Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1917-12-21
CHAPTER discontinued.

Donald turned and began skirting
the crinoid bed. The sen devil had
disappeared. The water was like n
thin. unstable Jelly. AS they made
their way along the bottom Of the sea,
the fleshy lily arms reached out
toward them like children's plucking
fingers. At Inst the bed Of crinoIds
ended. They trod on flrmer ground.
Their pnce became accelerated.
He had lost all sense OF time. He
did not know whether he Ind jour
neyed one hour or three. He hnlted
because there seemed nothing to do.
Then he began to lend the way back
between the two crlnoid beds, with the
intention OF reaching the clear ground
near the entrance to the cave.
There, there might be n chance OF
picking up Davies and Clouts; or, at
least, 1t might be possible from there
to return to the submarine with Ida
to replenlsh their oxygen reservoirs.
These still seemed ample, but 1t WINS
impossible to determine how much
oxygen remained.
They threaded the mazes OF the
winding path between the beds, while
from either side the feshy arms
stretched out to grapple them. The
touch of them was like fiery velvet.
The suction OF the branches made
them cling, and Donald had to exercise
all his might to break AWAY. Some
times their ankles became e~ntangled
and they would stumble Always the
arms hal formed n network above
their heads before they could regain
their feet, and these had to be broken.
Under their feet the ooze was white
with the skeletons Of small fish which
the lilies had rejected after devourlng
the substance that covered them.
At length the crlnoid beds ended
abruptly. They rested on the bottom,
seating themselves side by side. Don
aid felt confident that he could find the
submarine. But the delay was sweet,
because the d%isappoin' ment in store
for them might prove unbearnblc.
Death or O little life would be the al
tentative, and the difference was hard
ly perceptIblG
Donald raised Ida's hand to his glass
mask and pressed the fingers against
1t.
She let her hand fall c%aresSlngly
upon his shoulders. She rose to her
feet, and he followed her. They looked
into each others eyes, and, though
they could read nothing there, some
message Of hope seemed to pass.
They plunged together into the sea
of Jelly again . II chung to them, as
# It, too, sought to suck them down.
The light Of the electric lamps was
growing obscure. They wandered blind
ly, struggling In a medium that was
almost impermeable.
Donald began to realize that the nc
ton of the caustic alkali within the
metallic chamber was becoming eX-
His breath cnme In deep signs, and he
gulped in the thickening atmosphere,
Their steps grew slower. Ida could
hardly raise her feet. Once she Stun
bled and fell, picked herself up, and
started beside Donald again; then she
sank down exhausted. She could moi
go farther.
Death, horrible in form, awaited
them. 1t was becoming imminent
Donald was growing d%elirious, and II
fancy he was strolling with Id,
through meadows, plucking flowers
They were to be married on the NOR
row, and he was going to get leave o
absence to take her away. Wher'
should they spend their honeymoon
on the const Of the Shetlands. Why
he had been there once, long before
All the while he was aware that h
was lying on the bed Of the sea. bu
his personality seemed divided, an,
while II part OF him walked In thos
Elysian fields beside his sweetheart
the sther suffered and choked an
pleaded impotently with a blind fat
for aid-not for his life's sake, bu
for Ida's.
The girls hand was unresponslve
his own. Perhaps she was dead n
ready. Donald chafed 1t. but wa
hardly able to distinguish 1t In this
jellylike environment, which wa
th%ickening p%erceptibly now.
The fingers were limp and col,
They were both numbed from the g,
posure-and Ida was dead. He woul
follow her, then.
Slowly and with elaboration he u
fastened the copper cylinder fro
about his body. At once the HIT
electric light went out. 1t had grow
so dim that only then did Donald r
member that 1t had been burning.
He unbucklcd the headpiece al
took off the mask Of glass. He flu
It from him. A moment he held h
breath as he felt the cool water'jel
upon his face. Then, very resolutel
no drew In his Breath.