 
 burly, black Jamaica negro; the coarse, flat 
 features, the thick lips, and the brilliant red
 
 206 The Dominant Chord 
 
 handkerchief bound around his head, con- 
 tributing their part to a singularly brutal 
 and repulsive entirety. All three carried 
 long, murderous looking knives in their 
 belts, and taken altogether they were about 
 as villainous a looking set of ruffians as one 
 would want to meet in an out of the way 
 place. 
 
 Alice, now thoroughly alarmed, attempted 
 to pass by the group, but the first comer, 
 who seemed to exercise some authority over 
 the others, suddenly reached out and seized 
 her by the wrist. 
 
 " Here, none of that," he cried roughly, 
 " you come with me." 
 
 Alice screamed as she felt his hand upon 
 her, and tried to wrench herself free, but 
 the effort was unavailing, and one of the 
 other men seizing her free arm, she was 
 rapidly dragged down to the shore. 
 
 " Hurry up, boys, and get this baggage 
 into the boat, and we will come back for the 
 captain." 
 
 Alice's heart sank as she realized the use- 
 lessness of the struggle, but her cry had
 
 The Battle on the Beach 207 
 
 evidently reached the ear of someone, for 
 rapid steps were heard coming along the 
 beach, and in another moment Craig broke 
 through the bushes and appeared on the top 
 of the bank. His eye took in the situation 
 at a glance, and like a raging berserker he 
 charged down the slope into the group. The 
 big negro turned to intercept him, but, duck- 
 ing under the blow that was aimed at him, 
 Craig landed his fist full on the point of the 
 jaw. The black went down as if struck by 
 a steam hammer and lay where he fell. The 
 two Cubans had hardly time to turn to meet 
 the onslaught when Craig was upon them. 
 Seizing the nearest around the body, with a 
 supreme effort of strength he lifted him 
 from the ground and dashed him upon his 
 companion, who was just drawing his knife. 
 The two men went down in a heap, but as 
 Craig turned to face his last antagonist he 
 tripped over a piece of driftwood and fell 
 on top of the pile. Instantly the beach was 
 a kaleidoscope of flying arms and writhing 
 bodies. 
 
 Alice gave a scream as Craig went down,
 
 208 The Dominant Chord 
 
 and then watched the struggle, wide-eyed 
 but silent. 
 
 The breathing of the combatants came 
 heavily but in gasps, as they struggled to 
 turn each other under. The Cubans had lost 
 their knives in the melee, and as Craig was 
 unarmed the struggle was purely one of 
 brute force. 
 
 In spite of the odds it seemed as if the 
 engineer would get the better of the en- 
 counter. His antagonists were both small 
 men, and singly would have been no match 
 for him, but the negro was beginning to 
 show signs of consciousness, and Alice felt 
 that she must do something. The fighting 
 instinct of her forefathers was rising within 
 her. The look of terror in her eyes was 
 rapidly giving place to the light of battle. 
 The Spaniard, with one hand grasping her 
 wrist, was carelessly twirling his moustache 
 and calmly awaiting the outcome of the 
 struggle. Suddenly, as the negro was rais- 
 ing his head from the sand, Alice turned 
 and sank her sharp, white teeth into the 
 flesh of the Spaniard's forearm. With an
 
 The Battle on the Beach 209 
 
 oath he released his hold on her wrist, and 
 swinging his arm around in a back-hand 
 blow, struck her full on the forehead, stag- 
 gering her and bringing her to her knees. 
 
 " Take that, you she devil! " he cried, 
 with a string of blood-curdling profanity, 
 and drawing his knife he sprang toward the 
 heap of struggling men. 
 
 Alice felt faint and dizzy, but her spirit 
 was not subdued. Seizing a heavy billet of 
 driftwood she staggered to her feet pre- 
 pared to renew the fight. The Spaniard was 
 circling around the struggling mass, watch- 
 ing for a chance to use his knife. Once more 
 Craig, by a supreme effort, succeeded in 
 turning both his assailants under him, and 
 the Spaniard drew back his arm to thrust 
 the knife in his unprotected back, when the 
 billet of driftwood, swung with all the power 
 at Alice's command, struck him just above 
 the elbow, paralyzing his arm and sending 
 the knife flying from his grasp. At the same 
 moment a shove precipitated him on top of 
 the panting, struggling mass. The new ar- 
 rival was promptly sucked into the whirl-
 
 210 The Dominant Chord 
 
 pool of the fight, for the Cubans had by this 
 time lost their heads, and were fighting aim- 
 lessly. In the tangle of arms and bodies 
 recognition was impossible; every man was 
 fighting for himself. 
 
 Alice hung over the pile watching for a 
 chance to use her club again, but the rapid 
 contortions of the combatants gave her scant 
 opportunity. 
 
 At last it seemed as if the fortunes of the 
 struggle would rest with Craig, for he had 
 got the Spaniard by the throat and was 
 bending him back across the bodies of the 
 other two, when Alice suddenly felt herself 
 thrust to one side and a burly form inter- 
 posed between her and the heap of strug- 
 gling men. Just as Craig was forcing the 
 Spaniard's head back into the sand, the butt 
 of a heavy revolver descended with crushing 
 force on his unprotected head, and without 
 a sound he sank forward unconscious.
 
 CHAPTEE XVn 
 
 PKISONEES 
 
 THE individual whose intervention had 
 produced such decisive results was a tre- 
 mendous figure, standing over six feet, three 
 inches in his boots. His massive propor- 
 tions dwarfed into insignificance even the 
 burly form of the negro. With hands thrust 
 deep into the pockets of a worn and rusty 
 reefing jacket, and little twinkling eyes that 
 looked out from a rugged weather-beaten 
 face, he surveyed the scene. 
 
 " Well, you're a pretty lookin' lot of 
 beach combers, you be," he remarked sar- 
 castically, at the same time ejecting about 
 a gill of tobacco juice from his mouth, and 
 wiping off the residue, which ran down the 
 rusty stubble of his beard, with the back of 
 his hand. " Looks like I'd have to get a 
 wet nurse for some of yer. You sure be a 
 rum-lookin' bunch. Come, Jupe," address- 
 
 211
 
 212 The Dominant Chord 
 
 ing the negro, who was sitting up looking at 
 the scene in a dazed and stupid manner, 
 " get a bucket of sea water and let's see 
 if there's any life in this rooster; he seems 
 to be some tough." 
 
 A heavy kick in the small of the back from 
 the stout sea boots he wore emphasized the 
 command, and at once galvanized the negro 
 into activity. Going to the whaleboat he got 
 out a bucket and dashed some salt water on 
 Craig's bruised and bleeding head. 
 
 The Spaniard had meanwhile arisen and 
 was carefully flicking the sand from his 
 clothing, at the same time regarding his 
 prostrate adversary with an evil smile. 
 Several dark blotches on either side of his 
 windpipe testified to the power of the grip 
 which Craig had fastened upon his throat. 
 
 The two Cubans, bruised and battered, 
 had also gained their feet and were cursing 
 volubly as they took account of their in- 
 juries. 
 
 Alice, overwhelmed at the sudden turn of 
 affairs, had sunk down on the sand, incapa- 
 ble of further effort.
 
 Prisoners 213 
 
 " Well, where did yer find this bunch of 
 trouble, Manuel? " inquired the captain, for 
 the big man was evidently the leader of the 
 party. 
 
 " Didn't find them," replied Manuel sul- 
 lenly, " they found us." 
 
 " Have yer seen their boat? " 
 
 " Yes, she is over on the other side of the 
 island, with her bows half out of water. 
 Must have run on the beach in the night. 
 They'll have a nice time getting her off." 
 
 11 Yes, I know; I seen her myself." 
 
 " See any signs of life about her? " 
 
 " No, they must all be asleep." 
 
 " She would make pretty nice picking. If 
 we could get aboard without being heard we 
 might take her." 
 
 " Manuel, you're a fool! Do yer want to 
 get your bloomin' block knocked off? There 
 must be a dozen hands aboard that packet, 
 and if they're all like this cock of the walk 
 here, what chance would yer have? No, no, 
 that ain't our lay. They're high and dry 
 and the tide's goin' out. They won't be able 
 to git her off before midnight anyway.
 
 214 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Meanwhile we'll take yer friends here 
 aboard the Pretty Polly, and be gettin' an 
 offin'. If we once get our masthead below 
 the sky line, I'll stump the devil himself to 
 find us among the islands. This 'ere is a 
 real lady. I can tell by her looks, and them 
 swell guys will loosen up big on their wads 
 to get her back right side up with care." 
 
 While this dialogue was going on, the 
 negro was assiduously searching Craig's 
 pockets, bringing to light a bunch of keys, 
 a penknife, some odds and ends, and a round 
 metal box about the size of a pocket com- 
 pass. These the captain took charge of, 
 thrusting them into the capacious pockets of 
 his reefer. 
 
 The still unconscious form of Craig was 
 bundled unceremoniously into the whaleboat. 
 The Cubans took the oars. The Spaniard 
 assumed his place at the steering oar in the 
 stern, while the negro stood by the bows 
 ready to shove off. When these prepara- 
 tions had been completed, the captain ap- 
 proached the place where Alice was crouch- 
 ing on the sand.
 
 Prisoners 215 
 
 " Well, young lady," he announced, ex- 
 posing his long yellow teeth with an evil 
 leer, which was meant to be a smile of en- 
 couragement, " can we persuade yer to 
 take a short cruise with us on the Pretty 
 Polly? Your own boat seems to be out of 
 the runnin' at present. We're a rough 
 crowd, but we's not so bad as we look. I'm 
 Cap'n Smith, Cap'n William Smith, better 
 known as Bad Bill, but that's only for the 
 beach combers. I'm always nice to the 
 ladies, and they's always nice to me. Let 
 me help yer into the boat." 
 
 He stretched out his hand to draw her to 
 her feet with another significant leer, but 
 Alice sprang up without assistance. If he 
 expected resistance he was disappointed, for, 
 transfixing him with a look of unutterable 
 repugnance, she went swiftly to the boat, 
 and taking her place in the stern sheets, 
 drew Craig's damaged head into her lap and 
 began to bathe it with water, which she 
 dipped up from over the side with her hand- 
 kerchief. 
 
 The distance to the Pretty Polly was
 
 216 The Dominant Chord 
 
 quickly covered, and as soon as the party 
 gained her deck, preparations were hur- 
 riedly made for getting under-way. The 
 whaleboat was paid out astern, the mainsail 
 set, and the anchor broken loose from the 
 bottom, and as soon as her bows had fallen 
 off, the jib was run up, and the Pretty Polly 
 began to reach slowly out of the cove. 
 
 Alice had been led below into the dirty 
 and ill-smelling cabin and thrust into one of 
 the small staterooms that opened into it. 
 Her protest at being separated from Craig 
 had been ignored, and the last she had seen 
 of him he was being carried down the hatch- 
 way into the hold. As the Pretty Polly 
 worked out into the open sea, she began to 
 pitch and roll considerably. The motion, 
 after the smooth and swallow-like skimming 
 of the Sdbine, was decidedly unpleasant. 
 Locked into the small and stuffy stateroom, 
 with no help from the outside possible, the 
 situation looked dark and gloomy, but Alice 
 reflected that these men were ordinary ruf- 
 fians whose God was money. Here, at least, 
 her wealth would be able to buy her freedom
 
 Prisoners 217 
 
 and immunity. She decided that as soon as 
 she could have an interview with the captain 
 she would offer him ten thousand dollars to 
 land Craig and herself at the nearest port, 
 and she smiled to herself at the thought of 
 being able to turn the tables on her original 
 captor so neatly.
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 THE FATE OP THE PEETTY POLLY 
 
 " I SAY the girl is mine! " 
 
 Alice awoke with a start. Exhausted by 
 the excitement of the day, she had dropped 
 asleep sitting on the edge of the berth. It 
 was pitch dark, but little lines of light 
 showed through the cracks in the sheathing 
 from the cabin beyond. 
 
 Alice rose and stole softly to the partition. 
 By placing her eye close to the largest of 
 the cracks, she was able to command a very 
 good view of the cabin. 
 
 An oil lamp was swinging from a bracket 
 overhead, and seated at the table were the 
 captain and the Spaniard called Manuel. A 
 greasy pack of cards was scattered over the 
 board, and a big black bottle stood between 
 them. 
 
 " I say the girl is mine," repeated the 
 Spaniard, bringing his fist down on the table 
 angrily. 
 
 218
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 219 
 
 The captain helped himself to a stiff glass 
 of rum from the bottle, and regarded his 
 companion with a drunken grin. " So you 
 was a-sayin' before," he observed sagely. 
 
 " She is my prisoner. I found her," con- 
 tended the Spaniard, falling back on argu- 
 ment, after the manner of the man who finds 
 that vehemence is not producing the desired 
 result. ' ' You know the law. We will divide 
 the ransom, but while she is here the girl is 
 mine. ' ' 
 
 " There ain't no law aboard this craft but 
 my law, Manuel. Don 't yer make no mistake 
 about that." 
 
 The Spaniard glared across the table at 
 his impassive companion. His hand started 
 to make a movement towards his belt. It 
 seemed as if he was about to draw a knife, 
 but he evidently reconsidered his purpose, 
 for he gathered up the pack of cards and 
 shuffled them fiercely. 
 
 " That's right, Manuel, deal 'em out, deal 
 'em out, my son. It's a jack pot this time. 
 Come up with your ante." 
 
 The captain poured out another stiff glass
 
 220 The Dominant Chord 
 
 of rum and passed the bottle across the 
 table, and the angry voices sank to an occa- 
 sional growl, intermingled with the shuffle 
 of cards and the click of chips. 
 
 Alice felt the blood chill in her veins at the 
 thought of being in the power of such brutes. 
 Fate had pounced upon her and torn her 
 ruthlessly from a position of growing secur- 
 ity, only to cast her pitilessly upon the waves 
 of chance. She sat down again weakly on 
 the edge of the berth, picking nervously at 
 the hem of her skirt, and listening to the 
 ominous sounds that came from beyond the 
 partition. 
 
 As she sat there shivering in the darkness, 
 a peculiar scratching sound attracted her 
 attention. She listened attentively. It 
 seemed to come from the other side of the 
 bulkhead near the foot of the berth. Eising 
 to her feet she quickly traced the sound to 
 its source. Someone was tapping gently on 
 the other side of the partition. As she 
 dropped to her knees to accurately locate the 
 sound, a sibilant whisper came through a 
 crack in the sheathing.
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 221 
 
 " Alice! Miss Huntington ! Are you 
 there? " 
 
 It was Craig's voice, and even amid 
 the darkness and despair it thrilled her 
 strangely. 
 
 " Yes, I am here," she whispered back. 
 " Are you badly hurt? " 
 
 " No, I think not. My head feels like a 
 balloon, but I guess it will come around all 
 right. Where are we? " 
 
 ' ' We are on the schooner. They have left 
 the island and put out to sea." 
 
 " The devil! I beg your pardon. What 
 time is it? " 
 
 11 I do not know. It must be about mid- 
 night, I should think." 
 
 ' ' Do you know what course they are steer- 
 ing? " 
 
 11 No. They must be before the wind, 
 though. The schooner has been running on 
 an even keel." 
 
 " That would bring us about southwest, 
 if the trades are holding. Did you see them 
 when they went through my pockets? " 
 
 " Yes."
 
 222 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " Who got the booty? " 
 
 " The captain." 
 
 " Did you notice them take a little bronze 
 box! " 
 
 " Yes. He has it in the pocket of his 
 reefer. ' ' 
 
 " That is the Sabine's remote control box. 
 Our only chance is to get hold of it. Will 
 you ever forgive me for getting you into 
 such a mess? " 
 
 11 Sh! Don't talk of that now. Let us 
 consider how we are going to get out of it." 
 
 "Alice." 
 
