billows of the moonlight clouds. The detonation of the
thunder and the glare of lightning through an occasional
rift in the vaporous wall proclaimed the continued fury of
the tempest upon the surface of the sea; but we, far above
it all, rode in comparative ease upon the upper gale. With
the coming of dawn the clouds beneath us became a glorious
sea of gold and silver, soft and beautiful; but they could
not deceive us as to the blackness and the terrors of the
storm-lashed ocean which they hid.

I was at breakfast when my chief engineer entered and
saluted. His face was grave, and I thought he was even a
trifle paler than usual.

"Well?" I asked.

He drew the back of his forefinger nervously across his brow
in a gesture that was habitual with him in moments of mental
stress.

"The gravitation-screen generators, sir," he said. "Number
one went to the bad about an hour and a half ago. We have
been working upon it steadily since; but I have to report,
sir, that it is beyond repair."

"Number two will keep us supplied," I answered. "In the
meantime we will send a wireless for relief."

"But that is the trouble, sir," he went on. "Number two has
stopped. I knew it would come, sir. I made a report on