chance was
gone, the woman did not love him. His heart was hot against her. Yet he
remembered the scene in the strong room--had she indeed returned his
kiss? He closed his lips firmly and said nothing. He would not, he
could not betray her, even to himself.

"You do not answer, sir! What excuse have you to offer?"

"None."

"You sought this detail. You forced yourself into the expedition. Have
you nothing to say for yourself?"

"Nothing."

"You are under arrest, sir, for disobedience of orders, for dereliction
of duty! By heavens!" said the general, striking his left hand with his
right, "for cowardice!"

"For God's sake, not that, sir!"

"For cowardice, sir! You knew the expedition was one of extreme hazard.
You have no excuse to offer for not having been here. What else is it?"

"Not that, sir! Not that!" pleaded the lieutenant. "Anything but that!"

"A traitor, a coward, I say!"

"General Beauregard!" cried a high-pitched voice out of the darkness,
shrill and unnatural with terror and fatigue. The next moment Fanny
Glen herself, bareheaded, panting from her rapid run, white-faced in
the light cast by the lantern held by the staff officer, pushed through
the group surrounding the general.

"Where is Mr. Sempland, sir?" she asked.

"Here, under arrest. He failed to arrive in time. Can you explain it?"

"The boat?"

"Gone."

"Gone? Then who--"

"Major Lacy took it out."

"And the _Wabash_?"

"Will be blown up, please God, if all goes well."

The girl put her face in her hands as if to shut out some dreadful
picture. She kept them there for a few seconds, then she lifted her
head and looked unsteadily from the severe face of the general to the
cold, disdainful countenance of Sempland. The man she loved shrank away
from her.

"Useless! Too late!" she murmured, then fell fainting at their feet.

CHAPTER VIII

DEATH OUT OF THE DEEP

At 8.30 that night, February 17, 1864, the little torpedo boat, after
having successfully passed the monitors and ironclads anchored just out
of range of Fort Sumter, and inside the shoals at the harbor mouth, was
stopped about a mile from the outer entrance of the Main Ship Channel,
where her quarry had been reported as lying quietly at anchor at
nightfall. Success had attended the efforts of her devoted crew so far.
By Lacy's command the _David_ was stopped in order to give a little
rest, a breathing space, before the last dash at their prey, to the
wea