 " What? " 
 
 " If anything happens to me always re- 
 member that that I loved you." 
 
 The sound of renewed quarrelling in the 
 outer cabin broke in upon the reply. 
 
 Alice flew to the partition and glued her 
 eye to the crack. The two men were still 
 sitting at the table. The captain seemed to 
 be considerably the worse from the effects 
 of the copious libations he had absorbed 
 from the bottle. 
 
 The Spaniard was flushed and angry, but
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 223 
 
 perfectly sober. The argument had evi- 
 dently swung around to the original cause 
 of dispute, and was being carried on with 
 increasing vehemence on the one side and 
 drunken obstinacy on the other. 
 
 Manuel had just dashed his cards down 
 on the table, and his angry voice, vibrant 
 with fierce intensity, was still ringing in the 
 air. 
 
 " I say the girl is mine, and I will have 
 her. I'll have her in spite of all the fiends 
 out of hell." 
 
 The captain leaned back in his chair with 
 the evil, maudlin leer still on his face. Then 
 he suddenly leaned forward, and with a 
 quickness of movement astonishing in one 
 in his condition, whipped out a heavy re- 
 volver from the pocket of his coat and 
 shoved the cold muzzle full in the face of the 
 excited Spaniard. 
 
 " Shay it again," he grinned sardonically. 
 11 Shay it again, my son. I don't hear so 
 well." 
 
 Manuel sank back in his chair like a leop- 
 ard cowed in the act of springing.
 
 224 The Dominant Chord 
 
 The captain laughed tauntingly and spun 
 the weapon around his finger by the trigger 
 guard. " What's the matter, Manuel? 
 What's the matter, my boy! Yer don't 
 seem to be so ardent as you was. Nothin* 
 like cold lead to cool them unruly passions. 
 1 None but the brave deserves the fair,' and 
 you always was a yellow-livered cuss." 
 
 The Spaniard's face flushed darkly at the 
 insult, but under the menace of the pistol 
 he controlled his rage, only muttering, 
 " The girl belongs to me by right, and you 
 know it; that is the law." 
 
 " The law! " The captain's laugh rang 
 out loud and uproariously. " All the law 
 there is on this packet lies right in this little 
 pill box, Manuel, and don't you forgit it. I 
 can pick out your teeth with it, one at a time, 
 across the cabin, and you know it. If I 
 couldn't I wouldn't be cap'n of the Pretty 
 Polly ten minutes." 
 
 The captain shoved the revolver back into 
 his pocket, and helped himself generously 
 from the bottle. He was well in his cups by 
 this time and growing garrulous.
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 225 
 
 The Spaniard watched him with smoulder- 
 ing eyes, in whose depths lurked murder. 
 
 Pushing the bottle across the table, the 
 captain leaned back in his chair, and, hook- 
 ing his thumbs into the armholes of his waist- 
 coat, smiled a benign and bibulous smile at 
 his first officer. 
 
 " Cheer up, Manuel," he grinned. " Don't 
 show so down-hearted. Drown your sor- 
 rows for the loss of the lady in the flowin' 
 bowl. As the poet says, ' She is destined for 
 a better man.' If I feel like takin' a partner 
 in my joys and sorrows, who's a-goin' to pre- 
 vent me? If I find it cold and lonely in this 
 state of single blessedness, if I want a wife 
 to comfort and sympathize with me, who's 
 a-goin' to say no, who's a-goin' to say no 
 to Cap'n Bill? Look nice in the society 
 papers, wouldn't it, Manuel? ' Married. 
 Captain William Smith, Esquire, to the 
 daughter of his Royal Dukelets. The happy 
 pair is spendin' their honeymoon on the 
 bridegroom's yacht, the Pretty Polly' pres- 
 ent whereabouts unknown.' Look fine, 
 wouldn't it, Manuel? Cheer up, my boy!
 
 226 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Make you besht man. Nothin' small 'bout 
 Cap'n Bill. Make you besht man, or minis- 
 ter, either. Take your choice. Nothin' small 
 'bout Cap'n Bill Smith. You'd make a fine 
 parson, Manuel, with that sanctimonious 
 face of yours. Must have one little, sweet 
 kiss from the bride to be, Man., just one 
 little kiss before we turn in." 
 
 He lurched drunkenly to his feet and stag- 
 gered across the cabin. The stateroom door 
 was jerked open roughly, revealing Alice 
 white and rigid upon the threshold. In an 
 instant, in spite of her struggles, she was 
 drawn into his arms. She saw his coarse, 
 bloated face bending over her and felt his 
 hot, impregnated breath upon her cheek, and 
 then the Spaniard slipped around the 
 table like a cat. For an instant Alice saw 
 his face over the captain's shoulder, then 
 something flashed in the lamplight. The 
 captain grunted heavily, and his muscles 
 relaxed. A tremor shot through his power- 
 ful frame. Eeleasing her, he stumbled across 
 the cabin and sank weakly into a chair. The 
 Spaniard had regained his place behind the
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 227 
 
 table, and was coolly wiping his knife upon 
 the sleeve of his coat. 
 
 " That was a dirty trick, Manuel, a dirty 
 Dago trick. I'll fix you when I get on my 
 feet, you son of a gun; 111 fix you good and 
 plenty. ' ' 
 
 A violent fit of coughing interrupted his 
 tirade, and a thin stream of blood trickled 
 from his lips and ran down his beard. The 
 captain was fumbling clumsily in his pocket 
 for the revolver, but Manuel held it up to 
 the light with a sardonic smile, and then 
 thrust it carefully into the sash about his 
 waist. 
 
 Alice gazed upon the scene stunned and 
 horrified. Deeds of violence had meant to 
 her hardly more than sensational headlines 
 in the newspapers. She scarcely compre- 
 hended what had happened. 
 
 The captain's head had dropped forward 
 and was rolling from side to side. His eyes 
 were glazing and the breath was coming in 
 whistling gasps from his throat. Summon- 
 ing the remnant of his vitality, he leaned 
 forward and attempted to struggle to his
 
 228 The Dominant Chord 
 
 feet, but his strength was unequal to the 
 task. In making the attempt he lost his bal- 
 ance, and pitching forward, fell on his face 
 on the cabin floor. 
 
 " Oh, oh! " cried Alice, wringing her 
 hands, " can nothing be done for him? Can't 
 you help him? ' 
 
 The Spaniard shrugged his shoulders as 
 she dropped on her knees beside the 
 wounded man and tried to turn him over. 
 Then he went to the companionway and 
 spoke to the man at the wheel. 
 
 As Alice touched the body of the captain, 
 she felt a convulsive shudder run through 
 it, a whistling exhalation of breath swept 
 past her like the rush of a spirit, and she 
 felt the mortal clay grow rigid under her 
 hand. 
 
 In the midst of his violence, and without 
 one moment of warning or preparation, Cap- 
 tain Smith had gone to face his last account- 
 ing. 
 
 In the shock of the knowledge, in the hor- 
 ror and revulsion of feeling, Alice's pres- 
 ence of mind did not entirely desert her.
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 229 
 
 The Spaniard's back was turned toward her 
 as he stood looking up the companionway. 
 Setting her teeth and nerving herself for the 
 repugnant task, she thrust her hand hur- 
 riedly into the pocket of the Captain's 
 reefer. Her heart gave a quick throb as she 
 felt her fingers touch the little bronze con- 
 trol box. Drawing it forth she thrust it hur- 
 riedly into her bosom. When the Spaniard 
 turned, she was closing the staring eyes of 
 the dead man, outwardly as calm as a hos- 
 pital nurse. 
 
 Steps were soon heard in the companion- 
 way, and the two Cubans entered the cabin. 
 Manuel spoke to them in Spanish dialect and 
 pointed to the body. The men listened 
 stolidly without visible emotion. Evidently 
 Captain Smith had not been the idol of his 
 crew. 
 
 When Manuel had finished his harangue, 
 the two men picked up the body by the legs 
 and shoulders and dragged it up the com- 
 panionway. A moment later a heavy splash 
 alongside indicated with what pomp and 
 ceremony the remains of their late com-
 
 230 The Dominant Chord 
 
 mander had been consigned to their last 
 resting place. 
 
 When the men had disappeared the Span- 
 iard turned to Alice with his sinister smile 
 and said, " If the Senorita will return to her 
 cabin, we will consider her case and advise 
 her of our intentions in the morning." 
 
 " But you will let me have a light," 
 pleaded Ah' ce ; ' 1 you surely do not intend 
 to keep me in that black hole without even 
 a candle? " 
 
 The Spaniard laughed shortly. " You 
 may take the cabin lamp if you wish. I shall 
 be on deck." 
 
 Alice thankfully took the light and re- 
 turned to her stateroom. 
 
 Craig was on the other side of the parti- 
 tion, torn and rent with anxiety to know 
 what had happened. The sounds of the dis- 
 pute had come muffled and indistinct to him, 
 so that he had only the faintest idea of what 
 was transpiring. In a few moments Alice 
 had acquainted him with what had taken 
 place and her success in recovering the con- 
 trol box.
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 231 
 
 It was now necessary to release Craig and 
 get the box into his possession. With the 
 aid of the lamp Alice looked around her 
 quarters, and perceiving a small chest among 
 the heterogeneous litter under the berth, she 
 pulled it out into the room. It proved to 
 contain a miscellaneous collection of nails, 
 bits of iron and broken tools. Among them 
 was an old rusty bit and a bit-stock. As this 
 seemed to be the only cutting tool which an 
 exhaustive search revealed, she pulled the 
 chest over in one corner, where, if need be, 
 it could conceal her work, and attacked the 
 bulkhead energetically. The wood was 
 tough and well seasoned, and the tool was 
 dull, and the cramped position she was 
 forced to assume made her muscles ache, 
 but at the end of an hour she had succeeded 
 in getting eight holes through the partition 
 in a small circle, and Craig had been able 
 to break out the enclosed space. She could 
 now pass the bit-stock and the control box 
 through the opening. 
 
 The transfer had hardly been accom- 
 plished, and the two were about to concoct
 
 232 The Dominant Chord 
 
 a definite plan of action when steps were 
 heard in the companionway. Hastily push- 
 ing the chest in front of the opening, Alice 
 seated herself on the edge of the berth 
 and endeavoured to compose her counte- 
 nance. 
 
 In another moment, without the ceremony 
 of announcing himself, the door was thrown 
 open and Manuel appeared on the threshold. 
 His self-acquired authority evidently in- 
 duced a feeling of profound satisfaction, 
 for his shoulders were thrown back more 
 than usual, and his thin lips were wreathed 
 in a quiet, satisfied smile. The captain's 
 revolver, the insignia and bulwark of his 
 authority, reposed in a leather holster belted 
 around his waist, while the murderous sti- 
 letto, which had effected a change of dynasty 
 on board the Pretty Polly, was thrust 
 through a crimson sash which he wore. 
 Without hesitation or parley he stated his 
 business. 
 
 11 The Senorita will come on deck. I wish 
 to speak with her." 
 
 " In just a moment," responded Alice,
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 233 
 
 rising with alacrity. " Allow me to arrange 
 my attire, please." 
 
 She hoped he would withdraw long enough 
 to allow her a word with Craig, but the 
 Spaniard's accession to authority was too 
 recent to permit him to brook any delay in 
 obeying his commands. 
 
 " The Senorita looks very charming as 
 she is. She will come at once. ' ' 
 
 Seeing that resistance was useless, Alice 
 gathered her wraps about her and ascended 
 to the deck. 
 
 Craig heard her retreating footsteps with 
 something akin to despair. He was face to 
 face with the most intricate problem of his 
 career. True, he had again in his possession 
 the controlling mechanism which governed 
 the Sabine's movements. The box was, in 
 reality, nothing but a small switch and rheo- 
 stat which received and transmitted current 
 through terminals of omnium to the segment 
 and two metal balls on the controller ped- 
 estal on board the Sabine. By means of 
 this little instrument, he could set in motion 
 the electric waves which would start her
 
 234 The Dominant Chord 
 
 motors and control her steering apparatus, 
 but, shut up in the dark hold of a schooner, 
 without means of knowing what was going 
 on outside, even if he could bring the Sabine 
 in sight, he could not intelligently direct her 
 movements. 
 
 He wished that he had had time to ar- 
 range a set of signals with Alice, perhaps 
 that might still be possible, but in the mean- 
 time he must make the attempt to solve the 
 problem alone. If he could calculate the 
 course and distance with sufficient accuracy, 
 to bring the Sabine within sight, he figured 
 that the commotion her appearance would 
 cause would betray her presence to him, 
 even immured as he was in the dark depths 
 of the schooner's hold, and the subsequent 
 movements of the schooner might give him 
 a clue as to her bearings. 
 
 The Sabine lay on the north side of the 
 island, her bows run up on the beach and 
 pointing almost due south as Craig remem- 
 bered it. Her steering pointer was set for 
 a westerly course. Closing the switch of the 
 controller box, Craig moved the arm which
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 235 
 
 controlled the steering arrow on the Sabine 
 until the latter pointed due south. He then 
 pressed the lever which started the motors 
 and backed the yacht off the beach into deep 
 water. Allowing sufficient time for her to 
 get well clear of the island, he reversed the 
 current and released the steering mechanism 
 from the deflecting influence of the controller 
 box. 
 
 If all had gone well the Sabine would im- 
 mediately start forward and swing into her 
 westerly course. Allowing her sufficient 
 time to get well clear of the island, Craig 
 again shifted the arm of the controller box 
 to bring the Sabine upon a southwest course. 
 So far the problem had been easy ; the difficul- 
 ties would now begin. If the Pretty Polly had 
 kept away dead before the trade wind, as her 
 gently rolling motion would seem to indicate, 
 her present position would be somewhere to 
 the southwest of the island. Assuming an 
 average speed of six knots, which was as 
 high as weather conditions seemed to war- 
 rant, her distance would be approximately 
 one hundred and twenty nautical miles.
 
 236 The Dominant Chord 
 
 To guide the Sabine by means of the 
 remote controller over one hundred and 
 twenty miles of trackless ocean to within 
 sight of a moving speck upon its surface, 
 whose position he did not accurately know, 
 was the problem which confronted him. It 
 was the task of the needle and the haystack, 
 with a blind man as the searcher. 
 
 With hardly a hope of success, Craig 
 pressed the lever which turned on the full 
 power of the Sabine' s motors, and settled 
 down to a systematic trial of the case. He 
 shuddered to think of what would happen 
 should anything floating cross the path of 
 the yacht when travelling at the frightful 
 speed he knew she must be making, but the 
 risk must be run, and the chase was over a 
 part of the ocean unfrequented by vessels 
 following the trade routes. 
 
 As he started his plan in operation the 
 nautical clock in the cabin struck eight bells. 
 The sound came faint but distinctly audible 
 to him through the heavy bulkhead. The 
 first pale glow of the dawn was beginning to 
 filter through the deadlights into the state-
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 237 
 
 room beyond, and Craig could now make out 
 the aperture in the partition, a small gray 
 patch in the engulfing darkness. 
 
 He determined to keep the Sabine on her 
 southwest course for two hours, and then 
 begin to zigzag back and forth across this 
 course, increasing the length and angle of 
 her tacks in a regular progression as the 
 time went on. In this way he could sweep 
 a broad expanse of ocean, and if his calcu- 
 lations had been correct there was a faint 
 chance of success. The cabin clock would be 
 an invaluable aid to him in the plan, as it 
 struck the bells every half hour, allowing 
 him to time his movements accurately. 
 
 Having set his plan in motion, Craig se- 
 lected a place where the berth in the state- 
 room would conceal his operations, and at- 
 tacked the bulkhead with his rusty auger. 
 By boring a sufficient number of holes, he 
 hoped to be able to cut out a square in the 
 partition large enough to allow him to crawl 
 through into the cabin. The work was heart- 
 breaking, for the partition was of oak, and 
 the worm on the bit was so far gone that
 
 238 The Dominant Chord 
 
 the tool had to be forced into the wood by 
 main strength. 
 
