nsideration than if I remain Warder Gaydon? This measure, however, demands reflection. I have always been dominated by the thought that if the owner of the Ebba kidnapped

llowed to continue in attendance upon him. In this way, if Thomas Roch should ever divulge his

is the Ebba bound

he Count d'Artiga

ripping through the water, under the action of a means of propulsion that I shall end by finding out

No. 17,-he pronounces it with a harsh, vibrating accent, which is not to be found among the peoples of northern latitudes. I do not remember ever to have heard anything like it in the course of my travels either in the Old or New World-unless it be the harshness characteristic of the idiom

ikewise. If his schooner bears a Norwegian name, he at any rate is not of Sc

man abducted Thomas Roch-and me with hi

fit alone by Thomas Roch's invention, and is he in the position to dispose of it profitably? That is another question that

atchway. Once I attempted to go as far as the bows where I could, by leaning over, perceive the schooner's stem as it cut through the water, but ac

are interfering with th

of the ship! Ther

ked on, must have known it, too. Even a hospital attendant could not fail to be astonished at the fact that a vessel without either

he boatswain. The latter immediately pipes all hands on deck, and the mainsail, the foresail, staysail and jibs

, as is evident from the fact that the sails are not always as full as they ought to be if the schooner were bowling

st disappear as soon as they attain the ho

ate of from ten to eleven knots an hour. As to the direction we have been going in, it is always the same, and I have been able to verify this by casual glances at the binnacle. If the fore part of the vessel is b

his part of the Atlantic Ocean, which is bounded on t

ps of islands to be found in the direction we are g

mistake not, cut the African coast at Morocco. But along the line, about three thousand miles from America, are the Azores. Is it presumable that the Ebba is heading for

a good deal less hypothetical that, if the Count d'Artigas was entrusted with the abduction of Thomas Roch by a European Power at all, it

horizon attentively. When a sail or the smoke from a steamer heaves in sight he examines the passing vessel for a co

both exchange a few words in a language t

d deal more free, more loquacious and less surly than his companions, and I wonder what position he occupies on the schooner. Is he a personal friend of the Count d'Artigas? Does he sc

be shut in his cabin, still under the influ

e o'clock in the afternoon, just as he is about

y to me, this Count d'Artigas, but

mas Roch is subject last lo

rty-eight hou

s to be

ep. After a night's sleep the fit will be over and

continue to attend him as you did at

tend t

e schooner-pendi

he

to-morrow afternoon

he coast of Africa, nor even the Azores. There only rem

go down the hatchway when

o know, I have the right to k

have no rights. All you have to do is to a

haughty and imperious person

hatchway, leaving me face

myself to the inevitable," remarks the latter

cry out,

when no one is

heard some

way off. However, shou

ice, Engineer Serko leaves

rapidly and grows perceptibly larger. Black clouds of smoke pour out of her two funnels. She is a warship, for a n

will render her the cust

changes her course with the ev

does not astonish me greatly. But what does cause me

orders are transmitted to the engine room of a steamer. As soon as he presses on

chine of "some kind" which causes this inexplicable movement of the schooner b

the cruiser, whose course does not vary. Why should this warshi

ight on the port bow. This time, instead of seeking to avoid her, Captain Spade signals an order by means of t

essels are only about fo

top-gallant sails. It is useless to expect the wind to spring up again during the night, and she will l

ail, and the work, under the direction of the boatswain Effrondat, is

to darkness, only a mile and

m standing on the starboard side-and

in has not lighted the head-lamps, whereas the lamps of the t

r without being seen; for though she has slackened speed

My supper is on the table, but uneasy, I know not why, I hard

. The silence is unbroken save by the wa

on me. To-morrow afternoon we shall reach our destination. To-morrow, I shall resume, o

was able to perceive when the schooner started off across Pamlico Soun

t least there is none on the map-and we shall have to go another fifty or sixty miles before the Bermudas can be sighted by the lookout men. Not only has the Eb

towards her, she must be almost alongside now. We certainly cannot be lying more than one or two cables' length from her. The three-master, which

no hope of being restored to liberty is held out to me? It is true I cannot swim, but if I seize a li

sten. I hear no noise, either in the men's quarters, or on d

ind it is bolted on the outsi

pt, which, after all, ha

body. I am restless and racked by conflicting thoughts, and apprehensions of

t been awakened by a noise-an unusual noise, such

port-hole, which is turned towards the east

r is, whether the Ebba

e sea is as calm at sunrise as it was at sunset. If the Ebba has

milar noise in the hold beneath my cabin floor, the entrance to which is situated abaft the foremast. I also feel that somethi

ly fifty or sixty miles from the nearest land, the group of the Bermudas. That she could have returned westward, and can be in proximity to the American coast, is inadmissible, in view

n door is still bolted, I find on trying it; but I do not thi

out of my porthole. The ocean is covered by a mist, w

masted merchantman is not visible, it is probably becaus

. I push the door open and clamber up the iron ladder to the

gas, but do not see him. He

old. This explains the noisy operations that were going on when I was awakened. Obviously, if the crew are getting out the cargo

port of us? She ought to be in the same plac

en. There is not a sail, not a speck on the

an only be accepted under reserve: Although I did not notice it, the Ebba resumed her voyage while I sl

ade about it, nor even Engineer Serko,

presses one of the buttons on the upper disk. Almost immediately the Ebba g

hatchway and takes his customary place aft. Serko and Captai

copes and sweep the horizon

e intently in the same direction; but having

deck-all with the exception of Thoma

foretop cross-tree. Inasmuch as the Ebba is bowling along at

about eight miles off. As the schooner approaches it becomes more distinct. It is a mo

in these parts?