The midland journal., 1917-11-02
CHAPTER Vl-continued.

Donald heard him leap into the tor
pedo room below. A moment later his
voice came up the funnel. I'm ready
wfor the lady, sir!" he called.
Donald raised Ida in his arms and
lowered her through the tube.
"After you, sir" said Davies.
81 have assumed command, Davies"
Donald replied.
s'Very well, SIR" said the MILDLY Qui-
etly, and descended. Donald followed
him. AS he jumped for the floor OF
the torpedo room, he heard the scrap
ing sound of f1ippers on the floor above.
But the creaking of the coming tower
door had ceased.
"Were saved!" cried Donald. "Da-
vies, they can't force the coming
tower. OF course not. That sound is
one or two of the beasts who have
come down the matches. You closed
them?"
mo, sir. There wasn't time"
"Then they tried to get through the
coming tower, and hadn't reason
enough to know that they could get
through the hatches!" cried Donald
joyfully.
'Their reason won't get them down
the tube, sir, unless they've got bodies
as slim as ours" said Clouts. "And
they feel like-like barrels, SIR" he
added.
Overhead, the scraping continued
sometimes approaching the tube and
then receding. Presently there came
the sound of a commotion. Donald
inferred that the sea devils had found
the one that he had injured, and that
they were satiating their horrible can
nibalistic instincts. He heard a body
dragged this way and that, and q
dreadful rending.
After IL while the Swishing began
again, aud faint tapping of flippers
against the walls, as if the creatures
were endeavoring to explore the in
terror of the ship. Occasionally 9
faint, phosphorescent luminosity was
visible at the top of the tube. But the
monsters made no attempt to descend
.nto the torpedo room. An idea came
o Donald.
"Davies! Listen to mel" he said
GThey don't know we're here"
''No, sir. / was thinking"
'That they have no sense Of SMELL
eyes, sir"
sand little hearing. At least, that
hey distinguish sounds only as vibra
ions."
"Yes, sir. And of course their sense
If sight must be extremely limited
And so, roughly, that leaves them only
the use of taste and touch, but prob
ably developed far above our own."
"We1l beat them, Davies"
'If that's true as they can't heal
much, / think, if might, sir, I'll play
bit on my mouth organ" said Clouts
"Just low, humming, sir.'
Fright, Clouts," answered Donald
But simultaneously with the frs
notes there came from above a singu
lar sound. It seemed to be very fal
away; it was a single, mellow note, the
G of violin, and exquisitely true. i
might have been a distant warning
buoy anchored amid the tides.
whats that, Davies?" asked Don
aid.
II don't know, sir. The lighthouse
stopped operating when the war broke
out, and the buoys were taken up"
Once more the sound was heard
And suddenly Donald knew that he hat
heard it before, the same note, though
infinitely less powerful. 1t was thu
sound of the finger on the bowl ot
water within the house in Baltimore
The scraping in the passage ended
IN scurry and did not recur. Al
through the night they crouched il
the torpedo room, watching and sleep
ing by turns, and the silence was bro
ken only by passing word and the Oc
casional tunefulness of Clouts' moutl
organ as he played sally IN Our Al
ey."
CHAPTER Vii,