 Hour after hour Craig worked at the task. 
 With every hole that he forced through the 
 bulkhead his cutter became duller, but with 
 every hole his outlet to freedom became 
 nearer of accomplishment. The hot, stag- 
 nant atmosphere of the hold pressed heavily 
 upon him. His limbs were drenched with 
 perspiration, and his muscles ached with the 
 heavy labour. His injured head throbbed 
 dully, and a metal band seemed to be tighten- 
 ing about his forehead. 
 
 He wondered if it was the intention of his 
 captors to starve him to death, as he had had 
 no attention since being cast into the place, 
 and the fear continually assailed him that, 
 in spite of his calculations, the course of the 
 schooner might have been changed. Had 
 Captain Smith remained in charge tEis 
 would undoubtedly have been done, but the 
 powers of strategy of the present com- 
 mander did not suggest to him the desira- 
 bility of such an expedient. 
 
 No sound came to Craig in his dark prison
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 239 
 
 but the occasional creaking of the boom, as 
 the schooner rolled gently in the long swells, 
 and the soft ripple of the water as it slipped 
 along the side. Craig wondered dully what 
 had become of Alice, but no sound from the 
 deck came to give him an inkling of what 
 was transpiring above. Every time the 
 cabin clock struck the bells, he altered the 
 course of the Sabine according to his plan, 
 but as the hours dragged on he began to 
 despair of any result. 
 
 He was just wondering whether he had 
 not planted his holes sufficiently thick to 
 enable him to kick out the enclosed piece of 
 the panel when his attention was attracted 
 by a commotion on deck. Muffled shouts and 
 the rattle of blocks came faintly to his ears, 
 and he felt the heel of the vessel as she was 
 braced sharply up on the wind. Evidently 
 the Sabine, or something else, was in sight. 
 If he could only get a glance from the deck. 
 He attacked the bulkhead with redoubled 
 fury. 
 
 Suddenly, in the midst of the confusion, 
 he heard Alice's clear, resonant voice in-
 
 240 The Dominant Chord 
 
 tonating the bell song from the operatic suc- 
 cess of the season, " The Mountain Mon- 
 astery." At the beginning of each strain 
 she would strike the treble " C " and then 
 firmly and clearly strike the fourth above. 
 Instantly it flashed over Craig what she was 
 trying to do, and he blessed and marvelled 
 at the ready wit of the girl. She was sig- 
 nalling to him the position of the yacht, as 
 the detector would have signalled it. 
 
 The Sabine must be broad on the star- 
 board beam. Craig dropped the bit-stock 
 and touched the arm of the controller box. 
 Immediately Alice responded with a cadenza 
 which ended with a diminished seventh. The 
 commotion on deck redoubled. The rattle of 
 blocks, the slapping of canvas and the heel- 
 ing of the schooner showed that the course 
 was being changed again. 
 
 Once more Alice's bell-like voice struck 
 the treble " C " and then soared upward like 
 a bird to the octave. The Pretty Polly was 
 in full flight. The Sabine must be directly 
 astern, but at what distance Craig had no 
 means of knowing.
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 241 
 
 Suddenly Craig felt the schooner's helm 
 put down. As she shot trembling up into 
 the wind a chorus of frightened cries arose 
 from her deck, mingled with a single scream, 
 " Stop her! " 
 
 The next moment there was a terrific 
 crash, and Craig was hurled across the deck 
 against the side of the schooner. Instinc- 
 tively he had clung to the controller box and 
 almost before he struck he had shut off the 
 power, but not before a second crash had 
 given the schooner her death blow. 
 
 Bruised and bleeding Craig struggled to 
 his feet and threw himself desperately 
 against the panel, kicking at it savagely with 
 his feet. Under the fury of his assault, the 
 wood finally gave way, and crawling through 
 the aperture he made his way into the cabin. 
 
 The schooner was lying on her beam ends, 
 and he could hear the water pouring into 
 her in torrents through a great rent in her 
 side. As he crawled up the companionway, 
 she gave a convulsive shudder and elevating 
 her stern, plunged, bow first, beneath the 
 waves.
 
 242 The Dominant Chord 
 
 As soon as Craig got his head above the 
 surface from the considerable depth to 
 which he had been carried down by the 
 vortex formed by the sinking of the schooner, 
 his first glance was for Alice. His heart 
 gave a great throb as he saw her dark brown 
 hair just topping the crest of a wave near 
 him. She must have jumped before the 
 schooner went down, and succeeded in get- 
 ting far enough away to prevent being 
 drawn under. 
 
 A few strokes were sufficient to carry 
 Craig to her side, and the look of relief and 
 joy which overspread her face when she saw 
 him amply repaid him for all he had gone 
 through in the last few hours. She was 
 heavily weighed down by her clothing, but 
 with admirable presence of mind she was 
 not exhausting herself by useless struggles, 
 merely keeping herself afloat. 
 
 The Sabine was floating quietly some 
 twenty or thirty yards from them with the 
 gangway ladder hanging over the side just 
 as they had left it the preceding morning. 
 She showed no signs of the terrific collision
 
 The Fate of the Pretty Polly 243 
 
 which she had had with the schooner, but 
 rode the waves as serenely and buoyantly as 
 a duck. 
 
 Placing Alice's hand on his shoulder, 
 Craig struck out for the yacht. Ordinarily 
 the swim would have been nothing for him, 
 but exhausted by his recent exertions, and 
 weakened by the blow he had received on 
 the head, he was all but gone when he 
 reached the gangway, and to draw himself 
 up on the ladder and assist his companion 
 to the deck were tasks which taxed the rem- 
 nant of his strength to the utmost. 
 
 Leaving Alice in the chart house, Craig 
 returned to the deck to see if he could dis- 
 cover any trace of the crew of the ill-fated 
 schooner. The sea was littered with wreck- 
 age, and he had seen several heads bobbing 
 up and down in the water as he was swim- 
 ming for the yacht. An earnest and careful 
 scrutiny, however, failed to reveal any signs 
 of life. The crew of the Pretty Polly had 
 gone down with her to a man. As is fre- 
 quently the case with those who follow the 
 sea, not one of them could swim. With their
 
 244 The Dominant Chord 
 
 crimes all unrepented, and the curses still 
 on their lips, they had followed their mur- 
 dered captain into the great port of the un- 
 known. 
 
 Cruising slowly around in the vicinity of 
 the wreckage until there was no further pos- 
 sibility of rescuing any of the doomed 
 wretches, Craig returned to the pilot house, 
 and with a saddened heart put the Sabine 
 back on her course to the westward.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ALADDIN'S PALACE 
 
 WHEN Alice awoke from the heavy, un- 
 broken, dreamless sleep, which the excite- 
 ment and tension of their terrible experience 
 had produced, her first sensation was one of 
 extreme hunger. The soft hum of the mo- 
 tors and the peculiar gliding motion she had 
 become so accustomed to on the yacht were 
 missing; evidently the Sabine had tempora- 
 rily suspended her wanderings for some rea- 
 son or other. Hastily rising she made her 
 morning acquaintance with the shower in her 
 fairy grotto, and with her body glowing 
 from the exhilarating effects of the needle 
 spray, she hurriedly donned the blue yacht- 
 ing suit she was accustomed to wear and 
 prepared to ascend to the deck. 
 
 On reaching the saloon, however, the long- 
 ing of her physical being for nourishment 
 constrained her, and turning aside she made 
 245
 
 246 The Dominant Chord 
 
 her way forward to the pantry. She had 
 long since familiarized herself with this part 
 of the ship. On ransacking the larder she 
 found ample food to satisfy the first keen 
 edge of her hunger. The silence on board 
 the yacht was deep and unbroken, but Alice 
 did not mind that. Silence and tranquillity 
 seemed to find their natural throne on board 
 the Sabine, and Alice's city-deafened ears 
 had long since grown accustomed to it. 
 After hastily partaking of some cold salad 
 and coffee, which she prepared over one of 
 the little electric stoves, Alice removed the 
 remains of her repast and ascended to the 
 deck. 
 
 On emerging from the chart house, she 
 found the Sabine high and dry upon the 
 beach of a beautiful tropical island. The 
 island was apparently about a mile and a 
 half long and possibly half that distance in 
 width, and was roughly oval in shape. A 
 long reef of black, barnacle-encrusted rocks 
 ran along one side of it and around the point 
 at the end, forming a deep pocket or lagoon 
 about an eighth of a mile wide. The Sabine
 
 Aladdin's Palace 247 
 
 had been beached at the very bottom of this 
 little bay, where the conformation of the 
 land concealed her from anyone examining 
 the lagoon from the entrance. 
 
 The island rose on all sides from the water 
 in a gentle slope to a little knoll in the cen- 
 tre, whose summit was crowned with a flour- 
 ishing growth of palm trees, and nestling 
 snugly among their sturdy trunks, embow- 
 ered in their luxuriant foliage, the low eaves 
 and sloping roofs of a tiny bungalow were 
 seen perched upon the topmost summit of 
 the rise. 
 
 Craig was nowhere to be seen, but the 
 lowered gangway and the footprints on the 
 sand gave evidence that he was on the 
 island. Alice gathered her skirts about her 
 and descended to the beach. Stepping out 
 upon the hard, white sand she turned, and 
 for the first time had an opportunity to ex- 
 amine the entire under body of the strange 
 and remarkable craft on which she was nom- 
 inally a prisoner. The Sabine was resting 
 on two huge wheels, which were embedded, 
 one in the forward part of the keel, and the
 
 248 The Dominant Chord 
 
 other in the large and heavily moulded rud- 
 der at the stern, which raised her keel about 
 two feet from the beach. A row of smaller 
 wheels or rollers set close together along 
 the keel were provided to take care of any 
 sudden inequalities in the ground over which 
 she moved, but as her rolling equipment had 
 been provided more especially for use on the 
 ocean bottom, they were seldom needed. The 
 same gyrostats which served to steady her 
 in a seaway, and which gave her her smooth 
 and gliding movement through the water, 
 served also to keep her on an even keel when 
 out of her natural element, and Alice, as she 
 stood there examining the craft, could hear 
 their faint, rhythmic hum as they rotated 
 smoothly upon their oil cushions. Two dark, 
 cavernous openings, like the blowholes of 
 some huge, amphibious monster, were placed 
 under the bows close to the keel, and served 
 to feed the huge rotary pumps that supplied 
 the powerful jets which propelled the yacht 
 at her phenomenal speed. 
 
 Alice, absorbed in the examination of the 
 yacht, was suddenly interrupted by a loud
 
 Aladdin's Palace 249 
 
 and joyous barking, and looking up she saw 
 a flying form come bounding down the hill 
 to meet her. It was Boris, her favourite 
 Russian wolfhound. The great brute leaped 
 and fawned about her, giving tongue to his 
 delight in short, sharp yelps, and seemed 
 about to turn himself inside out in a veri- 
 table paroxysm of joy. Calming the exu- 
 berant enthusiasm of her pet, Alice took the 
 well used path leading up from the water 
 and ascended the hill, at the top of which 
 stood the cosy little bungalow. 
 
 Craig met her on the front porch, and 
 greeted her with a profound Oriental salaam. 
 
 " Welcome to your kingdom, Princess! 
 The palace is prepared for you. The guests 
 are assembled and everything is ready. 
 Where will it please your Eoyal Highness to 
 be crowned? " 
 
 " Do you call this a kingdom? " responded 
 Alice. " Why this is not as big as the golf 
 links at Ardsley, and Papa has a shooting 
 preserve in the Adirondacks that you could 
 lose this little two-penny island in and never 
 find it again.'*
 
 250 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " That may be very true, Princess, but 
 you must know that it is not size, but quality 
 that counts in a kingdom. You shall be 
 queen not only of the land but of the sea, 
 and of the land under the sea, and your 
 kingdom shall extend as far as the eye can 
 reach, and Boris and I will be your loyal and 
 devoted subjects. You shall have dominion 
 over the fowl of the air, the beasts of the 
 fields, and the fish in the sea, and over all 
 things that walketh or crawleth upon the 
 earth, or in the waters under the earth. 
 Observe how you are walled and buttressed 
 about by cruel reefs. No hostile prow will 
 ever dare approach your domain in the face 
 of these armed and sleepless guardians. The 
 mouth of the lagoon, or shall we say the 
 postern gate, is closed by two loud-mouthed 
 torpedoes, whose stentorian voices shall 
 never fail to warn us of the enemies' ap- 
 proach. He will, indeed, be a bold pirate 
 who attempts to force our stronghold, won't 
 he, Boris? " 
 
 The big hound looked up into his face with 
 liquid, intelligent eyes, as if to say, " What-
 
 Aladdin's Palace 251 
 
 ever you and my mistress decree must be 
 so." 
 
 " You seem to be proselyting my subjects 
 already," remarked Alice. " I have never 
 shared Boris' allegiance with anyone before. 
 Come here, Boris, I am surprised at you." 
 
 The hound came obediently and crouched 
 at her feet, looking from one to the other, 
 as if trying to understand the relation be- 
 tween them. 
 
 " You have not explained the presence of 
 my other subject yet. Is this another mys- 
 tery? " 
 
 " Oh, no. The hound missed you, and I 
 knew you were fond of him, so I borrowed 
 him. He came on board the other night at 
 Key West." 
 
 " So you borrowed him, did you? In the 
 same way that you borrowed me, I pre- 
 sume? " 
 
 11 Precisely." 
 
 11 You seem to be a confirmed believer in 
 Wordsworth 's ' simple plan, that they should 
 take who have the power, and they should 
 keep who can.' "
 
 252 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " I am afraid you are right; there is an 
 elemental efficacy in the method that is at- 
 tractive to one of an imaginative trend of 
 mind. ' ' 
 
 " So we have touched at Key West, have 
 we! When was that, pray? ' 
 
 " The other evening. You had retired for 
 the night, so I thought I would not disturb 
 you by announcing our arrival." 
 
 " You were very considerate. Were there 
 any ships there? ' 
 
 " Yes; several. I think some of them 
 must have been engaged in searching for 
 you, but as we entered the harbour several 
 feet beneath the surface I do not think they 
 noticed our arrival." 
 
 " We must be quite near Key West then," 
 observed Alice tentatively. 
 
 " That depends upon your standards of 
 time and distance. Quite near for the Sa- 
 bine might be quite a way off for another 
 ship. You perceive that quite near is a very 
 relative term." 
 
 " So I should say. But, tell me, how came 
 the bungalow here? "
 
 Aladdin's Palace 253 
 
 " The palace, if your Royal Highness 
 pleases. Why, I built it yesterday, or rather, 
 I put it together. It is constructed on the 
 portable plan, and goes together with bolts.*' 
 
 " You built it yesterday! But, I don't 
 understand. Yesterday we were ' ' 
 
 " Yesterday you were sleeping the sleep 
 of the just and tired. This is our second 
 day at the island. We arrived early yester- 
 day morning. ' ' 
 
 " Do you mean to say that I have slept 
 thirty-six hours at a stretch? Why, I never 
 did a thing like that before in my life." 
 
 " Probably not, but you see your nerves 
 were somewhat unstrung by your painful ex- 
 perience on board that schooner, and noth- 
 ing restores one's mental tone like plenty of 
 good sound sleep, so I took the liberty of 
 administering a little harmless sedative to 
 you at supper. It has been beneficial. I can 
 see that in your eyes and in the elasticity of 
 your walk." 
 
 " There seems to be no limit to the pre- 
 rogatives you usurp," said Alice in an an- 
 noyed tone.
 
 254 The Dominant Chord 
 
 She was startled and disturbed to have it 
 brought home to her so forcibly, how com- 
 pletely she was in this man's power. The 
 velvet glove so perfectly concealed the iron 
 grasp which he had upon the situation that 
 at times she almost forgot what their actual 
 relations were. 
 
