f, as well
as the women, Rosa, Mrs. Liebling, and Ingigerd, had prevented the boat
from capsizing. What an unreal contrast between the past and the present!
And why was Stoss receiving such homage?

The psychology of certain mass demonstrations has yet to be written. What
could the applause have been intended to signify? "We are grateful to God
that he rescued you. This you have accomplished, you poor armless man,
that hundreds, though they had two arms, perished, while you are
privileged to appear on the stage this evening as if nothing had
occurred. We must enjoy ourselves; and it is better that you who
entertain and amuse us with your thousands of tricks should have been
saved than any Tom, Dick, or Harry. Besides we want to reimburse you for
all the troubles you have been through. What is more, because of your
skill and because of your rescue, you are a lion whose worth has
increased twofold."

The turbulence continued. The man the audience so honoured was fairly
drowned in a sea of applause. At last a man in evening dress stepped from
the wings and made signs that he wanted to speak. Silence fell, and he
announced that Arthur Stoss, the world's champion, would say a few words.
The next instant Stoss's sharp, clear boyish voice rang through the
theatre reaching even the hindmost seats.

Frederick caught expressions here and there, "My dear New Yorkers,"
"hospitable Americans," "the hospitable shores of America," "Columbus,"
and "1492." He heard Stoss say that on the bill-boards one read "1492,"
the year in which modern America was born. He distinguished phrases such
as "_navigare necesse est, vivere non necesse_," "through darkness to
light," and so on. Stoss's speech utterly lacked inspiration.

"Noah's ark," he said, "has not yet become superfluous. Two-thirds of the
earth's surface is still covered with water. But if a vessel here and
there is swallowed up in the flood, the ark of humanity cannot sink,
since God has set his rainbow in the heavens. The ocean is the cradle of
heroism, it is the unifying, not the dividing element."

The name of Captain von Kessel resounded in the hall. Frederick saw the
dead hero tossing about in the great black waters under a starless
heaven. Above the performer's shrill voice, he heard the captain's voice
saying:

"My brother has a wife and children. He is an enviable man, Doctor von
Kammacher."

Frederick was roused from his recollections by the frantic applause that
gre