The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1917-09-25

He overwhelmed her with sarcasm and
rhetoric.
Ida, however, missed the keenness
Of the points he made. She snw only
mailman, foaming ut the mouth, and
she took pride in her sacrifice She
/ looked back toward Donald She saw
him between the two other figures
! upon the shore, very little, and very
far away.
MacBeard saw the look and under
! stood. He raised his hand again to
strike her, but he refrained Instead,
he reached into the cabin Of the mo-
tOrbOat and took his tuning forks
from under the seat. And by that act
of treachery he wrote the last page
Of his history.
He slung them about his neck, and.
taking the rod. he sounded the G note
to call the swarm together
The note rang true across the wa
ters. Exhausted by their efforts. the
monsters were incapable any longer of
cOndensing the hydrogen, but the I'M
pulse to reply remained. From every
part Of the inland sea they swarmed
toward him.
The sea rose into choppy surge.
The motOrboat. riding the waves like
a cork, heaved and pitched. Ida saw
MacBeard, his eyes aighr with tri-
unph, his face blazing with hatred.
now above her, and now below, as he
sat in the pitching stern.
But the death of the queen had been
the death-call of the swarm; inStinc-
lively they We're aware of it, and the
single purpose that had animated the
herd was gone. Anarchy had replaced
order. The swarm had become mere
blind mechanism, and devoid of pur-
pose.
Anarchy possessed them and it was
furious, as everywhere. SO il is in the
state, when it obtains power. SO in
the human body, when the cells rebel
and organized life flares ont The |
multitude.
MacBeard, seated in the stern, felt |
five sharp pricks upon the hand that |
dangled toward the water. He drew 1t !
back hurriedly. He imagined that
some insect had stung him. Then
Two more seized him about the body.
An instant later, AID he was out of |
the boat, which, released from his
weight and from the sea devils, righted
Itself again. Then he began the strug-
gle for life which he had always
feared. The nightmare that had brood
ed over his dreams had at last come
rue. The Infatuated monsters had
,urned upon the author Of the call
He chung to the gunwale, calling
wildly for aid. He heard Ida's screams.
He knew that her impulse was to save
lin. Perhaps that was as bitter as
he physical torment; perhaps some
mixing Of higher law did reach his
mind before the end.
But If 1t did, it was only q momen-
airy flash Of insight.
He felt the cold embrace Of the leath-
ry bodies. He heard the swapping
avs. He was torn from his hold,
hrieking, and tossed into the air, from
east to beast. His cries were so fren-
led that they even reached the ears
f those who watched on the shore.
He shrieked and fought, but he had
s much chance for life as primitive
ian caught by a herd of dinosaurs.
or a few moments his bobbing body
as visible, grotesquely sprawled upon
he reddening waves. Then it was rent
NIB from limb
1t disappeared, and, fighting over
asst act Of their own drama. They fell
pOn each other. 1t was the tragedy
# the hive--the annual massacre OF
he drOnes; only they were all droneS.
Nature had no more use for them, now
hat their queen was gone. IS
Never had such spectacle been .
cen by man before. The entire face
t the inland sea was tumult Of
ghting monsters. The dead grew into
1sibility as they became thicker. The
eating patches Of white almost OBJ t
cured the waves. And still the fight
ecame more frenzied. O
They tore each other and them y
elves, they dashed the waves into
Dam; animal debris fi0ated from end
end Of the ford. As the dead drift
d toward the shore the struggle be-
anne more fulious In the heart Of the
ea.
Gradually It subsidized. The last Of
,e herd was gone. The battle that
as to decide the fate Of the world
ad been q civil one, and fought out
ithout mans agency.
The lash Of the waves drove the
ght motorboat toward the cliffs. It
'randed not five hundred feet from =
here Donald and his friends. awe
:ruck. had watched the progress OF
le titanic conflict. They ran toward
and pulled Ida from the thwarts. It
I'D seemed incredible that she could \
ave survived.
For long time she lay motionless. :
renched with the brackish water, her
air unbound, she seemed to sleep In
mol -