Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 101, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1908 — CHAPTER XVILL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CHAPTER XVILL

_ , The Battle. R was In she long gray dawn of fits summer morning, and the wide reaching ocean, slate colored In the effrly light, seemed asleep In its quietude save where It was disturbed by moving prows. Steaming across its bosom in fancied security, knowing that not on Pacific waters were there enemies capable of staying Its progress, and insolently careless In superb strength, went the Japanese fleet. The huge flagship, the "Ito, forced her way In advance, the apex of a great and for-

mldable triange, whose sides were formed by other battle ships of scarcely less tonnage, graceful cruisers, and swtft-movlng destroyers, while bringing' up the far Tear were the colliers in whose hulls were carried fuel for the great armada. Here was the Kashlma, which could drive her 17,000 tons of steel through the water at 19 knots speed; the Katorl, but little smaller and almost as fast; the Asahi, the Mikasa, the Asama, the Toklwa, and others which were dear to the heart and pride of Nippon a gallant navy, carefully planned, well constructed, and of invincible size and strength. No squadron that breasted the waves might cause it to hesitate. (

In the stillness of the morning there came a sudden, sharp exclamation from the man on the lookout, an excited call to the bridge, and the quick step of an officer In answer to the summons. Almost instantly he was followed by another, who brought with him a pair of powerful binoculars, through which he gazed in the direction Indicated by the sailor. There in the immeasurable void of the upper air, ao high above that It floated In the broader light, soared a covey of gigantic objects unpictured in. the lore es flight. Onward It came until almost above, when It stopped and majestically hovered over them, and seeded to be watching and waiting for some ray of broader light The palftd blue of those far-floating bodlea rendered them almost Indistinguishable, save when now and then they swung broadside to in deploying, resumed their speed, and swept round in circles.

Puzzled and amazed, the officer handed the glasses to his companion and watched his face attentively, as If hoping to read from. Its expression some solution of this mysterious visitation from the immense unclouded space above. The glasses were lowered, and the two men with the superstition of ages behind them tamed to each other- with pallid faces, fearing the supernatural or the unknown. Again they looked, and saw that the flying specks traveled with Incredible rapidity, and were apparently observing them, after which, as they watched, they saw them come to an abrupt stop. It was enough. Whatever they were, their presence would be made known.

The officers sprang to the alarms, and In an instant thunderous volleys bellowed out across the waters, awakening the other vessels. Shrill pipings, the staccato blare of bugles, and tbe Bound of running feet told the story of excitement and that welldrilled orewa were answering the call. The hour was early for the perfect use of flag signals; so from one warship to another flMhed the searchlight warnings, and wireless operators Ip their cabins ticked frantic messages to outlying members of the fleet to close In for action. Admirals and captains, who had fought successfully la other Wars and counted their service tb valuable adjuncts In any engagement. stood upon the bridges or the flanks of the great turrets and stared spellbound at this apparition which had come upon them In the uight. There it waa, a silent fleet of the air, sinister and menacing, lowering over them as If waiting opportunty or biding Its time to strike. A sudden evolution brought one of those terrible adversaries to the outer edge of the aerial formation, and through their glasaea they saw thrown out to the winds of tbe morning, whipping and writhing, the flag of the nation they had eome to epuquer; the oldest banner In the world, and the one they had been taught through mentha of consideration to despise. Stare on a field of blue, fit emblem for I warriors of the clouds 1 And then are the first flag had straightened out Us 1 heavy folds, the colors fluttered from each birdlike craft, a challenge to bat Us in which the odds were against them. Aloft In that fleet of the air. where all WM quiet, there wm no sadden call of excitement For hours they had watched and waited JrJhs appear

sighted far below In the gran: oi tne dawn each man took his post without words; but the martial spirit which sends men to battle burned clear and high. The supreme test’was at hand, and the wait and preparation were at an sqiL The Issue was In the lap of the gods. The Norma had been the first to decry the oncoming fleet, and Fighting Bevins with his own hand had signaled his followers to reduce speed. Now he stood at the transparent ports, heard the sudden booming alarm, witnessed the" excitement on the decks, and smiled with grim joy. By his side stood Norma, and not even he, trained to strife and accustomed from early manhood to scenes of carnage, was more cool or determined. He looked at her questionlngly, wondering whether or no he should read In her eyes a sign of regret or weakness, and turned from her with a glow of admiration. “Who Is going to handle her?” he queried, glancing at the hood. “I am,” she replied, as quietly as If answering a query of no moment. He held out his hand and shook hers warmly. From away in the outer distance, where the angle was not too sharp to prevent its elevation, came the sullen report of a gun, atd a shell flew past at such close range that Its screaming came to them through the thickness of their plate and the open upper ports, sounding its challenge and defiance above the droning hum of the dynamos. The girl glanced apprehensively upward, but the admiral continued his calm insDectlon of the Japanese fleet. (To be continued.)

He Gazed In the Direction Indicated by the Sailor.