 Craig quickly detected the note of anger 
 and annoyance in her voice. 
 
 " Indeed there is a limit," he protested, 
 " a very sharp and clearly defined limit. I 
 wish there were not. Some day I hope it will 
 be different." 
 
 Alice coloured slightly, and hastened to 
 remove the conversation from the dangerous 
 ground on which it was beginning to en- 
 croach. ' ' Shall we inspect the palace ? ' 
 she asked. 
 
 Craig at once led her within. 
 
 The framing of the bungalow was con- 
 structed of hewn and polished mahogany 
 logs bolted together with heavy bronze ma- 
 chine bolts. On this structure the panels of 
 the walls and roof were attached by bolting 
 through to heavy ornamental angle irons.
 
 Aladdin's Palace 255 
 
 The building was square as to floor plan, and 
 a story and a half in height. The lower floor 
 was entirely given up to a large and airy 
 living room with windows on all sides, and 
 surrounded by a broad covered veranda. 
 The upper floor had been reserved for a 
 boudoir and open-air sleeping apartment for 
 Alice. It was open on all sides, the roof 
 being supported only by the framing tim- 
 bers. A low parapet ran around it, and the 
 space between it and the broad projecting 
 eaves could be closed by windows and shut- 
 ters which were hooked up to the rafters 
 when not in use. Access was gained to this 
 apartment by a single staircase which was 
 balanced by a counter-weight, so that it could 
 be raised entirely, closing the opening in the 
 floor and effectually cutting off all access 
 from below. 
 
 The view from this upper apartment was 
 magnificent, commanding the island and the 
 full sweep of the ocean in every direction. 
 From its broad parapet the ring of breakers 
 could be seen tumbling in upon the jagged 
 reefs, and enveloping the island in a circling
 
 256 The Dominant Chord 
 
 smother of foam, save only at the northeast, 
 where a narrow opening gave entrance to 
 the quiet waters of the lagoon. 
 
 There was no provision for a kitchen; the 
 meals being prepared on the Sabine and 
 served from a wheeled hamper on the pi- 
 azza. 
 
 The furniture was comfortable, if scanty, 
 consisting of a few light bamboo tables, 
 couches and chairs, with grass mats scat- 
 tered about the floor, and the inevitable ham- 
 mock in variety and abundance. 
 
 " "Well, Princess, what do you think of 
 your domain? " asked Craig, as they stood 
 by the parapet looking out over the deep 
 blue of the distant ocean. 
 
 Alice paused for a moment before reply- 
 ing, * * Why, I think, ' ' she responded at 
 last, " that for a prison it is very satisfac- 
 tory, quite as satisfactory, indeed, as one 
 could expect." 
 
 " Palace, you mean, Princess, not a 
 prison, surely." 
 
 " Well, you may call it a palace if you 
 wish, but it is a prison nevertheless. At any
 
 Aladdin's Palace 257 
 
 rate, palace or prison, it must have been a 
 stupendous undertaking to put it up in one 
 day. I can hardly credit it. You must be 
 a veritable Aladdin, with the wonderful 
 lamp in your coat pocket, and innumerable 
 genii working overtime for you.'* 
 
 " I'm afraid I shall have to deny myself 
 the pleasure of admitting the lamp and the 
 genii, and plead guilty to nothing more start- 
 ling than to an electric boat-crane. You 
 forget that I have unlimited power at my 
 disposal, and the amphibious nature of the 
 Sabine enabled me to apply it where it was 
 needed. By running her up the hill, I was 
 able to use her boat-crane to handle the sec- 
 tions, and it was only a matter of putting 
 in the bolts and tightening them up. Even 
 at that, though, it was a rather robust job 
 for one day, and necessitated stretching it 
 considerablv at either end."
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE MAGIC OF THE MOON 
 
 ONE evening Craig was seated on the 
 veranda enjoying his after-dinner cigar, 
 when Alice came out of the living room, 
 where she had been reading, and expressed 
 a desire to walk out to the edge of the grove, 
 from which point could be seen the surf as 
 it broke in the moonlight on the rocks at the 
 mouth of the lagoon. 
 
 " Most willingly, Princess," acqui- 
 esced Craig with alacrity. " You have but 
 to command." 
 
 Slowly, side by side they walked through 
 the vaulted isles of their sylvan cathedral to 
 the selected coign of vantage. The moonlight 
 was flooding everything in a shower of sil- 
 very radiance, and the soft, cool breath of 
 the trade winds was rustling in the leafy 
 tangle above them. Something of the witch- 
 ery of the night must have got into Craig's 
 258
 
 The Magic of the Moon 
 
 blood, for his first words were clothed in the 
 fanciful imagery of the poets. 
 
 " ' How sweet the moonlight sleeps on yonder bank. 
 
 Here will we sit and let the sound of music creep into 
 
 our ears. 
 
 Soft stillness and the night become the touches of 
 sweet harmony.' 
 
 " That is not just the way the much mis- 
 quoted William said it," he laughed, " but 
 that is the way he ought to have said it." 
 
 Craig threw himself down at the foot of a 
 giant palm as he spoke, and looked up along 
 the smooth, round column of its bole to where 
 its luxuriant cluster of waving fronds were 
 tossing their silvered tips against the soft, 
 black velvet of the night. 
 
 As if in answer to his words there was 
 borne to their ears the low, sweet breath of 
 muted strings and woodwind, of distant 
 trumpets and the beating of tiny drums. It 
 was the Tel-orchestrion on the Sdbine play- 
 ing the orchestral arrangement of " The 
 Dance of the Elfs " from the " Moonlight 
 Sonata; " playing it as mortal fingers could 
 never play it. Under the magic of the
 
 260 The Dominant Chord 
 
 music the broad, silvery path of the moon's 
 beams became suddenly peopled with fairy 
 forms twisting, turning, gliding, weaving 
 in and out with gleaming bodies floating 
 in clouds of diaphanous gossamer drapery. 
 One could almost hear the delicate footfalls 
 of fairy spirits dancing on the greensward; 
 the ringing of little silver bells and the blow- 
 ing of elfin horns. 
 
 Far out on the reefs the surf was boom- 
 ing faintly, a deep and distant diapason. 
 Above them the night wind was softly whis- 
 pering lovers' secrets into the nodding heads 
 of the drowsy palm trees. All the still, small 
 voices of the night were taking up their part 
 in nature's wondrous nocturne, and over all, 
 flooding, inundating, deluging all, was the 
 marvellous magic radiance of a tropic moon. 
 
 " It is beautiful! beautiful! " murmured 
 Alice. 
 
 "It is beautiful," Craig replied. " It 
 needs but one thing to make it perfect." 
 
 " And what is that? " 
 
 " Love, supreme and perfect love, the 
 most beautiful thing in the world. ' And
 
 The Magic of the Moon 261 
 
 now abideth faith, hope, love, but the great- 
 est of these is love.' " 
 
 " Oh! don't, please don't! " she pleaded. 
 " You will spoil it all." 
 
 " Don't? How can I help it? " he cried 
 passionately. " Do you think I am a stick 
 or a stone, a mass of dead, insensible, inan- 
 imate clay? Oh! Princess, Princess, I love 
 you! With every throb of my heart, with 
 every drop of my blood, with every fibre of 
 my being, I love you! You are my hope of 
 happiness, my dream of bliss, my religion 
 almost. I love you with a love that is more 
 than passion, more than pain, more than life 
 itself, stronger than my hope of heaven, my 
 fear of hell, enduring as eternity." 
 
 He leaned towards her with glowing eyes, 
 and in her own dark orbs he saw a wondrous 
 light that no man had ever beheld there be- 
 fore. Her long, slender hand lay beside her 
 on the grass, gleaming in the moonlight, 
 white as alabaster, delicate as chiseled ivory. 
 He covered it with his strong, brown one, 
 tense and vibrant as a bowstring. But at 
 his touch, thrilling, burning, almost com-
 
 262 The Dominant Chord 
 
 pelling, the charm suddenly dissolved. The 
 spell was broken. 
 
 Springing to her feet like a wild thing, 
 she turned and faced him, and the flame in 
 her eyes matched the fire of her words. " I 
 hate you ! Oh, I hate you ! ' ' 
 
 Like a wraith of the night she flitted 
 through the grove and down to the heach. 
 
 Craig heard the distant sound of a door 
 slammed. The strains of the Tel-orches- 
 trion abruptly ceased. 
 
 Far into the night he lay there, white- 
 lipped and rigid; his clenched hands buried 
 in the soft grass of the slope, and his burn- 
 ing eyes fixed unwaveringly, unseeingly upon 
 some intangible, unmarked point upon the 
 distant ocean.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 A SURPRISE AND A RACE 
 
 AFTER the outburst of that first evening 
 had subsided, an outburst which the combi- 
 nation of a balmy night and a tropic moon 
 had helped to produce, life on the island set- 
 tled down into much the same lines that had 
 characterized it on the yacht. Alice spent 
 her days in wandering about the place, ma- 
 king collections of rare ferns and flowers, 
 or floating idly in her crystal bark upon the 
 limpid waters of the lagoon. She explored 
 every nook and cranny of the reef, searching 
 for curious shells, sea urchins, and the rare 
 and delicately beautiful specimens of sea 
 moss with which the rocks abounded. These 
 last she mounted on glass plates until her 
 collection was singularly artistic and com- 
 plete. 
 
 In addition to the electric cable which con- 
 trolled the two warning torpedoes, Craig had 
 stretched a heavy net across the narrow 
 
 263
 
 264 The Dominant Chord 
 
 mouth of the lagoon, whose stout meshes 
 served to keep out any marauding sharks 
 that might be disposed to enter, and as Alice 
 was usually accustomed to attire herself in 
 her bathing suit for these expeditions on the 
 lagoon, she never hesitated to dive into its 
 pellucid depths for any rare specimens she 
 might chance to see drifting slowly along its 
 sandy bottom. 
 
 Craig left her very much to herself, spend- 
 ing most of his time in the laboratory, a cir- 
 cumstance which piqued her not a little. As 
 birds and flowers and specimens were not 
 wholly able to permanently satisfy the de- 
 sire of her gregarious nature for compan- 
 ionship, it became little by little customary 
 for her to drop into the laboratory in the 
 morning and watch Craig at his work, and 
 at last even to help him with some of his 
 experiments. In thus sharing in his labours 
 she found that she was gradually acquiring 
 a perception of his aims, an insight into the 
 deep and hidden traits of his character, 
 which only a community of interests could 
 bestow.
 
 A Surprise and a Race 265 
 
 How long they would have remained in 
 this pastoral but precarious state, is uncer- 
 tain, had not the unexpected one day leaped 
 suddenly upon them from its ambush in the 
 great unknown, and at one blow destroyed 
 the sylvan seclusion of their retreat. 
 
 One afternoon Alice was lying in the ham- 
 mock under the trees, reading aloud from 
 her inevitable Shakespere to Craig, who was 
 stretched out on the turf at her feet, enjoy- 
 ing his after-luncheon cigar. The day was 
 a perfect one, soft and balmy and languor- 
 ous with that sensuous pervading languor of 
 the tropics, so conducive to dreams and the 
 building of castles among the clouds. The 
 low, well-modulated voice of the reader 
 seemed to fit in and harmonize with the 
 scene, as the rippling murmur of a brook 
 harmonizes with sunshine through cool, 
 green branches and the rustle of the west 
 wind among the boughs, as the soft swish of 
 the waves upon the yellow sand and the rat- 
 tle of descending pebbles harmonized with 
 the dull booming of the surf upon the outer 
 reefs.
 
 266 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " Full fathom five thy father lies; 
 Of his bones are coral made; 
 Those are pearls that were his eyes: 
 
 Nothing of him that doth fade 
 But doth suffer a sea change 
 
 Into something rich and strange. 
 Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: 
 Hark! now I hear them, Ding-Dong, Bell." 
 
 A subtle change in the timbre of the read- 
 er 's voice, a note of half-suppressed, half- 
 smothered excitement, caused Craig to look 
 up. Alice was bending over the book with 
 a frown on her brow and a strange light in 
 her eyes. She seemed to be concentrating 
 her thoughts upon the text by a supreme but 
 imperfectly concealed mental effort. Just 
 then Boris, who had been lying asleep near 
 them, raised his head, and looking seaward 
 growled ominously. Craig turned quickly. 
 Just entering the mouth of the lagoon, a long 
 black trail of smoke streaming from her fun- 
 nels, and the water foaming and boiling 
 under her cutwater, was a large torpedo 
 boat or destroyer. The United States en- 
 sign was floating over her stern, and a knot 
 of white-clad officers on her bridge were
 
 A Surprise and a Race 267 
 
 attentively examining the island through 
 their binoculars. The destroyer came on 
 rapidly and without hesitation, as one sure 
 of her purpose. The powerful glasses on 
 board had doubtless long since revealed to 
 the lookouts the little group under the palm 
 trees. 
 
 Craig gave one look at the destroyer, and 
 then, without the slightest ceremony, turned, 
 and, gathering Alice up in his arms, started 
 on a run through the grove and down the 
 hill to the beach, where the Sabine was lying. 
 
 Boris, the cause of the premature discov- 
 ery, barked and frisked along beside them 
 as if he thought the whole affair a great 
 lark. 
 
 After one fierce, but ineffectual effort, 
 which served only to tighten the arms 
 around her, Alice made no resistance, but 
 allowed herself to be borne rapidly down to 
 the beach. The pressure of Craig's arms 
 about her sent a strange, but exquisite thrill 
 through her body, and the rapid motion 
 brought the rich colour to her cheeks 
 while, in the torrent of her thoughts one
 
 268 The Dominant Chord 
 
 thing stood out vividly, Romano's picture of 
 Paris carrying off to his waiting galley the 
 beautiful Helen of Troy. 
 
 As they hurried down the hill two heavy 
 reports from the mouth of the lagoon told 
 that the destroyer had passed over the ca- 
 bles which controlled the firing mechanism 
 of the alarm torpedoes. Fortunately the 
 curving of the lagoon hid the Sabine from 
 those on board the destroyer, so that their 
 line of retreat could not be seen. 
 
 Almost before Craig gained the deck the 
 big wheels began to turn, and as Alice was 
 deposited glowing, but breathless, on the 
 divan in the chart house, the heavy water- 
 tight doors slid home and were forced into 
 their sockets. While yet the destroyer was 
 several hundred yards from the point which 
 concealed the Sabine from those on her 
 bridge, the yacht slid gently into the lagoon 
 and disappeared beneath the surface. 
 
 Within the chart house the two principal 
 actors in the scene faced each other, the one 
 defiant, the other victorious. 
 
 " Well, you certainly treat your captives
 
 A Surprise and a Race 269 
 
 with scant courtesy," remarked Alice frig- 
 idly. 
 
 " ' Needs must when the devil drives,' " 
 responded Craig. " In two minutes more 
 that torpedo boat would have been right on 
 top of us." 
 
 As the Sabine slowly felt her way out of 
 the lagoon, over the smooth, sandy bottom, 
 the two watchers through the transparent 
 panel in the roof of the chart house saw the 
 destroyer, a long black shadow in the gleam- 
 ing green, pass directly overhead, and 
 through the sonorific medium in which they 
 were immersed, the hum of her turbines and 
 the beating of her screws came distinctly to 
 their ears. 
 
 On reaching the mouth of the lagoon, 
 Craig brought the submarine to the surface 
 and headed her back outside the reef to the 
 westward. 
 
 As the yacht opened out the point that hid 
 the lower end of the lagoon, the destroyer 
 was seen hoisting out a boat. Evidently the 
 officer in charge was nonplussed at not find- 
 ing his prey entrapped at the bottom of the
 
 270 The Dominant Chord 
 
 cul-de-sac, but he seemed determined on an 
 investigation. The appearance of the Sa- 
 bine outside the reef and heading at a fast 
 clip for the open sea, at once put an end to 
 the landing operations. 
 
