Here is a
rock jutting up in midocean--"
"It's in the Baltic, near the Russian coast," snapped Kate, "and I've
no doubt there are mountains in Finland that contain the lake which
feeds the spring."
"How far is that rock from the Finnish coast, then?"
"Two miles and a half," said Kate, quick as an arrow speeding from a
bow.
"Captain, we don't know how far it is from the coast," amended
Dorothy.
"I'll never believe the thing exists at all."
"Why, yes it does, father. How can you speak like that? Don't you know
Lieutenant Drummond fired at it?"
"How do you know it was the same rock?"
"Because the rock fired back at him. There can't be two like that in
the Baltic."
"No, nor one either," said the Captain, nearing the end of his
patience.
"Captain Kempt," said Dorothy very soothingly, as if she desired to
quell the rising storm, "you take the allegation about the spring of
water to prove that Johnson was telling untruths. I expect him here
within an hour, and I will arrange that you have an opportunity,
privately, of cross-examining him. I think when you see the man, and
listen to him, you will believe. What makes me so sure that he is
telling the truth is the fact that he mentioned the foreign vessel
firing at this rock, which I knew to be true, and which he could not
possibly have learned anything about."
"He might very well have learned all particulars from the papers,
Dorothy.
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