The Lost Continent | Page 8

though no man might know that Lieutenant
Jefferson Turck had taken his ship across thirty, every man aboard
would know that the first officer had committed a crime that was
punishable by both degradation and death. Johnson turned and eyed me
narrowly.
"Shall I place him under arrest?" he asked.

"You shall not," I replied. "Nor shall anyone else."
"You become a party to his crime!" he cried angrily.
"You may go below, Mr. Johnson," I said, "and attend to the work of
unpacking the extra instruments and having them properly set upon the
bridge."
He saluted, and left me, and for some time I stood, gazing out upon the
angry waters, my mind filled with unhappy reflections upon the unjust
fate that had overtaken me, and the sorrow and disgrace that I had
unwittingly brought down upon my house.
I rejoiced that I should leave neither wife nor child to bear the burden
of my shame throughout their lives.
As I thought upon my misfortune, I considered more clearly than ever
before the unrighteousness of the regulation which was to prove my
doom, and in the natural revolt against its injustice my anger rose, and
there mounted within me a feeling which I imagine must have
paralleled that spirit that once was prevalent among the ancients called
anarchy.
For the first time in my life I found my sentiments arraying themselves
against custom, tradition, and even government. The wave of rebellion
swept over me in an instant, beginning with an heretical doubt as to the
sanctity of the established order of things--that fetish which has ruled
Pan-Americans for two centuries, and which is based upon a blind faith
in the infallibility of the prescience of the long-dead framers of the
articles of Pan-American federation--and ending in an adamantine
determination to defend my honor and my life to the last ditch against
the blind and senseless regulation which assumed the synonymity of
misfortune and treason.
I would replace the destroyed instruments upon the bridge; every
officer and man should know when we crossed thirty. But then I should
assert the spirit which dominated me, I should resist arrest, and insist
upon bringing my ship back across the dead line, remaining at my post

until we had reached New York. Then I should make a full report, and
with it a demand upon public opinion that the dead lines be wiped
forever from the seas.
I knew that I was right. I knew that no more loyal officer wore the
uniform of the navy. I knew that I was a good officer and sailor, and I
didn't propose submitting to degradation and discharge because a lot of
old, preglacial fossils had declared over two hundred years before that
no man should cross thirty.
Even while these thoughts were passing through my mind I was busy
with the details of my duties. I had seen to it that a sea anchor was
rigged, and even now the men had completed their task, and the
Coldwater was swinging around rapidly, her nose pointing once more
into the wind, and the frightful rolling consequent upon her wallowing
in the trough was happily diminishing.
It was then that Johnson came hurrying to the bridge. One of his eyes
was swollen and already darkening, and his lip was cut and bleeding.
Without even the formality of a salute, he burst upon me, white with
fury.
"Lieutenant Alvarez attacked me!" he cried. "I demand that he be
placed under arrest. I found him in the act of destroying the reserve
instruments, and when I would have interfered to protect them he fell
upon me and beat me. I demand that you arrest him!"
"You forget yourself, Mr. Johnson," I said. "You are not in command
of the ship. I deplore the action of Lieutenant Alvarez, but I cannot
expunge from my mind the loyalty and self-sacrificing friendship
which has prompted him to his acts. Were I you, sir, I should profit by
the example he has set. Further, Mr. Johnson, I intend retaining
command of the ship, even though she crosses thirty, and I shall
demand implicit obedience from every officer and man aboard until I
am properly relieved from duty by a superior officer in the port of New
York."
"You mean to say that you will cross thirty without submitting to

arrest?" he almost shouted.
"I do, sir," I replied. "And now you may go below, and, when again
you find it necessary to address me, you will please be so good as to
bear in mind the fact that I am your commanding officer, and as such
entitled to a salute."
He flushed, hesitated a moment, and then, saluting, turned upon his
heel and left the bridge. Shortly after, Alvarez appeared. He was pale,
and seemed to