Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-04-24
ed condition. A sailor will starve
quietly, but 60 crazy II deprived Of his

cd condition. A sailor will starve
quietly, but go crazy If deprived Of his
smoke.
"Our slop chest was under water
and the tobacco utterly useless, but
the bos'n had an upper bunk In the
forward house. In which was a couple
of pounds of navy plug, and he and
the sailor talked this over until their
craving for a smoke overcame their
fear Of death.
"By this time all discipline was end
ed, and all my commands went for
nothing. They sharpened their knives,
and, agreeing to 60 forward, one on
the starboard rail, the other on the
port, and each to come to the others
aid If called, they went up into the
darkness. I opened my room window,
which overlooked the main deck. but
could see nothing.
"Yet could hear. I heard two
screams for help, one from the star
board side. the other from the port,
, and knew that they were caught.
What manner Of thing 1t was that
could grab two men so far apart near
ly at the same time was beyond all
imagining.
"'This thing. said to the professor.
must be able to see in the dark
"'Why notT he answered as he put
tered with his wires. Cats und owls
can see in the dark. und the accepted
explanation is that by their power Of
enlarging der pupils they admit more
light to the retina. But that explana-
ton never satisfied me. You hat no
ticed, haf you not. that cats eyes
shine in der dark, but only when der
cat is looking at you-that is. when 1t
looks elsewhere you do not see der
shiny eyes,
ayes I answered.
"A cats eyes are searchlights, but
they send forth visible light, such as
Is generated by firehies und some fish.
Und dere are fish in der upper tribu-
taries Of der Amazon which hat four
eyes, der two upper Of which are
searchlights. der two lower Of which
are organs Of percipience. or vision.
But visible light is not der only light.
It is possible that the creature out on
deck generates the invisible light and
can see by it. Der creature may live
in an atmosphere Of ultraviolet light.
which l can generate mineself. When
mine plates dry may get picture OF
It. Then we may find means OF kill
ing It,
"'God grant that you succeed
But. as said, the thing killed all
but the professor and myself. II there
is anything an oriental loves above his
ancestors 1t is his stomach, and the
cold, canned food was palling upon us
all. We had the turpentine torch for
heating water and some dry coffee In
the stewards storeroom, but not a
utensil of any kind. So these two poor
heathen, against my protest, went out
on the deck and waded forward. waist
deep In the water.
IT could see them as they entered the
galley to get the coffeepot. / did not
see them come out, nor did I hear even
a squeal The thing must have been
In the galley. Night came on, and we
slept us best we could.
81 reused the professor when saw
the masthead and two side lights OF
steamer approaching from the star
board. still about mile away. had
not dared to 20 up and rig that lantern
at the mizzen stump but now | neryed
myself to 20 up with torch, the pro-
fessor following with his instruments.
He had a Wimshurst machine-to gen.
crate blue spark, you know-and this
he had attached to the big deck light,
from which he had removed the
opaque glass. Then he had his camera,
with It's rock crystal lens.
"He trained both forward from the
cabin top and waited, while waved
the torch, standing near the stump
with turn Of rope around me for
safety's sake in case the thing seized
me. No sooner was there an answer
ing blast Of steam whistle. indicat.
ing that the steamer had seen the
torch, than something cold, wet. leath-
cry and slimy slipped around my neck.
dropped the torch aud drew my knife,
while heard the whir Of the static
machine as the professor turned 1t.
"Cse your knife he called 'und
reach for any blood you see!
81 struck us could. but could make
no impression and soon felt another
structure around my legs.
"Stll another belt encircled me, and.
though was clad in woo!en shirts and
monkey jacket. felt these garments
being torn from me. Now l was near
ly bent double.
"And all the time that German was
whirling his machine and shouting to
strike for any blood | saw. Bat saw