ve. If I am not to share it with Thomas Roch, I presume the latter's cell is not far off, for in order that Warder Gaydon may continue to care for th

erko reside separately in pr

it. Colored glass windows in wooden frames let into the limestone walls admit the light. The interior comprises several chambers, a dining-room and a drawing-room lighted by a stained-glass window,

the Count d'Artigas, I catch sight of him coming along the shore of the lagoon towards the hive. Eith

o receive me, anyhow!

which he has just disappeared a

k-skinned Malay, who orders me a

on, and repeat to him twice the follo

gas that I desire to b

k. This savage, no doubt, does not understand a word of English,

l only succeed in rousing the wrath of the Malay, who appears to be endowed with herculean strength. I therefore judge discretion to be the

y thoughts revert to Thomas Roch. I am surprised that I have

ount d'Artigas is to be believed, he would in this

r on I encounte

to avoid me. If he knew I was a colleague, an engineer-providing he himself really is one-perhaps he might receive me

uth, and accompanies a "Good day, how do yo

politeness-a fact which

presume, disposed to regret the fortunate circumstance by which you were permitted to visit this surpa

conversation with a simple hospital attenda

o, if, after having had the pleasure of visiti

ilion at Healthful House? Why, you have scarcely had time to explore our magnifice

ou perchance be talking seriously I will assure you

om care, with an assured future, material conditions such as are not to be met with anywhere, an even climate and no more to fear from the tempests which desolate the coasts in this part of the Atlantic th

this climate can suit you, that you can

self in time. What would happen if they suspected that I am aware of the name of th

mate does not suit me, I have, I pr

ght, of

shall be furnished with the means of r

dge the authority of no foreign power, that we are subject to no outside authority, that we are the colonists of no state, either of the old or new world. This is worth consideration by whomsoever has a sense of pride and in

es he imagine that Warder Gaydon ever heard of Trophonius? It is clear this mocker continues

enter yon habitation, which, if I mistake not, is

m, Mr.

n the Count

received strict

it or not, Count d'Artigas will

ven impossible to get him to do so,

y s

o such person as Co

I presume; I hav

nt d'Artigas whom y

it then,

ate Ker

voice, and Engineer Serko walked off before

ate Ker

memories it evokes! It by itself explains what has hitherto bee

y arrival in Back Cup from Engineer Serko, this is what I

., operated with incredible audacity under the orders of a redoubtable chief. The nucleus of the band had been formed by men pertaining to the scum of Europe who had been attracted to New South Wales, in Aus

et rich at no matter what cost, deriving from gambling and speculation what they might have earned by patient and steady work, they engaged in all sorts of imp

udacity, one of those men who stick at nothing-not even at crime

name was

ard to him. He eluded all pursuit, and his name-or at least the name he gave himself-was known all over the world,

sequence, after all. What is certain is that he was with reason regarded as a formidab

, in the province of Victoria. He was joined by about thirty rascals whose number was speedily tripled. In that part of the Pacific Ocean where piracy is still carried on with great fac

nown to the authorities, all attempts to capture it proved futile. The marauder would disappear among

spatched warships in pursuit of the phantom vessel which disappeared, no one knew whither, afte

te break out in a fresh place? It was argued that notwithstanding what they must have spent in orgies and debauchery the pirate and his companio

rybody asked and none was able to answer. All attempts to run them to earth were vain. Terror and uneasiness

at will never be known unless I

y abandoned the Southern Seas. Having destroyed their ship they dispersed in

ad made a special study of submarine craft, proposed to Ker Karraje that they should construct one

re of the proposition, and as they had no

borg, in Sweden, he gave to the Cramps of Philadelphia, in America, the plans of a submarine boat whose con

o, and fitted with all the known appliances of nautical science. The screw was worked wit

Engineer Serko was the most formidable and resolute of his accomplices. The former was regarded as a foreigner of noble birth and great for

By its external form, its interior arrangements, its air-supply system, the rapidity with which it could be immersed, the facility with which it could be handled and controlled

open sea, four miles off Charleston, in presence of several American and for

de on board, and the old crew as well, save half a dozen men who manned the submarine machin

water, which were to be followed by an immersion to last several hours, the boat being orde

oeuvred on the surface. Her speed and the ease with which she turn

g sank slowly out of sight, and several vessels

y, but there was n

as the invisible tug of the schooner, would not emerge till it had gone several miles beyond the rendezvous. Therefore, with the exception of those who were in

Drags were used and divers sent down along the course the boat was supposed to have taken, but it

o sea again, and in forty-eight hours ca

of towing the schooner and attacking ships. With this terrible engine of destruction, whose very existen

y proud of his handiwork,-and also very positive that the pr

chooner which could not possibly have excited any suspicion, would run alongside and her horde of cutthroats would pour on to the doomed vessel's deck and massacre the helpless crew, after which they would hurriedly tr

rmous proportions. The merchandise for which he had no use was disposed of in distant markets in exchange for gold and silver. Bu

which led to the interior of the mountain. Would it have been possible for Ker Karraje to have found a more admirable refuge than this, absolutely safe as it was from any possible chance

d an electric power house, without having recourse to machines whose construction abroad might have aroused suspicion, simply employing piles t

t was because she had been scuttled by the tug, boarded by the cut-throat band on the Ebba, and sunk with all on board after being pillaged. The bales a

to escape from Back Cup, denounce the false Count

sion of Roch's fulgurator! His power will be increased a hundred-fold! If he were able to employ t

ern Seas, the useless expeditions organized by the maritime powers to hunt him down. The unaccountable loss of so many vessels in the Atlantic during the past few years is attributable to him. He had merely changed the scene of hi

I surmise that if Engineer Serko has let me into the secret he must have been authorized to do so.

is revelation. I remember that on leaving me he went towards Ker Karraje's

ehind me. I turn and find myself face to face with the Count d'Artigas, who is accompanied by Capta

wait upon Thomas Roch that you carried me off from Healthful Ho

makes a gesture,

ets the better o

rather, for I know who you are-

s Warder Gaydon is Engineer Simon Hart; and Ker Karraje will nev