 The whale boat was quickly hoisted in- 
 board, the destroyer's head swung around, 
 and at race-horse speed she headed back for 
 the mouth of the lagoon. As she passed 
 them going in the opposite direction, Craig, 
 through his glass, read her name in gold 
 letters on the stern. It was the Sampson, 
 the largest and speediest of Uncle Sam's 
 flyers, and holder of the phenomenal record 
 of forty-four knots on the measured mile. 
 As she swung around the point of the reef, 
 the smoke was pouring from her four fun- 
 nels in clouds, while an occasional fleck of 
 flame from the top of her stack showed that 
 she was being stoked to the utmost. 
 
 The Sabine had, in the meantime, placed 
 several miles between her and the island, and 
 was tearing along at an extraordinary pace. 
 
 Craig apparently felt the urgency of the 
 situation, for he seemed to be forcing the
 
 A Surprise and a Race 271 
 
 yacht to her utmost speed. In spite of his 
 efforts, however, the advantage seemed to be 
 with the destroyer. Slowly but surely she 
 began to cut down the distance between 
 them; the gain was slow, but it was a gain, 
 nevertheless. 
 
 Alice could see the group of officers on 
 her bridge, examining them through their 
 glasses, and she felt the tingle of excitement 
 in the race in which she herself was to be 
 the prize. 
 
 Craig was standing by the binnacle, watch- 
 ing attentively every movement of the des- 
 troyer, and Alice could not refrain from 
 favouring him with a triumphant smile ; but 
 as the destroyer crept closer and closer, her 
 feelings began to undergo a strange and 
 subtle change. The instinctive partisan sup- 
 port of one's own, the unreasoning loyalty 
 which always cheers on the home team, which 
 always backs the home city against the coun- 
 try, the nation against the world; the in- 
 grained American determination to win ; the 
 intense desire to be first at any cost, to tri- 
 umph though the heavens fall, was rapidly
 
 272 The Dominant Chord 
 
 overshadowing and replacing her desire for 
 freedom, and her satisfaction in the pro- 
 spective humbling of her captor. 
 
 By the time the Sampson had crawled up 
 to within an eighth of a mile, she could stand 
 the pressure no longer. Turning to Craig 
 with clenched hands, and eyes flashing with 
 excitement, she cried, " Why don't you do 
 something? Can't you do anything? They 
 are beating us, and I do hate to be beaten." 
 
 Craig laughed outright at this character- 
 istic change of front. " Why, I thought you 
 were enjoying the prospect of seeing me 
 roped, thrown and branded! " 
 
 "I was! I was! But this is different! 
 This is a race, and I do hate to lose ! I can- 
 not help it. It is temperamental. It was 
 born in me." 
 
 " I hate to lose, too," replied Craig 
 shortly. 
 
 He turned again to his controller, and for 
 a few moments the Sabine seemed to hold 
 her own. The automatic indicator showed 
 forty-four and five-eighths knots, but the jets 
 of oil fuel were beginning to get in their
 
 A Surprise and a Race 273 
 
 work under the boilers of the destroyer, and 
 she soon began to gain again. Slowly, inch 
 by inch, the flying foam-flecked prow crept 
 forward until it began to lap the stern of the 
 struggling motor boat. Everything on both 
 vessels was now distinctly visible. The lit- 
 tle group of officers on the bridge watched 
 the chase, alert but impassive. The crew lay 
 along the rail excited, but confident wit- 
 nesses of the struggle. 
 
 As the bows of the destroyer began to 
 overlap the stern, Alice turned to Craig with 
 a tense whisper, ' ' They are going to 
 catch us ! We will have to submerge. ' ' 
 
 Craig gave her one quick, curious glance, 
 and then stepped from the shelter of the 
 chart house out on to the deck, 
 
 "Hello, Burrill!" he hailed, "how are 
 you? " 
 
 The short, thick- set officer with the lieu- 
 tenant commander's patch on his collar, 
 started slightly. 
 
 " Craig! By all that's holy! Well, I'll 
 be ! What the devil does all this mean? " 
 
 " What are you doing here? " asked
 
 274 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Craig, coolly, ignoring the other's question. 
 " Haven't seen you since we were together 
 on the Isthmus." 
 
 " What am I doing here! Well, you ought 
 to know if anyone should. You have stirred 
 up a pretty kettle of fish, I can tell you. The 
 whole torpedo flotilla of the Atlantic fleet is 
 looking for you. The first and second cruiser 
 squadrons are patrolling the passages of the 
 islands, and the scouts have worked as far 
 south as Rio." 
 
 " Glad to know it. I'll be on the lookout 
 for them." 
 
 " Oh, I guess you won't have to bother. 
 We'll attend to that part of it for you. Well, 
 I never thought that you would turn out 
 a gay Lothario." 
 
 " I haven't. Simply a case of scientific 
 research for the advancement of the race." 
 
 Burrill laughed. " Well, I hope for your 
 sake you will be able to convince pater fa- 
 milias and the prosecuting attorney of that 
 fact. But come, shut off your power; the 
 jig is up." 
 
 " How so? "
 
 A Surprise and a Race 275 
 
 " ' How so? ' Why, we've caught you, 
 haven't we? " 
 
 " You have caught up with us, sure; but 
 what are you going to do about it? You 
 can't board us going at this rate of speed." 
 
 The truth of Craig's remark was obvious. 
 The two boats were running along side by 
 side not twenty feet apart, but the slightest 
 touch of the helm of either would put yards 
 between them in an instant. 
 
 " Come! come! " cried the lieutenant im- 
 patiently. " This is rank nonsense. You 
 don't want to force me to extreme measures, 
 do you? We will try and let you down as 
 easily as possible. The lady has been well 
 treated, hasn't she? ' 
 
 " To the extent of my ability." 
 
 " Well, then, the thing can be fixed up 
 some way, I guess. But heave to. It's no 
 use resisting any longer." 
 
 " Well, I guess you'll have to show me," 
 replied Craig. 
 
 " Do you mean to say that you refuse to 
 surrender? " shouted the exasperated officer. 
 
 " I guess that's about the size of it."
 
 276 The Dominant Chord 
 
 "Well, d a fool!" muttered Burrill 
 under his breath, as he turned from the end 
 of the bridge. But as he faced his second 
 in command, all trace of annoyance vanished, 
 and he was again the calm, alert, impassive 
 commander that reputation depicted him. 
 
 " Mr. Murray, pass the word to pipe to 
 quarters, and send Morgan here. Stand by 
 to hoist out the whale boat, and have the 
 crew ready." 
 
 At the first pipe of the boatswain's whis- 
 tle, the crew sprang with alacrity to their 
 stations, and the order, " Cast loose and 
 provide! " sent them scurrying after the 
 various implements of their deadly trade. 
 
 " Never mind those one pounders, Mur- 
 ray. I guess Bat Nelson will be all we'll 
 need for this business." 
 
 The canvas tarpaulin was quickly stripped 
 off the long, lean, three-inch rifle, which was 
 mounted on the roof of the conning tower, 
 and the whale boat was hoisted out on the 
 davits and held ready to drop into the water. 
 
 " Where '11 I plug him? " asked Morgan, 
 the leather-faced gunner 's mate, as he swung
 
 A Surprise and a Race 277 
 
 the breech of his pet to starboard, and rolled 
 his quid to the opposite cheek. 
 
 " Take him on the waterline amidships. 
 You're sure that's solid shot? We don't 
 want any shell in this business," said the 
 lieutenant, and then shouted to Craig: 
 " Once more, and for the last time. Will 
 you stop? I'm thoroughly in earnest." 
 
 " I guess I'll have to take a chance," re- 
 plied Craig, as he withdrew to the shelter 
 of the pilot house. 
 
 " Well, d n it, you brought it on your- 
 self. Give it to him, Morgan ! ' ' 
 
 There was a flash and a roar, and a thin 
 volume of smoke drifted away and dissolved 
 to leeward. 
 
 The Sabine shivered and trembled in all 
 her parts as the heavy projectile struck 
 within an inch of her waterline, and then 
 an extraordinary thing happened. A large, 
 deep, saucer-shaped depression appeared for 
 an instant in the smooth, rounding side of the 
 hull, as though a baseball had been thrown 
 against the bellying fold of a sail, and then 
 the dent smoothed itself out, the heavy
 
 278 The Dominant Chord 
 
 shot was stopped and deflected into the 
 water, and the place was as before. Three 
 seconds after the report, except for a dark 
 smudge on her smooth, white side, the on- 
 lookers could not have told where the shot 
 had struck. 
 
 The amazement on board the destroyer 
 can better be imagined than described; but 
 Craig gave them no time to recover. As if 
 the impact of the projectile had been the sig- 
 nal for her to uncoil her latent energies, the 
 Sabine sprang forward, as if she would leap 
 from the water and mount into the air. Her 
 stem tore through the brine with a sound as 
 of ripping fabric, and a boiling, seething 
 caldron sprang to life under her taffrail. 
 The indicator in the chart house ran up to 
 sixty, and trembled there as if it were going 
 higher. 
 
 " Cast loose those one pounders, boys, and 
 see if you can break up his propellers! ' 
 roared Burrill. " Lively, lads, he's getting 
 away from us. Be careful where you shoot." 
 
 But it was too late. Before the guns could 
 be served and pointed, the Sabine had placed
 
 A Surprise and a Race 279 
 
 yards of open water between her and her 
 pursuer. In less than a minute she had 
 opened up a lead of a quarter of a mile, and 
 was going like a flash of light. In half an 
 hour the destroyer was over seven miles 
 astern, and had given up the chase. 
 
 " Well," said Craig, with a grim smile, as 
 he slowed the yacht down to her normal rate 
 of speed, " you say you hate to be beaten; 
 are you satisfied? " 
 
 " No," replied Alice testily. " I am not 
 satisfied, and I think it is perfectly detesta- 
 ble in you to remind me of it."
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 AT WAR WITH HERSELF 
 
 THE advent of the torpedo boat destroyer 
 produced a sudden and unlooked-for change 
 in the life on board the Sabine. After the 
 excitement of the chase had subsided, and 
 affairs had once more resumed their normal 
 serenity, Alice was seized with one of those 
 sudden revulsions of feeling which were 
 characteristic of her impulsive and highly 
 strung temperament. 
 
 Now that she had leisure to think it over 
 calmly, she was amazed at her own conduct 
 and the motives that had actuated her. Not 
 only had she failed to make the slightest 
 effort to aid her would-be rescuers, but 
 worse, far worse than that, she had openly 
 sided with and supported Craig in his efforts 
 to escape. Hot anger rose within her at the 
 thought. 
 
 Craig first became aware that there had 
 280
 
 At War with Herself 281 
 
 been a change in the atmosphere when he 
 found a brief note from her on the table of 
 the saloon, informing him that she would 
 dine in her own apartments that evening. 
 This table had become their post-office and 
 line of communication during their periods 
 of acute belligerency, and when Craig saw 
 her note lying there he knew at once that 
 active war had once more been declared. 
 
 Now that their retreat had been discov- 
 ered, return to the island was, of course, out 
 of the question, so Craig bowed his head to 
 the tempest, thinking the storm would soon 
 blow over, and once more headed the Sabine 
 southward. But the morrow brought no 
 change in the situation, and when, on the sec- 
 ond day, his capricious and incomprehensi- 
 ble lady still failed to appear, he began to be 
 seriously alarmed. When the third day had 
 passed without eliciting any signs of relent- 
 ing from the occupant of the starboard quar- 
 ters, he hastened to extend the olive branch. 
 
 On the saloon table he left a courteous 
 note for her, saying that he was going to try 
 some very interesting experiments in the
 
 282 The Dominant Chord 
 
 laboratory on the following morning, and 
 asking her if she did not wish to be present. 
 In reply he received a curt missive, saying 
 that she was not at present interested in 
 experiments and that she wished, nay, she 
 demanded to be allowed to return immedi- 
 ately to New York. 
 
 Craig replied that she could return to New 
 York at any time whenever she was ready 
 to comply with the conditions, and the 
 battle was on. 
 
 Had Craig realized the desperate nature 
 of the struggle that was going on within the 
 confines of the starboard cabin, he would 
 have thrown aside his depression and taken 
 heart. Had he known that pride, and the 
 love he had so long striven to awaken, were 
 at last in arms, and, with all pretence of con- 
 cealment cast aside, were locked in a fierce 
 death struggle, he would have girded up his 
 loins for the last assault, which would have 
 swept all before it and left him master of 
 the citadel. But being a man, a man of ac- 
 tion, unused to feminine society, a man of 
 the wilderness and of the waste places, and
 
 At War with Herself 283 
 
 uninstructed in the various and intricate 
 ramifications of a woman's heart, he could 
 not know that Alice, her back to the wall, 
 was fighting her last desperate fight against 
 the insidious and insurgent forces that had 
 long been gathering headway within her en- 
 trenchments; those dominant, primitive im- 
 pulses of the eternal feminine which were 
 undermining her defences, and sweeping 
 away the barriers she had raised against 
 him; those first, green spikes and spear- 
 heads of passion which were forcing their 
 way up through the cold, dark mould of her 
 heart, insignant of the harvest which was to 
 come. 
 
 Day after day passed without bringing 
 any change in the situation. Day after day 
 the Sabine held her course steadily south- 
 ward, skirting the lower littoral of the Span- 
 ish main. At times the shore loomed dimly 
 like a dark blue cloud upon the distant hori- 
 zon. At others they would close in, and for 
 hours run along the beach so near that Alice 
 could see the surf thundering upon the 
 reefs, and the dense, dark forests of cedar
 
 284 The Dominant Chord 
 
 and mahogany stretching inland for miles 
 towards the faint blue haze which marked 
 the distant peaks of the Cordillera. 
 
 As they approached the equator the heat 
 became more intense, but the compressors 
 of the liquid air plant always kept the tem- 
 perature below decks cool and inviting, 
 while the speed at which the Sdbine trav- 
 elled always insinuated a breeze beneath the 
 awnings on deck. 
 
 Alice kept to her cabin until Craig, seeing 
 that she was determined to avoid him, bur- 
 ied himself in his laboratory and work rooms 
 for long hours, in order to allow her the 
 freedom of the deck undisturbed. Occasion- 
 ally at night he would come up, listless and 
 heavy-eyed from his work, to find her lean- 
 ing over the rail gazing wistfully through 
 the darkness towards the distant coast, but 
 at the first sound of his approach she would 
 glide like a spectre along the opposite side 
 of the deck and disappear down the compan- 
 ionway, leaving him with set teeth and 
 clenched hands, rebellious, impotent, help- 
 less.
 
 At War with Herself 285 
 
 A hundred times he was on the point of 
 turning the steering arrow northward and 
 giving up the struggle; a hundred times he 
 would set his teeth and return to his en- 
 trenchments. 
 
 Lying within the heavy hangings of her 
 big white ivory bed, Alice far into the small 
 hours of the night could hear his footsteps 
 on the deck above going up and down, up and 
 down, knocking, knocking, tapping at every 
 door and portal of her heart, crying in their 
 silent, inarticulate voices, " I love you! I 
 love you! Let me in. I love you!" 
 
 Throwing aside the coverings she would 
 lie for hours, stark and rigid, the alabas- 
 ter whiteness of her form gleaming through 
 the darkness like the sculptured marble of a 
 reclining Aphrodite hidden away in the 
 dusky recesses of some pagan temple, while 
 above her the insistent, incessant footfalls 
 went back and forth. 
 
 If, after hours of struggling with her 
 problem, she pushed it aside and tried to 
 interest herself in a book, before she knew it 
 Craig's clean-cut, serious face and grave,
 
 286 The Dominant Chord 
 
 gray eyes would be looking up at her from 
 out the printed page, and she would cast 
 aside the volume in disgust and pace up and 
 down the narrow space of her library like a 
 caged wild thing. 
 
