40 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



half -inch twist and the room was filled with the 

 liquid tone of some unknown Senorita, singing a 

 song of old Madrid in a far-off Spanish cab- 

 aret. It was beyond words miraculous to realize 

 that the whole atmosphere above this mighty ocean, 

 so clear and silent in the moonlight of the Sar- 

 gasso Sea, was vibrant with untold hosts of melo- 

 dies streaming past from all over the world. I shut 

 off the radio, went on deck far up into the bow, and 

 looked down into the silvered water, my eyes strain- 

 ing as had those of Columbus. I knew then that 

 all the marvel of our modern inventions, all know- 

 ledge of the restless millions of people on the dis- 

 tant continents could arouse no emotion equal to 

 his, when, four centuries ago, the first glimpse of 

 that tiny light came across the water. 



