Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-11-01
While MacBeard believed that he had
himself mustered them

K
| While MacBeard believed that he had
| himself mustered them.
| With the tip OF her periseope just
submerged, Donald steered the F55
Never had he followed SO sbrewdly
| upon an ecelys track. Now 10 pcrL
row 10 slaE3oaTd he followed the
| sound Of the gasoline engines, while
/ Clouts watched them and Davies, Ii
the diving station, sent up an occa-
sionai CHEEKY message.
Night fell and passed. Dawn came
up, although not yestige OF light
| could have been seen, even afioat. A
| so0ty column, hydrogen surcharged
| with atmospheric dust. was passing up
| the Norwegian coast.
| At noon Davies, whose duties had
| not been constant enough TO prevent
| him from enjoying a short slumber,
| begged to take Donald's place. But
Donald refused,
As ne ran the boat his brain ham.
nlered out the clear outlines of lis
| plan. He would lead the herd into
SKIOLD ford, leave Davies in charge.
Kill MacBeard and rescue Ida. Then
he would send her overland southwark
With CloutS, and remain until ship
could arrive with materials TO block
the passage.
The high, precipitous cliffs of the
ford would effectively bar in the mon
STEERS. For few days or weeks the
worlds menace would writhe there like
a wounded snake. Then it would pass.
Donald had no doubt of his plan.
But he did not dare to dream of
Ida; only he set himself resolutely to
the pursuit.
So they drove on up the Norwegian
coast all day, and when night fell they
We're still hard on the chase
Davies called through the engine
room tube.
There isn't much power In the bat
teries, SIR he said. "That salt water
cut our running reserve In half, and
we've been using it pretty freely. The
dynamo coil was injured by the sea
water"
go on. full speed" said Donald.
"MacBeard must have been running
slowly, sir, to save his gasoline. II he
puts on squirt we're DONE"
Drive till the electrics fail, then
We'll come up and use the petrol mo-
tors"
Donald could see by the chart that
they were within twenty miles of their
destination when the speed of the F55
began to fail. She dropped to nine
knots, to eight. The sounds Of the
gasoline engine were growing fainter.
Donald called down the tube.
Bring her up!" he shouted.
"Aye, aye sir!' Clouts called back.
And the F55, climbing out of the
water like sea otter, seemed to shake
the drops from her, and continued I'M
der the moon.
Far in the distance Donald could see
the dense column Of fog, as 1t dis
appeared toward the Norwegian shore
That smoky devil MacBeard had
wrapped himself in obscurity to his
own undoing. He did not dream of
the Nemesis upon his heels.
Hes squirting for Skiold ford"
said Davies.
There's no hurry now" answered
Donald.
Suddenly Davies voice came up in
agitated tones. Donald! !" he cried.
1T looks as if the monsters are fol
lowing MacBeard after all! Don't you
see, they are with him, not us?"
"They wouldn't keep us in the center
necessarily" said Donald. Yesterday
we nearly lost them"
"But then-do you suppose they are
leading US somewhere"
II don't know" Donald answered.
Full speed 7"
Donald, hazarding rocks, drove the
ESQ hard between the mighty walls of
granite. In front of him he saw an
open body Of water, ringed with far
away hills. He was in Skiold ford.
But not a vestige Of the monsters was
to be seen.
Once through that gateway he dashed
the wheel and went On deck. The
quarry had disappeared. A glance as
sured him of that. The limpid water
Of the fjord lay motionless before him.
Behind him the passage seemed to have
closed.
He rushed back into the coming
tower,
"Shut down." he yelled to Davies.
''Tell Clouts to let the anchor GO Mac
Beard has beaten u.s."
Davies, released from duty, rushed
up, to find his chief standing at the en-
trance to the coming tower, a prey to
abiect despair.
Ito be continued.)