 ''If he only had one human weakness I 
 might love him," her spirit would cry, " but 
 how can I love a demigod, a superior being 
 who thwarts me at every turn, and mocks me 
 with his cold and cynical superiority! If 
 I could only crush him, humiliate him, prove 
 to him that in some one thing I was his equal, 
 his superior, I might relent, but I cannot, I 
 cannot, oh, I cannot! ' 
 
 And Craig, catching sight of her white, 
 drawn face and the smouldering fire in her 
 big, brown, haunting eyes, as she glided 
 through the saloon or flitted down the com- 
 panionway, would curse himself and grow 
 thin and haggard over his drawing board. 
 
 At times the sound of his violin would come 
 faint and muffled to her ear from the inner 
 recesses of his apartments ; sobbing, wailing, 
 commanding her, luring her with the spell 
 of the East, seducing her ears with love
 
 At War with Herself 287 
 
 songs of the Levant, and the passion of 
 Spanish lutes 'neath latticed windows, draw- 
 ing the awakening soul out of her with its 
 swaying, sensuous appeal, drawing, draw- 
 ing, ever drawing, until, springing up, she 
 would thrust her fingers into her ears and 
 fly to the farthest recesses of her grotto, 
 throwing her arms around its basalt col- 
 umns, as if she feared that yearning cry 
 would draw her bodily even from this inner 
 sanctuary. 
 
 At times she would find her thoughts wan- 
 dering through different episodes of her cap- 
 tivity. She recalled the first sweet stab of 
 pain at her heart as she felt his burning lips 
 pressed upon hers ; the electric thrill, which 
 had galvanized her body when his strong 
 arms had closed around it that day on the 
 island when he had carried her off a captive 
 in the face of her would-be rescuers; that 
 first dim consciousness of an impending 
 something that morning when, beneath the 
 sea, they had stood together in the gloom 
 of the chart house, and her awakening spirit 
 had taken alarm at what she did not know.
 
 288 The Dominant Chord 
 
 Certainly no other man who had ever en- 
 tered her life had made her feel these things. 
 
 Her old life back in New York, with its 
 trivialities and inconsequentialities, its os- 
 tentatious setting and artificial emotions, 
 seemed infinitely remote and unreal to her 
 in the face of this vital, pulsating, primitive 
 struggle she was making to retain her domi- 
 nance and individuality. 
 
 The more she acknowledged Craig's power 
 and influence over her, the more she hated 
 him for it, and ever in her thoughts were 
 running his words, " The strongest thing 1 
 will win." Yes, in the end the strongest 
 thing would win, but what was the strongest 
 thing, love or pride! And Craig, buried in 
 his laboratory, consuming great quantities 
 of tobacco, grew pale and thin and hollow- 
 eyed, and wondered when and how it would 
 end.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A DESPERATE STRUGGLE 
 
 ONE morning Alice ascended unexpectedly 
 to the deck. It was at the hour when Craig 
 was usually busy in the laboratory, and she 
 wanted to get a breath of air before the heat 
 of the day set in; but on reaching the chart 
 house she saw that he had evidently been 
 before her. Apparently he was engaged in 
 one of his experiments, for one of the small 
 spherical tide motors was lying on the fore- 
 castle deck, together with the cable and 
 heavy mushroom anchor which he used to 
 attach them to the bottom. Of Craig himself 
 she could see nothing, until raising her eyes 
 she discovered him disporting himself in the 
 water about a hundred yards ahead of the 
 motionless yacht. He was evidently enjoy- 
 ing himself to the utmost, for he swam and 
 dived and performed various tricks and evo- 
 lutions with all the joyous abandon of a 
 
 289
 
 290 The Dominant Chord 
 
 schoolboy playing truant at his favourite 
 swimming hole. 
 
 Alice stood for a moment within the shel- 
 ter of the chart house watching him, and 
 secretly exulting in the skill and grace with 
 which he performed the most difficult feats. 
 Unquestionably whatever he did, he did well. 
 She had to admit that. 
 
 As she stood there watching she saw 
 Craig suddenly raise himself high out of the 
 water, and then, turning, strike out for the 
 yacht with quick, powerful strokes which 
 seemed to lift his body almost out of the 
 heavier element. Looking beyond him Alice 
 quickly discovered the cause of this sudden 
 accession of haste. About four cables ' lengths 
 distant a dark triangular fin was cutting the 
 water at an amazing rate of speed, and at 
 times, as it sheered through the crest of a 
 wave, she caught a glimpse of a long, shad- 
 owy, grayish body beneath it. It was the 
 great white shark Carcharondon Carcha- 
 rias that terror of the seas, that scourge 
 of the open ocean, the most dangerous and 
 most dreaded of all the pelagic carnivora.
 
 A Desperate Struggle 291 
 
 Craig evidently knew his peril, for, with 
 head and shoulders buried in the brine, he 
 was devouring the yards which separated him 
 from the Sabine with all the desperate en- 
 ergy of a man in deadly need of haste. The 
 Australian crawl stroke is phenomenal in its 
 speed, but human powers of aquatic locomo- 
 tion are as nothing when matched against 
 the powerful propelling caudal fin with which 
 nature has equipped the larger members of 
 the shark family. 
 
 Before Craig had covered half the dis- 
 tance which separated him from the yacht, 
 the huge man-eater was upon him. Seeing 
 that it was impossible to reach the gangway 
 in time, Craig stopped swimming, and, tread- 
 ing water, turned to face his adversary, and 
 Alice saw that he held in his teeth the long 
 Japanese knife which had played such an 
 important part in their early acquaintance. 
 The excitement of the moment had drawn 
 her from the chart house out upon the fore- 
 castle deck, where, rigid with terror, she 
 stood clinging to the rail and watching this 
 death duel between the man and the fish.
 
 292 The Dominant Chord 
 
 The shark, having brought its quarry to 
 bay, seemed in no hurry to attack, but circled 
 around like a boxer, sizing up its adversary 
 before opening hostilities. Craig, while con- 
 stantly facing his opponent, took full advan- 
 tage of all these feints and circlings to lessen 
 the distance which separated him from the 
 gangway ladder. The shark, in spite of its 
 threatening and formidable appearance, 
 seemed to hesitate to attack. Apparently it 
 was uncertain as to what manner of mammal 
 it was that had so rashly invaded its do- 
 main. Its hesitation was soon over, how- 
 ever, and with a sweep of its tail, it darted 
 in, at the same time turning on its side to 
 expose its triple row of cruel serrated teeth. 
 
 As the shark swept down on him, Craig 
 raised his body out of the water, at the same 
 time throwing himself to one side, and as 
 the huge bulk of the fish surged by him, the 
 knife flashed. In an instant the sea was 
 stained with a thin but ever-widening streak 
 of crimson. With a tremendous sweep of its 
 tail, the shark sheered off and circled again 
 to the attack, while Craig seized upon the
 
 A Desperate Struggle 293 
 
 momentary diversion to shorten his distance 
 from the gangway. Again the two faced 
 each other, and again, after a moment of 
 feinting, the shark dashed in to finish its 
 prey; but Craig, throwing his arms over 
 his head, sank beneath the surface, and as 
 the yellowish white mass of the belly passed 
 over him, the dagger again drank deep. The 
 wound was not an immediately fatal one, 
 however, and lashing the water into foam, 
 the great fish circled and charged once more. 
 For the third time Craig faced it resolutely, 
 but Alice could see that he was breathing 
 hard, and was evidently much spent by the 
 tremendous exertions he had been making. 
 
 Maddened by the pain of its wounds and 
 enraged at being twice foiled of its prey, the 
 shark wasted no time in preliminaries. 
 With its cruel jaws open, and its wicked 
 little eyes glowing with hate and fury, it 
 bore down upon its weakened adversary as 
 if it would overwhelm him by sheer weight 
 and bulk. Craig watched it narrowly, pale 
 but determined. As it turned on its side, 
 he suddenly leaned forward and struck with
 
 294 The Dominant Chord 
 
 all his might at the soft, round spot just hack 
 of the gill openings, at the same time throw- 
 ing his body to one side; hut either he had 
 miscalculated the distance, or his failing 
 strength had not been equal to the task. 
 Alice heard the terrible triple-armed jaws 
 close with a snap, and, in an instant, the 
 man's thigh was torn open from hip to knee, 
 while the knife, catching in the hard, bony 
 substance of the jaw, was twisted from his 
 grasp and sank to the bottom. 
 
 The evolutions of the combatants had by 
 this time transferred the field of action to 
 a point directly under the bows of the Sa- 
 bine. Craig, weakened, wounded and dis- 
 armed, and seeing that his only chance of 
 escape lay in reaching the gangway ladder 
 before the fish could renew the attack, was 
 swimming desperately with the remainder 
 of his strength along the side of the yacht 
 directly beneath her. The shark seemed to 
 know that at last its prey was completely at 
 its mercy. Circling leisurely and swimming 
 up behind, it opened its jaws for the final 
 snap which would divide its victim's body as
 
 A Desperate Struggle 295 
 
 easily as a minnow is severed in the jaws of 
 a pike. 
 
 It was at this critical instant that the ten- 
 sion of excitement and terror which had held 
 Alice a silent, rigid spectator of the battle 
 suddenly snapped. From a petrified and 
 passive onlooker she at once became a vig- 
 orous, desperate actor in the scene. With 
 an accession of strength utterly impossible 
 to her under ordinary conditions, she seized 
 the great weight of the mushroom anchor, 
 and hurled it over the side just as Craig 
 turned his head and smiled up at her a last 
 white-lipped good-bye. 
 
 Her aim must have been certainly directed 
 by Providence, for, just as the cruel jaws 
 were about to close, the descending mass 
 struck the shark on the skull just back of the 
 eyes, forcing its head down into the water 
 and momentarily stunning it. Before it 
 could recover itself, Craig, covered with 
 blood, had reached the ladder, dragged him- 
 self to the deck and dropped unconscious at 
 her feet.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 IN THE WATCHES OF THE NIGHT 
 
 IN the days that followed Alice never 
 ceased to bless the wisdom and foresight 
 which had caused her father to prescribe for 
 her a course of nursing in the emergency 
 ward of the great hospital of the Magdalene. 
 When she beheld Craig lying inert and ap- 
 parently lifeless at her feet, the blood pour- 
 ing from the innumerable wounds in his 
 torn and lacerated thigh, her first impulse 
 was the purely feminine one to swoon and 
 sink into a heap, but the necessity for im- 
 mediate action steeled her nerves against the 
 insidious weakness of her sex, and the mo- 
 ment of crisis found the Huntington spirit, 
 that grim, uncompromising determination to 
 do or die, which was ingrained in her nature, 
 in arms, and ready to grapple with the emer- 
 gency. 
 
 Running below to the medicine cabinet, 
 
 296
 
 In the Watches of the Night 297 
 
 she quickly returned with lint, bandages and 
 instruments. First cutting away the light 
 hathing suit which Craig wore, she hurriedly 
 applied a tourniquet to the main artery to 
 check the bleeding, then, washing out the 
 wounds carefully with an antiseptic solu- 
 tion, which she had hurriedly prepared, she 
 drew together the jagged edges of the 
 wounds with quick, deft stitches. The lacer- 
 ations were not deep, the jaws having barely 
 grazed the limb, but the razor-edged, tri- 
 angular teeth had torn and mutilated the 
 flesh in a horrible manner, and the loss of 
 blood had been great. 
 
 Having done all she could to close the 
 openings, Alice dressed the wounds, wrap- 
 ping layer upon layer of linen bandages 
 tightly around them, turning the rolls in her 
 hand, as she had been taught, to make the 
 folds lie close and even. Her next task was 
 to get Craig below and into his berth. Ex- 
 erting her superb young strength to the 
 utmost, she dragged him into the chart house 
 and down the stairs, and at last succeeded in 
 getting him into the simple, white iron cot
 
 298 The Dominant Chord 
 
 he was accustomed to sleep in, which Alice, 
 in spite of her distress and anxiety, could 
 not but mentally contrast with the luxurious 
 bed on which she was accustomed to repose. 
 
 Making her patient as comfortable as pos- 
 sible, Alice next ascended to the deck to note 
 the position of the yacht. The shark, the 
 cause of all the trouble, she found floating 
 on its back alongside, two long, gaping 
 wounds in its belly showing the vents through 
 which its tremendous vitality had at last 
 ebbed away. 
 
 The Sabine was lying quietly in the trough 
 of the long swells, the gyrostats steadying 
 her against the rolling motion. The knob of 
 the speed controller was in the neutral notch, 
 but on sliding it back along the bar the yacht 
 failed to respond. Craig, before going over- 
 board, had evidently taken the precaution to 
 disconnect the controlling mechanism, at 
 some point which she could not discover. 
 She touched the button which illuminated 
 the telautographic chart, and saw that the 
 luminous pointer indicated their position to 
 be approximately some two hundred miles
 
 In the Watches of the Night 299 
 
 northeast of the mouth of the Amazon. As 
 the motive power was evidently crippled 
 beyond her ability to repair, there was noth- 
 ing she could do but let the yacht drift at 
 the mercy of the winds and waves. As long 
 as the sea remained calm they were in no 
 immediate danger, but if it should come on 
 to blow, Alice wondered vaguely what would 
 become of them. Happily the weather was 
 fair and showed every indication of remain- 
 ing so. 
 
 On returning below, Alice found that Craig 
 had recovered consciousness. He was evi- 
 dently suffering severely from the pain of 
 his injuries, for the beads of moisture were 
 standing out thickly upon his forehead, and 
 his lips were white and drawn. He seemed 
 not to recognize her, but stared intently up 
 at the ceiling with wrinkled brows, as if 
 absorbed in the solution of some intricate 
 mental problem, and there was a wild, un- 
 natural gleam in his eyes that Alice did not 
 like. Smoothing his pillow with a deftness 
 of touch which is the exclusive property of 
 the loving woman, and which even the
 
 300 The Dominant Chord 
 
 trained nurse cannot hope to acquire, she 
 made a hasty examination of the bandages 
 to see if the bleeding had been effectually 
 checked, and then went forward into the gal- 
 ley to prepare some nourishment for her 
 patient. She was interrupted in this task 
 by the sound of the cathedral bells of the 
 detector, and on going on deck found that 
 one of the submarine torpedoes, which con- 
 stituted their supply train and linked them 
 to civilization, was floating alongside. 
 
 Starting the motor which operated the 
 electric crane, she soon had the long, pol- 
 ished cylinder hoisted on board and lowered 
 through the sliding hatch into the storeroom, 
 as she had seen Craig do many times before. 
 On opening it she found several freshly 
 killed chickens in the refrigerating compart- 
 ment. These were just what she needed, and 
 she soon had two of them over one of the 
 electric stoves, reducing them to a thick and 
 nutritious jelly. 
 
 On returning to her patient after comple- 
 ting this task, she found a decided change for 
 the worse. Craig was in a high fever, toss-
 
 In the Watches of the Night 301 
 
 ing and turning and muttering incoherently 
 to himself, and seemed to be absolutely un- 
 conscious of his surroundings. 
 
 Alice was seriously alarmed. To be im- 
 prisoned upon a disabled craft in the middle 
 of the ocean with, as sole companion, a man 
 gripped in the throes of fever and delirium, 
 was a prospect to daunt even the stoutest 
 heart. The sole expedient her training sug- 
 gested was to allay the pain by a hypodermic 
 injection of morphine. While the drug was 
 working she secured some stout strips of 
 canvas from the storeroom. These she eye- 
 leted and fitted with stout rings, and when 
 they were securely laced to Craig's arms 
 above the elbow, and to his ankles, and 
 straps run through them down to the side 
 rods of the bed, where she could tighten 
 them at need, she felt relieved and more pre- 
 pared to meet whatever emergency might 
 arise. 
 
