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Chapter 2

What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He was my most loyal

subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the pale of possibility that Alvarez should

desert me. No, there was some other explanation. Something occurred to place

my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in command. I was sure of it but why

speculate? The futility of conjecture was only too palpable. The Coldwater had

abandoned us in midocean. Doubtless none of us would survive to know why.

The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned her nose about as it

became evident that the ship intended passing over us, and now he still held her

in futile pursuit of the Coldwater.

"Bring her about, Snider," I directed, "and hold her due east. We can't catch the

Coldwater, and we can't cross the Atlantic in this. Our only hope lies in making

the nearest land, 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 that used to be known to

the ancients as New England," he replied. "Is that where you mean, sir?"

No, Snider," I replied. "The England I refer to was an island off the continent of

Europe. It was the seat of a very powerful kingdom that flourished over two

hundred years ago. A part of the United States of North America and all of the

Federated States of Canada once belonged to this ancient England."

Europe," breathed one of the men, his voice tense with excitement. "My

grandfather used to tell me stories of the world beyond thirty. He had been a

great student, and he had 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 to read, and, as you men know, we are

permitted a greater latitude in the study of geography and history than men of

other professions.

Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, who lived two hundred

years ago, and from whom I am descended, many volumes still exist, and are in

my possession, which deal with the history and geography of ancient Europe.

Usually I bring several of these books with me upon a cruise, and this time,

among others, I have maps of Europe and her surrounding waters. I was

studying them as we came away from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I

have them with me."

The Lost Continent