The Monticellonian., 1915-09-30

no,o bv the sentry who entered "Ie. . the submarine suit while pe' ma. ,..bIo b himself together after his rslnA' A'', trip. :, ..bte rose and saluted as Del Mar himseli t en tered He returned the saiu'e " af cuietlv made his way to the nead ~ the table where he took seat "''' rally . r,uet
 This is the area in which we mus work first of all. he began, dra"lne toward him a book and opening And we must strike quickly, TOT II they heed the advice in this DOOR, it may he too late for us to take aoFan, taoe of their foolish unpreparedhesS'
 It was a book entitled "DefehseiesS America" written by a great Ahieif can inventor. Hudson Maxim ,
 Del Mar turned the pages untii ne ne came to and pointed out map no others gather about him, leaning lol- ward eagerly as he talked to thein'
 There on the map with radius oi so1oo one hundred and seventy miles, was drawn q big segment of a circle' with Peekskill. New York, marking the center ,a
 That is the heart of America, sald Del Mar earnestly Tt embraces Ne" York, Boston. Philadelphia But that is not the point. Here are the great majority of the gun and armor fac tories, the powder and cartridge works. together with the principal coal helds of Pennsylvania.
 He brought his fist down decisive Iv on the table. If we hold thls sec. tion," he declared, i've practically hold Americai"
 Eagerly the other emissaries lls- tened as Del Mar laid before them the detailed facts which he was collecting, the greater mission than the mere cap ture of Kennedy's wireless torpedo which had brought him into the eoun- try. Detail after detail of their plans they discussed as they worked out the gigantic scheme.
 It was war council Of a secret advance guard of the enemies or America!
 
 Meanwhile. Del Mars man in his boat. cutting wide circle and avoid ing the Dodge boat carFing the natur. alist. made his way across the harbor until he came to the shore.
 There he landed and proceeded up the beach to the foot of rocky cliff, where he turned and followed trail up it to the top It was the same path already travelled by my captors with me and later followed by Elaine.
 As he came stealthily out from un- der cover. Del Mars man gazed down the stairway He drew back at what he saw. Slowly he pulled a gun from his pocket, watching down the steps with l tense interest There he could see Elaine and myself wearily climbing to- ward the top. our backs toward him, as We covered the men in the cave.
 So surprised was he at what he saw that he forgot that his boat below had been followed by the mysterious nat uralist. who the moment Del Mars man had landed put on the last burst of speed and ran the Dodge boat close to the spot where the aide had left Del Mars.
 A glance into the boat sHtfieed te tell the naturalist that the figure in fl was only dummy He did not pause but followed the trail up the hill until he was close after the emissary ahead going more slowly
 Only a few feet further along the cliff. the naturalist paused too, keeping well under cover, for the man was now just ahead of him. He looked fxedly at him and saw him gaze down the cliff. Then he saw him slowly draw gun
 Who could be below? Quickly the naturalists mind seemed to work. He crouched down, as If ready to spring The emissary slowly raised his re volyer and took careful aim at the backs of Elaine and myself, as we came up the steps.
 But before he could pull the trigger the naturalist, more like one of the wild animals which he studied thar like a human being. sprang from his | concealment in the bushes anC bounced on the man from behind, seiz ing him firmly.
 Over and over they rolled. strug gling almost to the brink of the preci pice
 
 Elaine and had got almost to the top of the flight of steps. when sud denly We heard a shout above us and sounds of a terrific struggle. We turned and saw two men
 Nearer and nearer the edge of the cliff they rolled. We crouched closer to the rocky wall, gazing up at the death grapple of the two Who they were we did not know but that one was fighting for and the other against us We could readily see.
 The more vicious of the two seemed 1 to be forcing the naturalist slowly back, when, with a superhuman effort the naturalist braced himself His foot was actually on a small ledge of rock directly at the edge of the cliff.
 He swung around quickly and struck the other man. The vicious looking man pitched headlong over the cliff
 We shrank back closer to the rocl as the man hurtled through the ail only a few feet from us Down below we could hear him land with a sicken ing thud.
 sort of fascination at the awful sight