The midland journal., 1917-10-19
CHAPTER v.
The Sea Of Jelly.

.
The Sea Of Jelly.
He sank like a stone. No glimpse Of
him could be had. No rescue was pos
sible.
Donald clung to the edge of the
BOAT and scrambled in. He saw the
amazed recognition flame out on 1da's
eace. He knew then that she loved
him, and his impulse to seize her IN
his arms was almost ungovernaDie.
But at the same instant, looking
cast her into the sea, he experienced
the same illusion that had beset him
within the house in Baltimore, and
again outside it-that Of womans
misty form outlined upon the water
Donald made cup of his hands.
'.Davies, fling out rope! he
bawled.
But the submarine was some dis
tance away, and in moment wall
of fog came down, blotting her out.
Ida Kennedy watched Donald with
approval. She had always liked him;
shaken as she was now, his advent
seemed the work of Providence. She
had questioned her heart before she
sailed, for she had known that her
future was of her own choosing
whether it was to be spent with him
or no.
Donald continued to call loudly, but
the F55 was drifting in the mist and
quite invisible. 1t was in fear of this
sudden happening that Donald had
told Davies to make for Fair island
if he could not get a rope to the boat.
Fair island, less than six miles
away, was the secret rendezvous
where the oil-ship and biplane were
to await the F55, the former to re-
plenish her fuel supply, the latter to
accompany her back to the mother
ship.
Donald picked up pair of oars
from the bottom. He realized that he
would have to pull toward Fair island
alone as soon as he got an inkling of
it's direction, with the chance of being
picked up by the submarine when the
fog cleared. But it was approaching
sundown, and the probabilities of their
spending the night in the boat seemed
strong.
He sat with the oars in the row.
locks. AS he allowed one to drift
through the water he discovered, to
his surprise, that it was apparently
plunged into a mass of some jellylike
substance. He dipped his hand into
it and scooped some of it up.
The water was apparently curdleds
like thickened milk, and on both sides
of the boat, which rolled in it heavily
and high in the viscous medium.
AS he withdrew the oar Donald had
the sensation of pulling it from be-
tween the clinging fingers of q child.
He looked down. 1t occurred to him
that he might have got the blade en-
tangled in some marine growth; but
the water was clear, almost black, and
of the same strange, jellylike consist
ency everywhere.
Then, to his amazement, he realized
that the boat was moving!
1t was not like the pull of tow
line, which is a sequence of crescendo
and diminuendo, of starts and jerks,
as the rope grows tight and slack al
ternately. 1t was constant impulse.
1t was an intelligent impulse.
1t was beginning to grow dark, and
to row seemed useless until the fog
dispersed. It was impossible to gauge
the direction. Besides, to pull against
that force would have been arduous,
and to pull with it might have led to
unexpected difficulties.
Donald backed water in experiment.
Instantly he felt the force increase.
It was an effortless, persistent push,
stronger than his own powers, and
Donald realized that he could not re-
Sist it.
Suddenly he felt a stinging sensa-
Z ton on the back of his hand. He
pulled in the oar. Five small, red
spots had sprung out on his wrist, and
the flesh seemed to have been cupped.
\aDonald clapped his other hand down
cn it, and encountered something
clammy and cool, which seemed to
slip away. 1t was like the flipper of
little seal, or, again, like the hand of
a child or monkey.
At the same instant Ida screamed.
Donald a;iw that she seemed to be
struggling with some invisible adver-
sary The boat was tipping danger
ously. Donald flung his weight over.