ession of the channel with what he saw ahead.

At that moment Manager Fogg came into the pilothouse, disregarding the
"No Admittance" sign by authority of his position. He lighted a cigar
and displayed the contented air of a man who has fed fully.

"You have been making a pretty slow drag of it, haven't you, Captain
Mayo? I've had time to eat dinner--and I'm quite a feeder at that! And
we haven't made the Gate yet!"

"We couldn't do a stroke better and be safe," said the captain over his
shoulder, his eyes on the tow.

"What's the matter now?"

"A tug and three barges in the way."

"Do you mean to say you're holding up a Vose liner with eight hundred
passengers, waiting for a tugboat? Look here, Mayo, we've got to hustle
folks to where they want to go, and get them there in time."

"That tow is coming down with the current and has the right of way, sir.
And there's no chance of passing, for she's sweeping the channel."

"I don't believe there's any law that makes a passenger-boat hold up
for scows," grumbled Fogg. "If there is one, a good man knows how to
get around it and keep up his schedule." He paced the pilot-house at the
extreme rear, puffing his cigar.

He grunted when Mayo gave the go-ahead bells and the throb of the
engines began.

"Now ram her along, boy. People in these days don't want to waste time
on the road. They're even speeding up the automobile hearses."

Captain Mayo did not reply. He was grateful that the dangers of Hell
Gate had been revealed. The mists hung in wisps against North Brother
Island when he swung into the channel of the Gate, and he could see,
far ahead, the shaft of the lighthouse. It was a stretch where close
figuring was needed, and this freak of the mists had given him a fine
chance. He jingled for full speed and took a peep to note the bearing of
Sunken Meadow spindle.

"Nothe-east, five-eighths east!" he directed the quartermaster at the
wheel.

The man repeated the command mechanically and brought her to her course
for the Middle Ground passage.

After they had rounded North Brother, Whitestone Point tower was
revealed. It really seemed as if the fog were clearing, and even in the
channel between Execution Rocks and Sands Point his hopes were rising.
But in the wider waters off Race Rock the _Montana_ drove her black
snout once more into the white pall, and her whistle began to bray
again.

The young captain sighed. "East, a half nothe!"

"East, a half nothe,