 As night approached Craig's fever and 
 delirium increased, and by the time the ef- 
 fects of the morphine had worn off, he was 
 tugging and straining at his bonds, while the
 
 302 The Dominant Chord 
 
 little red heat devils danced their mad ma- 
 zurkas through his beclouded brain. At 
 times he would straighten up to the limits 
 of his straps, and address her in words of 
 the most burning, passionate love, only to 
 trail off into a jumble of formulas, stresses, 
 strains, bending moments, spherical harmon- 
 ics, and all the unintelligible jargon of 
 higher mathematics. At one moment he 
 would be fighting desperately for her single- 
 handed against bands of cutthroats and 
 pirates, and in the next he would be strug- 
 gling through the frost-bound Labrador 
 wilds, drawn by the lure of a siren sound 
 that spelled power, power, unlimited power. 
 
 He went over the story of her abduction, 
 and the motives that led up to it, in com- 
 pleteness and detail, setting forth each thing 
 in its order as a tale that had to be told ; and 
 Alice, as she listened, gained a new and 
 illuminating insight into the tremendous 
 power of the passion she was combating. 
 
 During his quieter moments she would 
 readjust his bandages and take his temper- 
 ature. Hour after hour she sat there, her
 
 In the Watches of the Night 303 
 
 great, grave eyes looking out of a pallid, 
 passive face, watching, watching, while the 
 slender thread of mercury in the clinical 
 thermometer climbed higher and higher, and 
 the dusky shadows from her little flickering 
 night lamp danced a solemn and stately 
 saraband upon wall and ceiling. One hun- 
 dred, one hundred and two, one hundred and 
 four, one hundred and five! Would the 
 climbing column of mercury never stop! 
 
 Boris came and laid his great head upon 
 the coverlet, and looked long and earnestly 
 into the face of his friend; then stretched 
 his keen nose towards the ceiling, and Alice 
 bated her breath, and pressed her hands con- 
 vulsively to her bosom, in terror, lest he 
 should give the long-drawn death howl. 
 
 The night wind moaned and sobbed and 
 whimpered through one of the partly opened 
 portholes, speaking to her of partings and 
 of the bitterness of death, until she rose and 
 closed it to shut out the doleful and depress- 
 ing sound. 
 
 Craig, in his ramblings, carried her 
 through every phase and incident of their
 
 304 The Dominant Chord 
 
 acquaintance, touching and illuminating 
 some of its more obscure and incompre- 
 hensible phases with a vividness and clarity 
 impossible to a mind not lifted out of itself 
 by some supreme crisis. 
 
 Alice's hospital training had taught her 
 what to expect from a man in delirium, and 
 she had steeled herself to hear what no 
 woman should ever hear, least of all from 
 the lips of the man in whose keeping her 
 future fate and happiness might some day 
 lie: but no word came from those parched 
 and feverish lips which could wound the sus- 
 ceptibilities of even the most delicate. At 
 times he would sink into long periods of 
 quiescent lethargy, during which no sound 
 would be heard but the faint hum of the 
 gyrostats, and the gentle lapping of the 
 waves against the hull. Then the tortured 
 brain would again take up the thread of its 
 vague and shadowy wanderings, circling 
 always around the one eternal problem, 
 touching on it with a delicacy at times al- 
 most womanly, at others with a fire and 
 vigour essentially masculine.
 
 In the Watches of the Night 305 
 
 Once, after a long period of silence, he 
 suddenly straightened up to the limits of his 
 bonds, and looking at her gravely, said, in 
 a tone of profound and calm conviction, 
 " Miss Huntington, you must marry me, you 
 really must, because the sine of the angle 
 A, B, D is equal to the square root of A, C, B 
 over X, and because, but I have forgotten 
 the rest of the formula no, I haven 't be- 
 cause because, I love you ! ' 
 
 He was quiet for a moment contemplating 
 this achievement ; then he went on slowly : 
 " Yes, I love you more than my life, more 
 than my soul, more than anything or every- 
 thing in the universe. I love you with every 
 throb of my heart with every drop of my 
 blood " He interrupted himself with a 
 wild, hysterical outburst of laughter 
 " With every drop of my blood. Ha! ha! 
 ha! I haven't any blood; Carcharondon 
 Carcharias drank it all, all, to the last and 
 uttermost drop. No," and the voice sank 
 again, " that's a lie, he didn't; he turned 
 it into fire. I can feel it burning burning 
 burning." The trailing voice suddenly
 
 306 The Dominant Chord 
 
 took on energy and insistence. " They're 
 catching us ! They're catching us, I tell you 1 
 Why don't you do something! ' 
 
 Towards morning he dropped off into a 
 troubled and intermittent sleep, and Alice, 
 after vainly striving to fight off her weari- 
 ness, spread a steamer rug on the floor 
 beside the cot, and, throwing herself down 
 upon it, sank into the oblivion of utter phys- 
 ical and mental exhaustion. 
 
 For three days Craig wandered and strug- 
 gled in the tangled and shadowy labyrinths 
 of delirium. On the morning of the fourth, 
 as she leaned over his pallet, Alice saw the 
 light of returning reason enthroned in the 
 hollow, sunken eyes which looked up into 
 her own. For one long moment he gazed 
 into that dark Madonna-like face bending 
 over him, framed in a wondrous mass of 
 heavy, unconfined tresses, and then, with a 
 groan which was almost a sob, and which 
 seemed to be wrung from the uttermost 
 depths of his soul, that terrible cry of an- 
 guish of the strong spirit beaten down, he 
 turned and buried his face in the pillow.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE STRONGEST THING 
 
 CRAIG'S convalescence was unusually slow; 
 his wounds healed rapidly, it is true, and the 
 splendid vitality of his body quickly re- 
 turned, but his spirit seemed unaccountably 
 crushed and broken. The long mental strain 
 which he had endured previous to the acci- 
 dent had evidently left a permanent mark. 
 He seldom spoke, confining himself when he 
 did so to brief directions in regard to the 
 management of the yacht. 
 
 Alice tried to draw him out and arouse his 
 interest, but without avail. He accepted her 
 ministrations with a gratitude which he 
 tried to express by looks, but which he never 
 put into words. 
 
 A week after the accident he was so far 
 recovered as to be able to leave his cot and 
 move slowly about his cabin, helping himself 
 
 307
 
 308 The Dominant Chord 
 
 by means of the tables and chairs. The fol- 
 lowing morning Alice found him in the chart 
 house contemplating the binnacle with an 
 expression of profound and melancholy sat- 
 isfaction. Glancing at the compass card she 
 saw that the steering arrow for the first time 
 in many weeks was pointing north. A sud- 
 den and unaccountable trembling seized her. 
 To hide it she crossed the room and stood 
 looking out of one of the windows. 
 
 Alice felt that Craig should open the con- 
 versation, if there was to be one, but he said 
 nothing. She endured the silence as long as 
 she could, and then, glancing over her shoul- 
 der with an assumption of indifference, 
 said: " You are feeling better this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 11 Much better, thank you." 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 " You don't ask how / am feeling." 
 
 " It is not necessary. No one could look 
 at you and imagine you in other than the 
 best of health." 
 
 " So you have looked at me. One might 
 be pardoned for supposing that you were
 
 The Strongest Thing 309 
 
 entirely absorbed in the study of that bin- 
 nacle. ' ' 
 
 " Yes. I have looked at you." 
 
 A pause. 
 
 " And you think I look well? " 
 
 " Exceedingly well." 
 
 Another pause. 
 
 1 ' One might perhaps expect to feel a little 
 tired after after ' ' 
 
 " Yes. One might expect to feel very 
 tired; in fact, one might expect to feel 
 almost anything." 
 
 Alice stood nervously picking to pieces a 
 flower which she had unconsciously taken 
 from the holder in front of the binnacle. 
 
 " Upon my word, Mr. Craig, you are a 
 most inspiring companion. One would al- 
 most think you had been appointed chief 
 mourner at a funeral." 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " You have! Whose? " 
 
 " My own." 
 
 " "Well, you might at least spare me all 
 these lugubrious trappings of woe. I al- 
 ways thought that when a real hero died
 
 310 The Dominant Chord 
 
 he just died, without saying anything about 
 it." 
 
 " Well, I haven't said anything ahout it 
 neither do I claim to he what yon would call 
 a real hero." 
 
 " You may not have said anything ahout 
 it, but you have looked it. One would think 
 that after all I have gone through I might 
 expect to be treated with a little considera- 
 tion." 
 
 11 Miss Huntington," interrupted Craig 
 gravely, " I am not going to try to thank 
 you for what you have done ' : 
 
 " You haven't" 
 
 " There are some obligations so over- 
 whelming, so crushing, some debts so vast 
 and unliquidatable that the debtor feels at 
 once the fundamental impossibility of ever 
 discharging them. Miss Huntington, we are 
 headed north. We are bound for New 
 York." 
 
 " New York! " echoed Alice faintly. 
 1 ' But why f I don 't understand. I 
 thought you were going to explore the Sar- 
 gasso."
 
 The Strongest Thing 311 
 
 " Fate has changed the plans. I have 
 lost. It only remains for me to pay the 
 penalty. Ever since I first beheld you I have 
 loved yon, loved you with all the strength 
 and intensity of my nature. For three long 
 years you have been my inspiration, my 
 ideal, my religion. I have carried your 
 image into the fetid swamps and tangled 
 forests of the tropics, over the barren plains 
 and bitter desolation of the north. I have 
 sought success; I have striven to achieve, 
 only that I might lay the fruits of my vic- 
 tories at your feet, that I might be worthy 
 to stand before you and look into your eyes. 
 When I returned to New York last fall and 
 learned that you were engaged to the Duke 
 of Buckminster, I was frantic with despair. 
 I could not work. I could not eat, I could 
 not sleep. I could not concentrate my mind 
 on anything. Night after night I would 
 walk the streets, my brain in a turmoil, my 
 mind saying over and over again, ' It can- 
 not be ; it must not be. ' If your fiance had 
 been any part of a man I could have borne 
 it, but that man, no! It was too horrible;
 
 312 The Dominant Chord 
 
 I knew him. It seemed like a sacrilege, a 
 sacrifice of the innocents, and all I could do 
 was to wander up and down in the darkness 
 before your home, cursing myself and cry- 
 ing in my soul, * It must not he ! ' 
 
 " From that condition in a nature like 
 mine the transition to, It shall not be, is 
 short and decisive. My associates thought I 
 was suffering from a nervous breakdown, 
 and begged me to give up and take this trip. 
 That suggested the idea the rest followed 
 with the inevitableness of fate. I felt that 
 if I could get you away, if I could remove 
 you from the artificial environment in which 
 you were placed, I could win you. I see now 
 that I was mistaken ; I have lost, and it only 
 remains for me to pay the penalty. ' ' 
 
 * * I believe you said that before. ' ' 
 
 " Did If " replied Craig wearily. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, repetition was unnecessary; the 
 fact is sufficiently obvious." 
 
 " So you are taking me back to New 
 York," resumed Alice meditatively, after 
 another long pause.
 
 The Strongest Thing 313 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " It will seem strange to be back in New 
 York again after all these weeks." 
 
 Craig evidently had nothing to offer to 
 this last observation. 
 
 " I wonder what they will do to you? ' 
 she went on in a calmly contemplative tone. 
 " Do they put such persons in Sing Sing or 
 Matteawan? " 
 
 " I don't know. I suppose Matteawan 
 would be the more appropriate." 
 
 " It will seem odd to think of a man one 
 has been compelled to associate with for 
 weeks, shut up in a cell among convicts, but 
 then I suppose you can easily get away in 
 the Sabine." 
 
 " I have not the slightest desire to do so. 
 What would I want to get away for! ' 
 
 " Why, to continue your work l for the 
 good of humanity,' " replied Alice mali- 
 ciously. 
 
 She had at last reduced her captor to a 
 state of abject and suffering servitude, and 
 with the relentless, unthinking cruelty of her 
 sex she intended to take full advantage of it.
 
 314 The Dominant Chord 
 
 " I am afraid my interest in the good of 
 humanity is not as keen as it was. One can- 
 not strive for the happiness of others if he is 
 not happy himself. " 
 
 " At all events yon will be better off in 
 your cell than I shall be. At least you will 
 not have to meet people. Everywhere I go 
 I shall feel myself the subject of whispered 
 conversations and curious glances. What a 
 choice morsel it will be for the gossiping 
 dowagers and sour chaperones. I can hear 
 them rolling it under their tongues now. 
 ' Oh, yes, she is the Miss Huntington that 
 was carried off on a yacht, and do you know, 
 she was gone over ten weeks, and Heaven 
 only knows where they were or what they 
 were doing.' 
 
 " Don't! " protested Craig whitely. 
 
 " Yes," went on Alice relentlessly, " I 
 shall have to wear a sort of a society bar- 
 gain counter tag, ' 98c. marked down from 
 $1.40, only slightly damaged, almost as good 
 as new.' Perhaps after years, after the 
 affair has blown over and been forgotten, 
 I may find some man who will be willing to
 
 The Strongest Thing 315 
 
 marry me for my money, but the whispers 
 and the wise looks will always follow me 
 wherever I go." 
 
 " Don't! Don't! " exclaimed Craig 
 hoarsely, his white face writhing with pain. 
 
 ''Don't! Why not? It's true and you 
 know it. Oh, you men, you think you suffer ; 
 you don't know how to suffer. It takes a 
 woman to suffer, and it takes a man to show 
 her how." 
 
 " You are certainly showing me how." 
 
 " Oh, well, I fancy I shall stand it some- 
 how," went on Alice, with a resumption of 
 her indifferent manner. " One can live 
 down almost anything, you know in time." 
 
 She saw that Craig in his weakened con- 
 dition was on the verge of a physical col- 
 lapse, and while she wanted to torture him 
 with the exquisite refinement of cruelty 
 which a woman can show only to the man she 
 most loves, she did not wish to carry her 
 diversion too far. 
 
 ' ' What I don 't understand, ' ' she re- 
 marked after a while, leading back to the 
 attack along a new line of approach, " what
 
 316 The Dominant Chord 
 
 I don't understand is, how you could have 
 expected to win any woman in this way." 
 
 " I know it was impossible, I can see it all 
 now, and yet there have been times when 
 when I thought that I had. ' ' 
 
 "You thought that you had I Oh, most 
 modest of men! And when was that, 
 pray? " She placed her hands upon the 
 table, and leaned towards him provokingly; 
 and Craig, his hungry eyes devouring the 
 symmetry and perfection of her, grew sick 
 with hopeless, helpless despair. 
 
 Suddenly a look of terror wiped the per- 
 verse, provoking smile from her face, leav- 
 ing it ashen. Flying fingers clutched swiftly 
 at the bosom of the loose morning gown she 
 had been in the habit of wearing during 
 Craig's illness. Consternation! Dismay! 
 She had missed it! Her eyes grew big with 
 fright. Both hands delved wildly, franti- 
 cally, in the voluminous folds of her skirt, 
 but too late. There was a faint thud, as 
 of some hard substance striking the deck, 
 followed by a tinkling, metallic clatter. 
 
 Craig saw the object and reached for it
 
 The Strongest Thing 317 
 
 under the table, but Alice was before him. 
 She straightened up swiftly, breathless, her 
 body thrilling from the momentary contact 
 of their fingers. Against her wildly palpi- 
 tating heart was pressed the signet of the 
 royal Isabella, while a bit of fine gold chain 
 with a broken clasp at the end, dangled from 
 between her fingers. 
 
 1 'ALICE!" Craig's voice, vibrant with 
 wonder, surprise and incredulity, rang out 
 like the peal of a Yuletide bell. 
 
 ' ' Alice ! " In three strides he had cir- 
 cumnavigated the table which separated 
 them, but she had fled. 
 
 Relentlessly he pursued her along the 
 deck, until at the very stern, breathless, 
 dishevelled, defiant, she turned and faced 
 him. 
 
