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Show Frances had accepted hi,,. JIe ha& been looking forward to f,. reuion, and had urged her to tafe a nrtish ship. And she had suil oa a Ger. nian. The battle was over."tith a firm expression upon his facci()Iinls t00lt up the speaking tube. 1 (ow Unit Bingham was wait ins aj tlie other "end. that the first word i,pul( sen(1 the torpedo hurtling tipuA,,,r deadly passage of destruction. Tint before his hand was n (ile tuDa he heard a singing in s e(irSi a roaring over the sea w,n causett him nioinontarily to post Kivjns. the order. Sonu-thing ,,,-xpected had occurred. Next insta ), ynevt what it was. . Ho hoard e S(.recciv of the shell from the coni.u,(i ier, the following boom of t cannon: and thcr." everything vu ',re anij smoke and splinters. The next thing of which r boonm aware was water around m nbout him. Stunned by the con psi0n, h(f niannged'only to make out le wreckage wreck-age in the water of wha(t.u1 bpPI, the smartest torpedo-boat ilti10 p,rt. ish navy. He heard theUies of drowning men, the cdlls fciu,ip. The shell, aimed w'Hh (IfcUy pre-clsion, pre-clsion, had struck the toLio-hoat amidships, rending her n.-i.tBcn(mg her to the bottom. v ll With a groan Adams clos?Hs eyea and resigned himself to tenlura0( of the icy waters. And t.nlvas his last remembrance until time, after. P He awakened in the PlymoV hos. y, pital. The lirst face to meet eye3. was that of liingham, seatei.t ),ia bedside. I The sub lieutenant stretchedL bis. hand and clasped Adams's .irnj "Where am I?" groaned Ada I "In the hospilal, and gnttinilonB finely," answered Bingham. "Yl Rot; a piece of shell in your hoad.ljt it was pulled out yesterday, and a hiple-of hiple-of weeks should see you aboat nle finest destroyer afloat. I "You see," he continued, Ftlie Vengeance, came up and receivrjthe Kronprinz's surrender and got ifout of the water. We had you lithe boat, unconscious. And the adtal-ty adtal-ty court has acquitted you." I "Acquitted me?" cried Adamiin. credulous. I "Yes. They held you did riglujot to send that valuable treasure tcjhe bottom, even if you waited too fcg. And then, you had been informed at the Kronprlnz had no guns on tr. But I mustn't talk to you any lira at present besides, there's someHjy waiting to see you." , And the "somebody" who camnin was believed by the doctors to hje shortened Adams's period of re, ery by at least three days. And tit meant a three days' honeymoon k. fore he accepted charge of bis nty command. I (Copyright, 1814, by W. G. Chapman A PRECIOUS CARGO By GEORGE HUNSON. "There --phe Js, sir!" exclaimed Lieutenant Dingf.'im, pointing into the distance. Lieutenant Adaus. his senior, commanding com-manding the torivdo-boat Spitfire, looked through his glasses toward the horizon, where 'a tiny wisp of curling smoke denoUd'' the presence of the Kronprinz. j The Kronprinz had sailed from ! New York four days bere, carrying a few passengers who re resolved to risk captiire at the uuls of tne British fleet, a cargo, nf. stly contraband, contra-band, two million dollar in gold, and Miss Frances Lowell cJtangor. This last item was firmed news. Lieutenant Adams hadlritten to his American sweetheart, warning her not to attempt the journey owing to the imminent outbreak of war; but j she had not received the letter, and ! had considered the newspaper prog- nostications lidioulous. She was bent I on completing her art course in England. Eng-land. When it was completed she was j to become Adams' bride. There was no reason why Miss : Lowell should study art in order to j become the wife of a lieutenant with nothing but his pay; still, Lieutenant Adams never thought of opposing his sweetheart's wishes. lie learned that she was to sail on the Kroni rinz a day before his squadron put to sea, with orders to clear the Atlantic. The Kronprinz, as a treasure ship, was .specially desired by the British admiralty. Adam's orders were strict; Fired a Shot Across the 3ows o the Kronprinz. if he saw her he was to summon her to surrender or sink her on sight. And, of all the scouting .jrpedo-boats .jrpedo-boats and destroyers, it had fallen to Adams to sight the fugitive Kronprinz. Kron-prinz. Of course there was no doubt she would surrender. Then he wrouId take his precious captive, with her still more preciou; cargo of one, safe into Plymouth. He rang full speed to the engine-room, engine-room, and, standing beside the wheelman, wheel-man, watcheJ the distant wisp of smoke creep up until it covered the horizon in front of him. Then the hull of the majestic passenger vessel appeared upon the water-. And gradually the Sptfire overhauled her. The signal to lay to being disregarded, disre-garded, at a distance of a mile the Spitfire fired a sho across the bows of the Kronprinz. The fugitive's only response W'as to quicken her speed, until with all her furnaces glowing under un-der forced drafts from the open ventilators, the Spitfire was creeping up inch by inch rather than by leaps and bounds. "Shall I give her a torpedo, sir?" asked Lieutenant Bingham of his commander. com-mander. He was amazed to see the ghastly pallor upon Adams' face. A torpedo, striking fairly home, would send the vessel to the bottom before she could launch her lifeboats. And the lifeboats life-boats of the Spitfire would not suffice to save a tithe of the Kronorinz's crew and passengers, few though the latter were. "I'll give her a shotted gun first," answered Adams. This time the shell went very near the Kronprinz. but the result was the same as before. She sped through the water about fifteen hundred yards ahead of the pursuing craft. Through his glasses Lieutenant Adams could plainly see the passengers crowding the deck.' "They say that she's carrying two twelve-pounders." suggested Bingham. "That may be the reason " Adams had heard the rumor that the Kronyrinz had been partly con-'"jsed con-'"jsed fr the destruction of mer-sfianlmem mer-sfianlmem A sudden resolution was Apparent on hirwace "Give her a torpedo wuSriiSsj-nal, ' Bingham," he answered. v And he stood within the vheelhouse, ' fighting the 'est supreme battle cf his life. It was his duty to hh country coun-try against the only woman whom he had ever loved, and, though the result was never in doubt, the conflic was one of those that go to tie soul of a man and leave their imprint for i 6V"e had met Frances Loei; two vears before, when he mporar. 0 ily attached 'i the embassy" ash-r- ington. Sh, -as of Southex birth. and had been vWting 'f :t the capital. From the first fay bad f been attracted to each other, "hen. k after a few weeks of acouance. d' Adams had beet, recalled W'' 16 he had gone with the JT ;r- that, as soon as he got bU W '"; mand, he should asL her to H hi. he Z "The command h -;-be months before, and b that correspondence had shown ' they had not erred In their se1 |