The midland journal., 1917-09-21

liberated, not from Mars or Venus, but
out Of the earth's own vitalsl"
Captain Masterman sat bolt upright
as he spoke; he looked like some old
prophet spelling out the doom Of man.
The intense earnestness In his words
shook Paget's incredulity for a mo-
ment, and left him sick with horror.
Suppose that civilization, every.
thing which has gone to make up the
life we know-family love, books,
monuments, parliaments, ships-All Of
it is to be at the mercy Of this rner-
cileSs horde, and that we are going
to fight harder than we have fought
since the days when we held our own
against the saber-toothl Who'd think
or care then whether he was an Eng
lishman or q Dutchman; who'd trouble
whether his friends were white men,
negroes, Hottentots or Chinese, so
long as they were human7 Wouldn't
that make for the brotherhood Of man,
Donald? Wouldn't we set all our con-
victs free? Wouldn't kings shake
hands with anarchists and college pro-
fessors with coal beavers? Wouldn't
class and race vanish like dreams
when the nights over? And maybe
that's what Gods working for, neu-
tenant! -
"But the impossibility, Masterman
Granting the incredible suppositton
that these deep-sea organisms exist,
and could live under pressure enor-
mously increased, and Breathe
"We're supposing that, Lieutenant" !"
"How could they survive the strug-
gle for existence in an unnatural ele-
mentT
Lieutenant, man has existed since
tertiary times, but he never learned
to ~ till 1903. He never went up in
a balloon until hundred and fifty
years ago. Our imaGnations can't
rise to the realization Of what this
generation has done, but our descend
ants will look on US as demigods, and
the Wright, brothers will become
myths, like that chap that invented
cooking, Prom-Prom-"
"Prometheus."
eyes, sir. Well, then, after living
for thousands of years at the bottom
of five miles of air, an ocean Of oxy-
gen and nitrogen, we've found out how
to get up on top of it. They are nv-
ing at the bottom Of an ocean Of oxy-
gen and hydrogen. Suppose they
learned to fly, tool
"You can see what they'd do. Some
of their scouts, who had gone on
ahead, would discover that the dry
land was teeming with food. Food in
such quantities as these hungry mon
sters had never dreamed about. Food
in solid chunks, instead of dissolved
particles of plankton, varied with an
occasional cannibal dinner. And light
by which to capture it-sunlightl No
more hunting down their prey with
phosphorescent torches!
AT first they'd nibble the grass and
leaves Of the trees. But they'd find
that cellulose is pretty indigestible
stuff. Then one Of them would dis
cover dead bird or rabbit, and on
other that sheep and cattle make good
eating, and then"
''Then mani" muttered Donald,
gripping the arms of his chair. The
madman's picture had become dread
fully real to him.
"Other bodies would follow the
scouts, Donald. They wouldn't be
quite adapted to dry land at first.
They'd make their way along the
river beds. They'd swarm up the Hud-
son, the Rhine, the Severn, the Mis-
sissippi. That's what we did, and
even today we haven't got very far
from the river banks. Well, they'd
rest and recuperate, eating the fish
they found, until the supply became
exhausted. Then"
"Good Lord!" gasped Donald, And
then the reaction came. OF course
Masterman was raving mad, the mad
dest member of the March Hares'
club. What a fool he had been to let
the old fellows dismal prophecies get
on his nervesl
He leaned forward and placed his
hand ON Masterman's knee.
OIu you go TO lne navy ONCE Will
the idea of telling that to the secre-
tary2" he asked.
II did. sir" answered Masterman.
'SThen. if may say so without CIV
ing Offense, it Is a mercy that you
failed to secure an interview with
him." said Donald. "Why, Masterman
-er-you know how hard it is to
convince anyone of the truth of any
thing a little out of the ordinary" He
was feeling his way carefully now,
to avoid hurting the old fellow. "Why,
Masterman, If you were to make such
suggestion as that at the navy Office,
they'd shut you up as a-as not quite
right" he said.