What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He wasmy most loyal subordinate. It was absolutely beyond thepale of possibility that Alvarez should desert me. No,there was some other explanation. Something occurred toplace my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in command. Iwas sure of it but why speculate? The futility ofconjecture was only too palpable. The Coldwater hadabandoned us in midocean. Doubtless none of us wouldsurvive to know why.

The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned hernose about as it became evident that the ship intendedpassing over us, and now he still held her in futile pursuitof the Coldwater.

"Bring her about, Snider," I directed, "and hold her dueeast. We can't catch the Coldwater, and we can't cross theAtlantic in this. Our only hope lies in making the nearestland, which, unless I am mistaken, is the Scilly Islands,off the southwest coast of England. Ever heard of England,Snider?"

"There's a part of the United States of North America thatused to be known to the ancients as New England," hereplied. "Is that where you mean, sir?"

"No, Snider," I replied. "The England I refer to was anisland off the continent of Europe. It was the seat of avery powerful kingdom that flourished over two hundred yearsago. A part of the United States of North America and allof the Federated States of Canada once belonged to thisancient England."

"Europe," breathed one of the men, his voice tense withexcitement. "My grandfather used to tell me stories of theworld beyond thirty. He had been a great student, and hehad read much from forbidden books."

"In which I resemble your grandfather," I said, "for I, too,have read more even than naval officers are supposed toread, and, as you men know, we are permitted a greaterlatitude in the study of geography and history than men ofother professions.

"Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, wholived two hundred years ago, and from whom I am descended,many volumes still exist, and are in my possession, whichdeal with the history and geography of ancient Europe.Usually I bring several of these books with me upon acruise, and this time, among others, I have maps of Europeand her surrounding waters. I was studying them as we cameaway from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I havethem with me."

"You are going to try to make Europe, sir?" asked Taylor,the young man who had last spoken.

"It is the nearest land," I replied. "I have always wantedto explore the forgotten lands of the Eastern Hemisphere.Here's our chance. To remain at sea is to perish. None ofus ever will see home again. Let us make the best of it,and enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden thebalance of our race--the adventure and the mystery which liebeyond thirty."

Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider,I think, was a trifle sceptical.

"It is treason, sir," I replied, "but there is no law whichcompels us to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could wereturn to Pan-America, I should be the first to insist thatwe face it. But we know that's not possible. Even if thiscraft would carry us so far, we haven't enough water or foodfor more than three days.

"We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and withoutever again looking upon the face of another fellowcountryman than those who sit here now in this boat. Isn'tthat punishment sufficient for even the most exactingjudge?"

Even Snider had to admit that it was.

"Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy tothe fullest whatever of adventure or pleasure each new daybrings, since any day may be our last, and we shall be deadfor a considerable while."

I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor andDelcarte responded with a hearty, "Aye, aye, sir!"

They were of different mold. Both were sons of navalofficers. They represented the aristocracy of birth, andthey dared to think for themselves.

Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward theeast. Beyond thirty, and separated from my ship, myauthority ceased. I held leadership, if I was to hold it atall, by virtue of personal qualifications only, but I didnot doubt my ability to remain the director of our destiniesin so far as they were amenable to human agencies. I havealways led. While my brain and brawn remain unimpaired Ishall continue always to lead. Following is an art whichTurcks do not easily learn.

It was not until the third day that we raised land, deadahead, which I took, from my map, to be the isles of Scilly.But such a gale was blowing that I did not dare attempt toland, and so we passed to the north of them, skirted Land'sEnd, and entered the English Channel.

I think that up to that moment I had never experienced sucha thrill as passed through me when I realized that I wasnavigating these historic waters. The lifelong dreams thatI never had dared hope to see fulfilled were at last areality--but under what forlorn circumstances!

Never could I return to my native land. To the end of mydays I must remain in exile. Yet even these thoughts failedto dampen my ardor.

My eyes scanned the waters. To the north I could see therockbound coast of Cornwall. Mine were the first Americaneyes to rest upon it for more than two hundred years. Invain, I searched for some sign of ancient commerce that, ifhistory is to be believed, must have dotted the bosom of theChannel with white sails and blackened the heavens with thesmoke of countless funnels, but as far as eye could reachthe tossing waters of the Channel were empty and deserted.

Toward midnight the wind and sea abated, so that shortlyafter dawn I determined to make inshore in an attempt toeffect a landing, for we were sadly in need of fresh waterand food.