 " You have worn that ring all this time." 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Alice! " 
 
 "No! no! It is not so. Go away! Don't 
 touch me! " 
 
 " Alice! " commandingly. " Tell me." 
 
 The strong arms, strong with the strength
 
 318 The Dominant Chord 
 
 of a supreme joy, closed slowly around her. 
 Gently, but resistlessly, she was drawn within 
 the circle of that close embrace, and then, 
 as the last spark of her dying resistance was 
 going out, the blackening embers blazed up 
 in one last fierce flame. Suddenly the yield- 
 ing, pliant form stiffened, the dusky, droop- 
 ing head was flung back, and in the eyes 
 which looked into his the old light of battle 
 flamed. Pushing herself violently from him, 
 she cried: 
 
 "No! no! Let me go! I hate you!" 
 But the stout arms did not relax. The 
 gray eyes, dancing with myriad lights of joy, 
 would not be denied. Slowly the brown ones 
 fell before them. Swiftly the surging colour 
 mantled brow and cheek. Like the folding 
 of a gull's wing the tense young form re- 
 laxed. The remainder of her defiance was 
 whispered into the collar of his soft, flannel 
 shirt, 
 
 " I hate you! but I love you, too! " 
 Above them arched a sky of purest tur- 
 quoise; around them stretched the ocean, a 
 vast and flawless matrix of uncut sapphire,
 
 The Strongest thing 310 
 
 and in their hearts were resounding the 
 mighty strains of that old, old anthem, old 
 as the earth, imperishable as immortality, 
 the wonderful anthem of love. 
 
 And here, in the dawn of earth's sweetest 
 ecstasy, let us leave them. 
 
 In all rich lives, lives that are worth the 
 living, the dominant chord is love, and al- 
 ways, always and inevitably, the strongest 
 thing will win. 
 
 THE END.
 
 From 
 
 L. C. Page & Company's 
 
 Announcement List 
 
 of New Fiction 
 
 THE STORY GIRL 
 
 By L. M. MONTGOMERY. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, illustrated, decorative jacket . . . $1.50 
 
 To quote from one of our editor's reports on the new Mont- 
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 everywhere the touch of the finished artist is evident a smooth- 
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 The environment is again the author's beloved Prince Edward 
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 L. PAGE 6* COMPANY'S 
 
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 By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of " An Enemy to the 
 King," "Philip Winwood," etc., and G. E. THEODORE 
 ROBERTS, author of " Hemming, the Adventurer," " Red 
 Feathers," etc. 
 
 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated _ . _ . . . $1.50 
 The many admirers of the brilliant historical romances of the 
 late Robert Neilson Stephens will be gratified at the announce- 
 ment of a posthumous work by that gifted writer. The rough 
 draft of the story was laid aside for other work, and later, with- 
 out completing the novel, the plot was utilized for a play. With 
 the play completed Mr. Stephens again turned his attention to 
 the novel, but death prevented its completion. Mr. Roberts has 
 handled his difficult task of completing the work with care and 
 skill. 
 
 The story, like that of " The Continental Dragoon," takes as 
 its theme an incident in the Revolution, and, as in the earlier 
 novel, the scene is the " debatable ground " north of New York. 
 In interest of plot and originality of development it is as re- 
 markable as the earlier work, but it is more mature, more force- 
 ful, more real.
 
 LIST OF NEW FICTION 
 
 THE DILEMMA OF ENGELTIE 
 
 By EMMA RAYNER, author of " Free to Serve," etc. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, illustrated. Net $1.35 (carriage, 12c. extra) 
 
 Given a wedding irrevocably decreed, the date of the actual 
 ceremony somewhere on the limits of a fortnight ahead; given 
 a bride but not a groom, a maid of the old Dutch New York days, 
 pretty enough to turn men's heads for her beauty alone, well 
 dowered enough to be one of the prizes of the decade; the wedding 
 festivities, merrymakings these Dutch colonial worthies loved 
 to give to prospective brides and grooms, in full swing; half a 
 dozen young Dutchmen with hands outstretched ready to grasp 
 the prize and reciprocate the maiden's vows would she but nod 
 their way; the wedding itself as sure as fate or death; the bride 
 upon the scene, receiving the honors of the occasion alone; 
 the bridegroom an unknown quantity; the days racing by hi 
 mirth and festivity and the wedding daily drawing nearer; 
 problem find the bridegroom! 
 
 The setting for this unusual situation is quaint New Nether- 
 lands, hi 1702, shortly after England had succeeded hi wresting 
 from Holland her prosperous colony in the New World. The 
 sharp contrast between the primitive conditions of the neigh- 
 boring settlements and the comparative luxury of the town is 
 well portrayed, and forms an everchanging background to a 
 tale of unusual excellence both hi the conception and in the 
 development of its novel plot. 
 
 New edition (Tenth Printing) of 
 FREE TO SERVE 
 
 By EMMA RAYNER. The novel that made the author famous. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, with a frontispiece hi full color by George Gibba. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 " After reading Emma Rayner's tale of Colonial New York, 
 ' Free to Serve,' what has impressed one the most is its vividness 
 of atmosphere. The spirit of the early eighteenth century has 
 been caught to perfection, and transferred to every page. One 
 lives hi a picturesque past, and thinks not of the complicated 
 world of to-day, save as the impulses and motives animating 
 human beings are the same now as then." Boston Times. 
 
 " To the charm of a story well conceived and cleverly told is 
 added the interest of characters that until now have been unusual 
 m present-day fiction." New York Press. 
 
 " In ' Free to Serve ' we have a book that rises from out of 
 the dull monotony of mediocrity and amply deserves considera- 
 tion." The Philadelphia American.
 
 L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 THE CHRONICLES OF MADELYN MACK 
 
 By HUGH C. WEIB. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, illustrated . . . *. . . . fl.50 
 
 Lovers of rapid action, ingenious situations and excitement 
 
 will find abundant entertainment in following the adventures 
 
 and career of Madelyn Mack a veritable wizard at her trade 
 
 the heroine of this clever and straightforward detective novel. 
 Her career is brimful of excitement, one continuous series of 
 adventures, which constitute a tale of swift and dramatic action. 
 Clever in plot and effective in style, the author has seized on 
 some of the most sensational features of modern life, and the 
 reader who has a grain of fancy or imagination may be defied 
 to lay this book down once he has begun it until the last WOK! is 
 reached. 
 
 MISS BILLY 
 
 By ELEANOR H. PORTER. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, illustrated. Net $1.25 (carriage, 12c. extra) 
 
 " Billy," in this instance, is the name of a very dainty and 
 pretty girl with pink cheeks and a wealth of curly hair and the 
 sweetest of smiles. When you first meet her hi the story she is 
 all that her name implies an impulsive, warm-hearted girl of 
 eighteen who quite unknowingly succeeds in completely upsetting 
 the quiet and dignity of the Beacon Street household of the three 
 Henshaw boys, who had hitherto lived an uneventful life in 
 " The Strata," as the old Boston mansion was fittingly termed 
 by Bertram, the youngest of the brothers. But Billy grows up. 
 and almost before she herself realizes it a romance has entered 
 her lif e one of those charming and refreshing romances which 
 strike a sympathetic chord in the hearts of its readers and bring 
 back fond memories of " the glamour and joys of youth." 
 
 THE RED FOX'S SON 
 
 By EDGAR M. DILLEY. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo. With a frontispiece in color by John Goss $1 .50 
 
 Picturesque Bharbazonia a province of the Balkan peninsula 
 
 is the setting for this sparkling " Zenda " novel, which quite 
 surpasses the regulation story of modern mystery and adventure, 
 when the dashing young American goes to the mythical, but 
 interesting Balkan State, and creates havoc in the hearts of the 
 Slavs, himself becoming a slave to the beautiful princess of the 
 country. It is a romance rich in exciting detail, and has glamour, 
 dash, vivacity and spirit of the most pleasing order. In every 
 page of " The Red Fox's Son " the fiction lover will find fascina- 
 ting reading.
 
 LIST OF NEW FICTION 
 
 GEORGE THORNE 
 
 By NORVAL RICHARDSON, author of the big Southern novel 
 
 " The Lead of Honour," already in its sixth large printing. 
 
 Frontispiece in full color, decorative jacket, cloth, 12mo. 
 
 Net $1.25 (carriage, 12c. extra) 
 
 Mr. Richardson's new story is striking in thought and treat- 
 ment. Taking a man from the rubbish heap of poverty, the 
 author places him in surroundings of wealth and refinement, and 
 then traces the effect of the new influences upon his character. 
 
 Of " The Lead of Honour " the critics have written as follows: 
 
 " ' The Lead of Honour ' cannot but make those who read it 
 better pleased with life and with humanity (the which is much)." 
 Chicago Inter-Ocean. 
 
 " Mr. Richardson has given us a story which is well worth 
 the perusal." Boston Transcript. 
 
 11 A story of much more than usual merit. It is seldom that 
 one turns away from a work of fiction with more reluctance to 
 part company with its people and with a greater impetus towards 
 one's own best." Boston Herald. 
 
 " It is rarely that a love story is written in these days that has 
 in it so much of pure and lofty sentiment, of so high ideals and 
 so absorbing in its romance that the reader for the time is lifted 
 out of himself. It is a novel which really stands on a pinnacle 
 as contrasted with much of the current fiction of the day." 
 Springfield Union. 
 
 " Mr. Richardson has an excellent style, a gift of character- 
 drawing and much emotional power." Providence Journal. 
 
 DIONIS OF THE WHITE VEIL 
 
 By CAROLINE BROWN, author of " Knights of Fustian," " On 
 
 the We-A Trail," etc. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, illustrated, decorative jacket . . . $1.50 
 
 A romance of the early days of the eighteenth century, with 
 the scenes for the most part laid in the region bordering the 
 Mississippi, from Louisiana north towards the Illinois country. 
 
 When the gay and handsome Chevalier Fauchet first sets eyes 
 upon the heroine, Dionis Montfort, she has entered upon her 
 novitiate, and is to take the vows of a nun hi less than a week's 
 time. Fauchet, a universal lover, gallant always, serious never, 
 is attracted by the demure and innocent novice, at first because 
 of her beauty; but later when he realizes that it is real affection 
 he feels for the girl, the Chevalier determines that the Church 
 must fight him for her life's devotion. How fate throws the 
 two together, allowing love finally to triumph over the Church, 
 makes a romance remarkable hi its consistent and absorbing 
 charm.
 
 Z. C. PAGE &> COMPANY'S 
 
 THE CASE OF PAUL BREEN 
 
 By ANTHONY TUDOB, LL.B. 
 
 Cloth, 12mo, illustrated by Henry Roth, decorative jacket. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 A positive, strong human novel, the story of an innocent man 
 caught in the legal meshes of circumstantial evidence. The 
 plot is new and its development most striking, while the story 
 is handled throughout hi masterly and dignified fashion by a 
 writer whose style is at all tunes convincing and forceful. He 
 has had the courage to go right to the heart of things, and bare 
 for his readers' gaze the very souls of his characters. It is a 
 powerful work one which will probably be called a " bold 
 novel," and not only is it of intense interest, but it is a story 
 which furnishes much food for thought. 
 
 THE RED-HOT DOLLAR 
 
 By H. D. UMBSTAETTER. 
 
 Cloth decorative $1.00 
 
 For three reasons this little book will arouse interest. First, 
 because of the stories themselves, next, because then- author, 
 H. D. Umbstaetter, is the founder and publisher of The Black 
 Cat, which, to quote the New York Tribune, " has done more for 
 short-story readers and short-story writers than any other 
 periodical," and last, but not least, because of the unique intro- 
 duction by Jack London. Only once in a long tune do we come 
 across such a unique collection of stories as Mr. Umbstaetter's, 
 containing as it does stories that are clever in conception, well- 
 written and just the right length to be entertaining, and as Mr. 
 London aptly says, stories that are true Black Cat stories. 
 
 The stories, twelve hi all, are so absorbingly interesting and so 
 unusual in the realm of fiction, embodying as they do amusing 
 character sketches, tales of humor, pathos, mystery and adven- 
 ture, that they will undoubtedly appeal to a large class of readers 
 who are not attracted to the ordinary in fiction.
 
 Selections from 
 L. C. Page and Company's 
 List of Fiction 
 
 WORKS OF 
 
 ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS 
 
 Each one vol., library I2mo, doth decorative . $1.50 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF GEORGIANA 
 
 A ROMANCE OF THE DAYS OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER. Illus- 
 trated by H. C. Edwards. 
 
 " A love-story in the highest degree, a dashing story, and a re- 
 markably well finished piece of work." Chicago Record-Herald. 
 
 THE BRIGHT FACE OF DANGER 
 
 Being an account of some adventures of Henri de Launay, son 
 of the Sieur de la Tournoire. Illustrated by H. C. Edwards. 
 " Mr. Stephens has fairly outdone himself. We thank him 
 
 heartily. The story is nothing if not spirited and entertaining, 
 
 rational and convincing." Boston Transcript. 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF MURRAY DAVENPORT 
 
 (40th thousand.) 
 
 " This is easily the best thing that Mr. Stephens has yet done. 
 Those familiar with his other novels can best judge the measure 
 of this praise, which is generous." Buffalo News. 
 
 CAPTAIN RAVENSHAW 
 
 OB, THE MAID OF CHEAPSIDE. (52d thousand.) A romance 
 
 of Elizabethan London. Illustrations by Howard Pyle and 
 
 other artists. 
 
 Not since the absorbing adventures of D'Artagnan have we had 
 anything so good in the blended vein of romance and comedy. 
 
 THE CONTINENTAL DRAGOON 
 
 A ROMANCE OF PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE IN 1778. (53d 
 thousand.) Illustrated by H. C. Edwards. 
 A stirring romance of the Resolution, with ite scenes laid on 
 neutral territory.
 
 L. C. PAGE &> COMPANY'S 
 
 PHILIP WINWOOD 
 
 (70th thousand.) A Sketch of the Domestic History of an 
 American Captain in the War of Independence, embracing 
 events that occurred between and during the years 1763 and 
 1785 in New York and London. Illustrated by E. W. D. 
 Hamilton. 
 
 AN ENEMY TO THE KING 
 
 (70th thousand.) From the " Recently Discovered Memoirs 
 of the Sieur de la Toumoire." Illustrated by H. De M. Young. 
 An historical romance of the sixteenth century, describing the 
 
 adventures of a young French nobleman at the court of Henry 
 
 III., and on the field with Henry IV. 
 
 THE ROAD TO PARIS 
 
 A STOKY OP ADVENTURE. (35th thousand.) Illustrated by 
 H. C. Edwards. 
 
 An historical romance of the eighteenth century, being an 
 account of the life of an American gentleman adventurer. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN PLAYER 
 
 His ADVENTURES ON A SECRET MISSION FOR QUEEN ELIZA- 
 BETH. (48th thousand.) Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 
 The story of a young gentleman who joins Shakespeare's 
 company of players, and becomes a prot6g6 of the great poet. 
 
 CLEMENTINA'S HIGHWAYMAN 
 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated $1 . 50 
 
 The story is laid in the mid-Georgian period. It is a dashing, 
 sparkling, vivacious comedy, with a heroine as lovely and 
 changeable as an April day, and a hero all ardor and daring. 
 
 TALES FROM BOHEMIA 
 
 Illustrated by Wallace Goldsmith. 
 
 Cloth, decorative cover $1 . 50 
 
 These bright and clever tales deal with people of the theatre 
 and odd characters in other walks of life which fringe on Bo- 
 hemia. 
 
 A SOLDIER OF VALLEY FORGE 
 
 By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS AND THEODORE GOODRIDGE 
 ROBERTS. 
 
 Cloth decorative, with frontispiece in full color from a paint- 
 ing by Frank T. Merrill $1.50 
 
 " The plot shows invention and is developed with originality, 
 and there ia incident in abundance." Brooklyn Times.
 
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