Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-10-25
,anntr as TO separaFe It from the

o{ner constituent of vatef-oXygen.
But, being too unstable to exist as q
separate gas. except under high pres
sure. the oxygen combined with the
nitrogen that sustained the crinoids
and other plant life at the bottom eff
| the sea. The resulting combination
was oxygen and nitrogen in place of
oxygen and hydrogen, or air In lieu of
water.
| Masterman. who overlooked nothing.
had explained all this in his letter TO
Donald. He had also told him of the
means of controlling the sea monsters.
its most rudimentary stage, they heard
sounds only as vibrations.
! MaSterman had discovered. during
those weeks of exploration and imni-
nent danger, that G was the signal for
dispersal. A. on the contrary. was the
assembly call. The sacrifcial bone
knife yibrated to the sound of A, and
it was this which had given the herd
the key-tone of their language
Unfortunately for MacBeard he had
been unable TO learn much more than
this. The last page of the manuscript,
as we'll as the first, was missing. Mac
Beard was sure that Donald had kept
possession of them.
Had he possessed them, he would
have learned that the power of utter
ing these calls rested with the queen
Of the swarm alone, a human organ
ism, the type of the race toward which
the monsters tended, differentiating
from them as the queen bee differs
from the worker or the drOne.
| He had discovered that the search
for food was the one purpose of the
creatures existence. 1t had assumed
religious aspect. Their god, their
altar stone, the sacrificial rite were
all the souls instructive cropping up
ward, based upon the dominating ami
NAL impulse.
! The tune that Clouts had played,
with its discords, had been the deep
sea equivalent of an artillery salvO.
The terrified monsters had dispersed
liz all directions, letting down the cur
tain of condensed hydrogen. Fortu-
nately for the professor, the main por,
ton of the herd had kept together, and
this afforded him medium in which
| he could, with difficulty, breathe. But
| their rapid movement kept the hydro
| gen stirred up, and he was nearly as
| phyxiated before he reached his refuge
within the cave. He did not like in
| haling carbonated jelly.
| Seeing Donald and Davies upon the
island, he had attempted to open nego-
| hations with them. Repulsed, he fled
In terror, and on rounding the point
saw Ida alone at the caves mouth. At
once his scheme was born in his mind.
| Pushing ashore, he entered the cave
| by the narrow way toward the rear.
He came upon Ida suddenly, and
grasping her in his arms, he placed
one hand over her mouth, preventing
| her from crying for aid. Then, drag
ging her to the top Of the precipice, he
sounded the assembly call.
! Instantly the water beneath began
| to dissolve. Thick clouds Of steaming
hydrogen rolled up to the caves roof.
Soon there was g natural passage,
three hundred feet deep, from the in
terror of the cave to the crater below.
! He carried Ida down the descent.
| The girl, who had contrived TO drop
her handkerchief. was no match for
| the professor. She screamed once or
twice. but the echoes of the cavern alb
snrbe6 the sound of her voice. And so
she found herself again within the sub
marine temple.
| MacBeard released her and stood in
front of her. devouring her with his
gaze. He could not understand whence
this novel emotion in his heart derived
| Its power; and, now that she was his
captive, he did not know what to do.
Geometry, physics, mathematics and
the calculus all failed to help solve his
problem.
Overcome by the presence of the
woman he loved, the professor STAN
mered like youth with his first sweet
heart.
"Why have you brought me here?"
asked Ida.
"Because-because I-er-I love
you" answered MacBeard.
/ Ida burst into irOnical laughter. The
situation was so impossible that there
was room for no emotion but amuse-
ment And in that laugh the professor
| felt a thousand arrows Of jealousy
rend him.
Listen to mel" he exclaimed pas
sionately. "You don't know who I am
or what I am trying to do. I am going
to obliterate the earth. as it is known
to you. I command the Man of the
Future. The Man who is to come. The
new race of the sea, which is to sweep
away the puny monkey-man. And I
want you to share my power with me-"
Ida laughed Historically. She could
not help herself. MacBeard glared at
her He did not know what to &c.
"You shall see!'' he cried, beside
himself with anger. you don't be-
lieve what tell you? I'll prove it,
"It doesn't make any difference, pro-
| fessor. I am not a blackboard" an
| swered Ida "Will you kindly take me
back to the place you brought me
fromw
"No!" shouted MacBeard. you'll
stay here until you learn to love me.
/ Why can't you love me"