According to my observations, we were just off Ram Head, andit was my intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visitPlymouth. From my map it appeared that this city lay backfrom the coast a short distance, and there was another citygiven as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the mouth ofthe river Tamar.

However, I knew that it would make little difference whichcity we entered, as the English people were famed of old fortheir hospitality toward visiting mariners. As weapproached the mouth of the bay I looked for the fishingcraft which I expected to see emerging thus early in the dayfor their labors. But even after we rounded Ram Head andwere well within the waters of the bay I saw no vessel.Neither was there buoy nor light nor any other mark to showlarger ships the channel, and I wondered much at this.

The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building orsign of man apparent from the water. Up the bay and intothe River Tamar we motored through a solitude as unbroken asthat which rested upon the waters of the Channel. For allwe could see, there was no indication that man had ever sethis foot upon this silent coast.

I was nonplused, and then, for the first time, there creptover me an intuition of the truth.

Here was no sign of war. As far as this portion of theDevon coast was concerned, that seemed to have been over formany years, but neither were there any people. Yet I couldnot find it within myself to believe that I should find noinhabitants in England. Reasoning thus, I discovered thatit was improbable that a state of war still existed, andthat the people all had been drawn from this portion ofEngland to some other, where they might better defendthemselves against an invader.

But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was therehere in Plymouth Bay to prevent an enemy landing in forceand marching where they wished? Nothing. I could notbelieve that any enlightened military nation, such as theancient English are reputed to have been, would havevoluntarily so deserted an exposed coast and an excellentharbor to the mercies of an enemy.

I found myself becoming more and more deeply involved inquandary. The puzzle which confronted me I could notunravel. We had landed, and I now stood upon the spotwhere, according to my map, a large city should rear itsspires and chimneys. There was nothing but rough, brokenground covered densely with weeds and brambles, and tall,rank, grass.

Had a city ever stood there, no sign of it remained. Theroughness and unevenness of the ground suggested somethingof a great mass of debris hidden by the accumulation ofcenturies of undergrowth.

I drew the short cutlass with which both officers and men ofthe navy are, as you know, armed out of courtesy to thetraditions and memories of the past, and with its point duginto the loam about the roots of the vegetation growing atmy feet.

The blade entered the soil for a matter of seven inches,when it struck upon something stonelike. Digging about theobstacle, I presently loosened it, and when I had withdrawnit from its sepulcher I found the thing to be an ancientbrick of clay, baked in an oven.

Delcarte we had left in charge of the boat; but Snider andTaylor were with me, and following my example, each engagedin the fascinating sport of prospecting for antiques. Eachof us uncovered a great number of these bricks, until wecommenced to weary of the monotony of it, when Snidersuddenly gave an exclamation of excitement, and, as I turnedto look, he held up a human skull for my inspection.

I took it from him and examined it. Directly in the centerof the forehead was a small round hole. The gentleman hadevidently come to his end defending his country from aninvader.

Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search--ametal spike and some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments.They had lain close beside the skull.

With the point of his cutlass Snider scraped the dirt andverdigris from the face of the larger ornament.

"An inscription," he said, and handed the thing to me.

They were the spike and ornaments of an ancient Germanhelmet. Before long we had uncovered many other indicationsthat a great battle had been fought upon the ground where westood. But I was then, and still am, at loss to account forthe presence of German soldiers upon the English coast sofar from London, which history suggests would have been thenatural goal of an invader.

I can only account for it by assuming that either Englandwas temporarily conquered by the Teutons, or that aninvasion of so vast proportions was undertaken that Germantroops were hurled upon the England coast in huge numbersand that landings were necessarily effected at many placessimultaneously. Subsequent discoveries tend to strengthenthis view.

We dug about for a short time with our cutlasses until Ibecame convinced that a city had stood upon the spot at sometime in the past, and that beneath our feet, crumbled anddead, lay ancient Devonport.

I could not repress a sigh at the thought of the havoc warhad wrought in this part of England, at least. Farthereast, nearer London, we should find things very different.There would be the civilization that two centuries must havewrought upon our English cousins as they had upon us. Therewould be mighty cities, cultivated fields, happy people.There we would be welcomed as long-lost brothers. Therewould we find a great nation anxious to learn of the worldbeyond their side of thirty, as I had been anxious to learnof that which lay beyond our side of the dead line.

I turned back toward the boat.

"Come, men!" I said. "We will go up the river and fill ourcasks with fresh water, search for food and fuel, and thentomorrow be in readiness to push on toward the east. I amgoing to London."