Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1908 — THE VANISHING FLEETS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE VANISHING FLEETS

By ROY NORTON

ILLUSTRATED BY A. WEIL

IWI , hjr The TerereJ Auit SutiUjr Slg-Aiuea.

And each day brought him nearer to those round him, each night brought him better rest, and every hour added to the broadening of his serenity. He was now merely a man among men, playing his part in his Own way, enjoying it. and finding the worries of empire dropping away In this spot where all his crown of rulership availed Him nothing. What was the need to fret when his hands were tied? Why not dismiss it all from his mind? The great federation would pass on and on long after his bones had gone to dust. Here in these Canadian woods, which he had never dared hope to invade, was life such as he had dreamed of, freedom such as he had never known, and absence of all formality. Here were men who were learning to love him for himself, and for whom he was forming an affection that would last him to the end. Strange as It seemed, the cloud which had disturbed him on the night of the accident had taken another form. Then it had been because he was to be detained for an indefinite time. Now it was because the detention was to be so Bhort, and he saw with regret that the time for his departure was nearly at hand. He foresaw the reluctance with which he would enter that craft of the air and hear its metal door close him In for homeward flight, but as a prison door shutting him out forever from the forests and hills, the pools and brooks, which he had learned to love. Only now and then, as he tramped beside some stream or followed some game trail cut through the fallen leaves by countless caribou, he would smile Ironically at the amazement and alarm which must have been caused by his absence, not only in his own empire, but in the United States where were those who had caused his disappearance.

And In both surmises he was correct; but the distress in the American republic was perhaps the most keen. Not since the beginning of hostilities had the president and his associates •uffered such grave apprehensions as when it became known to a certainty that Brockton’s endeavor had met with accident or disaster. On the first day when the expedition failed to return from its voyage of conciliation no undue alarm was occasioned, ft being considered entirely possible that It had been compelled to return directly to the key to avoid observation. Another 24 hours of silence caused comment; but again It was regarded as tenable that a barrier In the first quest had required .a second trip. The third day passed with anxious expectations but no news. The fourth, however, was a memorable one; for then It became known to the entire civilized world that the heads of a nation had been abducted, and the situation in Washington grew almost unbearable. In response to an urgent message to the plant, “Old Bill” Roberts, Norma, and Bevins appeared on the fifth night, utilizing the new radioplane for their visit. The gravity of the consultation which followed was intense; but the faith of the* inventor in his work afforded some measure of relief. “It would be almost impossible,” he asserted, “for anything worse to befall them than delay. They may have been cast away In the air or on the land by an accident to their steering gear, which would require flight in straight lines. Nothing but a blow such as was sustained by Seventeen in battle could even temporarily stop both dynamos; hence it is Improbable that they lost their lives.” Step by step he reasoned out the course which would be pursued, and at last gave It as his opinion that the Norma had come to ground in Canadian woods. He suggested searching expeditions, even though it entailed the exposure of the secret, the abandonment of the Oriental campaign, and the opportunity to establish permanent peace. The president alone stood steadfast for the latter hope, and was quick to offer a new plan. It was that the people of Great Britain themselves should have a conclusive and final demonstration, and, yielding to his arguments, it was agreed upon. The project was no lass daring than those which had been executed before. The Dreadnought waa to be deposited In the Thames under oover of darkness, and in an apparently Impossible position, where tha people of London might look upon It as an object lesson. Immediately afterwards the king and his most powerful officials were to be shown tha working of tha radioplane, that they might be la a position to advance measures for peace and disarmament, fortifying their aig* men is by their own observations. The utmost secrecy was to be maintained, because In the meantime the Chinese armada might have sailed. In case it had not, the secret would b* given oat sod search began actively for the missing Norma and her dtstlr

passenger*; but In any avast - support would have been assure. Bevins, foreseeing the difficulty his task, asked and obtained. permission to invite the British admiral to accompany him, the wisdom of which Was evidenced. Favored by the difference In time, the speedy Roberts on that very night crossed the Atlantic and deposited letters to secret service agents in London, instructing them to obtain positive knowledge of where the king might be found the following evening. On her return she conveyed Fields and the Dreadnought to the key, preparatory to the momentous Journey. turb the thrones of Europe was accomplished without incident, but not without difficult?. The Roberta swooped down from the heights of air, untenanted save by her, to find spread between the earth and sky a blanket of fog; thick and impenetrable. Into It she slowly dropped, groping this way and that over the unsuspecting city, whose sounds came up to her but gave no hint as to locality. Aimlessly she wandered here and there in the murk, taking desperate chances in her quest. Suddenly something'loomed directly below the open port, from which Bevins was leaning and peering down, and only a quick change of course avoided a collision. Fields joined him, and Identified the dome of Saint Paul’3. It was a narrow escape, but enabled them to set their course and gain the deserted greens of Saint James’ Park, where Bevins was lowered by ropes to the earth. He stood for a moment while the bulk of the radioplane and the Dreadnought which she-was carrying rose into the air and disappeared from view. He felt alone in an unfriendly city, but set his teeth and stumbled out to a street, where he enlisted the services of a constable and a hansom, and was conveyed to the Cecil, whose lighted doors stared out upon the fog washed courtyard leading from the Strand. His message of the previous night had met with instaqt response, and no one would have suspected that the two men who lounged in the hotel entrance in seeming idle conversation, smoking and watching passersby, were important agents in the hands of fate. As nonchalantly as they had met they parted, one returning within doors, and the other sauntering back to the waiting hansom which was to convey daring audience with the king. (To be continued.)