oom of the Valkyrie, the two boys entered on what was perhaps the strangest period of their lives in many respects. Virtually prisoners, they yet found a

als were served below. On trying to reach the deck for a breath of air, after a long vigil at the engine, Jack found that the engine-room was

ny information as to the whereabouts of the yacht. Had the boys only known how the other prisoners were faring, and what was ultimately to become of them all, they might have been

y went by and the yacht forged steadily on, and the boys, working in the engine-room, had no means of knowing he

yacht was forced forward at her full speed capacity, which was eighteen knots. It was one day toward

. Impatient janglings from the pilot house he met as best he could with more steam. But at len

contrary, every rod, crank and bolt appeared in good order. Suddenly a thought struck him. He hastened acros

s. While he watched, it dropped two pounds more, an

le he saw the dim forms of the stokers on duty flitting about lik

the tr

the half-naked fireman as he threw open a fur

'n three tons of coal in the bunkers a

ed Jack. "How long

could nowtice it," r

ny idea whe

'em torkin' erbout h'it

are we,

, fifty west, I 'e

close to the equator. In fact, for days past he and Tom had discarded all the clot

h'I knows where," was the vague response. "H'all h'I knows h

footsteps rang out on the metal floor the

ou doin

," responded Jack. "There's hardl

se-eating Britisher, you get back to your work. D'ye hear me? I'll hav

o go." They must, then, be nearing their destination. And what was to follow? When he awakene

means was evident when the British stoker, who appeared incli

pieces," he confided, and then withdre

orkin'?" he

lied Jack; "plen

thing out of the old hooker and leave nothin

, before he turned in, "I guess they're stripping

anything that would burn, in their mad desire to reach whatever haven they were aiming for. But if the boys could have been on deck they would have perceived a

ich was still as death,-all these signs, coupled with an alarming drop in the barometer, showed those in charge of this ominous voyage that a tropi

. From time to time they were compelled to go to the funnel-shaped bottom of one of the ventilators to get even a breath of air. M

e saved himself from slipping into the revolving machinery only by clutching at an upright stanchion. At the same instant his ears were assailed by a diabolical screeching, as a wind,

iolently off it and grabbed by Tom in time t

y awakened boy, his eyes wide with

e Tom's response, "and we're ru

fted skyward by a giant hand and then pushe

d-night," spoke Jack, whose

ers at work on pain of instant death. Into the furnaces of the hurricane-driven ship was piled everything aboard that would burn. Bo

, dizzy and aching in every limb, they kept at their tasks. But not long before midnight the end c

re followed a crash that seemed to be sufficient to smash the stout structure of steel and iron into

hout. It was

ne for

ct. After that appalling crash they hardly knew i

is the finish!" gasped Jack