The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1917-12-20


the old captain was craxed upon the
subject OF deep-sea life; but he knew,
too, the facts that underiay his letters
TO the newspapers.
He had sent a paper embodying this
subject to the magazine of the Inyen-
tors club. Unfortunately, Hatfield
had won the ballot for the edltorshlp
that month. Masterman's scholarly
contribution had been consigned TO this
waste basket, and the articles In the
magazine had been M follows: "a
King In Masquerade" king James /
as Universal Man. Shakespeare and
the JIM cipher" Bacon and the Mi
Cipher" "What Civilization Owes 10
James l."
When Masternan's proxy ballot won
the editorshiD during his absence, the
printers, instead OF inserting his latest
paper, as he had requested, used a
quantity of his old, unpublished ma
terial.
Secretly EacBeard had known that
the carapaee which Easterman had
brought back from the North was not
that of q stegosaurus. His attack upon
Masterman had been inspired by envy
and hatred He had examined the
relic, and admitted to himself that 1t
was that Of an unknown deep-wster
animal.
His respect for Masterman's abili-
ties increased tenfold.
He had begun spying upon the cap
tain. lie broke into his house while
he was away and read his papers, with
out, however. learning anything Of use
to him. Incidentally. he stole q gold
presentation watch. a Chinese vase of
the Ming dynasty. and q pair of lapis-
lazuli earrings which had belonged to
Masterman's wife.
When MacBeard heard the nrst ru-
mors to the effect that Nasterman's
ship had been wrecked. and that all
on board had perished. he planned to
At out a secret expedition to 60 to the
scene OF the disaster and see what was
to be discovered. Then he had seen
the captain In the dining Of the
| club.
He had been thrown OF his guard
by M~asternan's unexpected return,
had followed him and Donald to the
door of the card room. and had heard
the greater part Of the story. He had
been unable to restrain his eagerness,
and had been detected spying.
Baked In his scheme to get posses.
sion Of Masterman's letter. ne had FOL.
lowed Donald TO the house in Balti-
more. There he had assaulted him
and taken the papers from him. He
had had no intention Of killing Don
aid, whom he despised heartily. Once
the secret. In which he now firmly be-
Iieved. was In his possession, there
would come no reckoning for the as
sault. He saw his way to immediate
rulership over the world.
To do MacBeard justice, he had been
scared away. not by fear of the mon
ster. but by the realisation that Mas
terman's terrific story was true. After
Donald had left the house MacBeard
crept back. He discovered the mon.
ster upon the floor, where ii had pre-
cipitated itself In Its death agony. II
had been disrupted by the internal
pressure. under n normal atmosphere.
He made a quick examination Of 1t,
sat down In the kitchen, and spent the
remainder OF the night porting over
Masterman's papers. In these he
learned much that was essential to his
success.
He read that the creature in the
tank was a young one, which had not
yet acquired the power Of resistance
to an ordinary atmosphere. Nature
was still In process Of modifying her
creation, and, as Is always the case,
the young retained the atavistic dis
abilities. just rs the young Of flatash
swim like other fishes and have one
eye on either side of the head. The
notifications In the physiological
structure come with maturity.
The adult monsters, MacBeard
learned, had already acquired the abil-
ity to exist for an indefinite period
upon the surface Of the sea. While
the young had gills. these became mod
flied into a species Of lung. capable of
breathing both above and under wa
ter. This was a new adaptation Of ma
ture. iiacBenrd hurried back TO the
dead monster. and found the lung al
ready partly formed. That satisfied
him that Masternan was an accurate
observer.