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"You are going to try to make Europe, sir?" asked Taylor, the young man who had

last spoken.

"It is the nearest land," I replied. "I have always wanted to explore the forgotten

lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here's our chance. To remain at sea is to

perish. None of us ever will see home again. Let us make the best of it, and

enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden the balance of our race--the

adventure and the mystery which lie beyond thirty."

Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider, I think, was a trifle

sceptical.

"It is treason, sir," I replied, "but there is no law which compels us to visit

punishment upon ourselves. Could we return to Pan-America, I should be the

first to insist that we face it. But we know that's not possible. Even if this craft

would carry us so far, we haven't enough water or food for more than three days.

We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and without ever again looking

upon the face of another fellow countryman than those who sit here now in this

boat. Isn't that punishment sufficient for even the most exacting judge?"

Even Snider had to admit that it was.

"Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy to the fullest whatever of

adventure or pleasure each new day brings, since any day may be our last, and

we shall be dead for a considerable while."

I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor and Delcarte responded with a

hearty, "Aye, aye, sir!"

They were of different mold. Both were sons of naval officers. They represented

the aristocracy of birth, and they dared to think for themselves.

Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward the east. Beyond thirty,

and separated from my ship, my authority ceased. I held leadership, if I was to

hold it at all, by virtue of personal qualifications only, but I did not doubt my

ability to remain the director of our destinies in so far as they were amenable to

human agencies. I have always led. While my brain and brawn remain

unimpaired I shall continue always to lead. Following is an art which Turcks do

not easily learn.

It was not until the third day that we raised land, dead ahead, which I took, from

my map, to be the isles of Scilly. But such a gale was blowing that I did not dare

attempt to land, and so we passed to the north of them, skirted Land's End, and

entered the English Channel.

The Lost Continent