Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: f to hope from the man. " You can't abandon us," he hurried on, "not a woman, anyway, to the torture of slow starvation." " I 'm not sure that I can." The captain's hand had gone up as though to stroke the absent mustache. When the hand came down, it showed his teeth again as he half turned toward the men behind him. At those words, " I 'm not sure that I can," the reaction in the lifeboat was so great that, with the snapping of the tention, Grant had wavered dizzily, and Nan sprang up with a cry — a cry that Newcomb took for relief till he saw her gesture toward Julian Grant. But nearer hands laid hold on him as he called out in hoarse triumph, " What did I tell you fellows!" and fell into the place they made for him. The commander turned from some humorous interchange with his officers. " Yes, it's a fact, I can't bring myself to abandon the lady." He took up that position again near the edge of the conning-tower. With heels together he made a sharp inclination from the hips. " I have a cabin below, not luxurious, but more comfortable than —" he broke off with a curt gesture. " I place it at the lady's disposal." On the lifeboat for those first seconds a silence of petri- fication reigned. On the submarine sounded voices — voices which had n't been heard before. For one sick instant Newcomb tried to fit those sounds to expostulation, to revolt. And then hope died, transfixed by laughter. But the commander himself was grave, almost decorous. " Well, what do you say ? " He was looking straight at the girl. " You must make up your mind quickly. I 've wasted too much time already." " Far too much," burst from a man's throat down below. " Unless," the German went on calmly —" unless, as seems probable, the lady has n't understood." No wonder that he so i...