The Raymer enterprise., 1918-05-23
CHAPTER discontinued.
III

the crlnold bed. The sea 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 chlldren's plucklng
fingers. At last the bed OF crinoIds
ended. They trod on frmer ground.
Their pace became accelerated.
He had lost all sense Of time. He
did not know whether he had jour
neyed one hour or three. He halted
because there seemed nothing TO do.
Then he began to lead the way back
between the two crinoid beds, with the
intention OF reaching the clear ground
near the entrance to the cave.
There, there might be chance Of
picking up Davies and Clouts; or, at
least, It might be possible from there
to return to the submarine with Ida
TO replenish their oxygen reservoirs.
These still seemed ample, but It was
impossible to determioe 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
aIl his might to break away. Some
times their ankles became entangled
and they would stumble. Always the
arms hal formed a 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 crinold 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 dlsappoin ment In store
for them might prove unbearable.
Death or little life would be the al
tentative, and the difference was hard
ly perceptible
Donald raised Ida's hand to his glass
mask and pressed the fingers against
II.
She let her hand fall caressingly
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 1t chung to them, as
II II. too, sought to suck them down.
The light Of the electric lamps was
Gowing obscure. Tn ~ wandered blind.
". struggling In a medium that was
almost impermeable,
Dona.d began to realize that the ac-
tion of the caustic alkall within the
metallic chamber was becoming ex-
hausted. He was beginning to choke.
Ills breath came In deep sighs, and he
gulped In the thlckening 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 not
20 farther.
Death, horrible In form, awaited
them. 1t was becoming imminent.
Donald was growing delirlous, and In
fancy he was strolling with Ida
through meadows, plucking flowers.
They were to be married on the NOR
row. and he was going to get leave OF
absence to take her away. Where
should they spend their honeymoon!
on the coast of the Shetlands. Why.
he had been there once, long before
All the while he was aware that he
was lying on the bed of the sea, but
his personality seemed divided, and
while one part Of him walked in those
Elyslan fields beside his sweetheart,
the other suffered and choked and
pleaded impotently with blind fate
for aid for his llfe's sake, but
for Ida's.
The girls hand was unresponslve In
his own. Perhaps she was dead al
ready. Donald chafed II, but was
hardly able to distinguish 1t In that
jellyllke environment, which was
thickening perceptibly now.
The fingers were limp and cold.
They were both numbed from the ex-
posure-and Ida was dead. He would
follow her, then.
Slowly and with deliberatlon he un-
fastened the copper cylinder from
about his body. At once the little
electric light went out. II had grown
so dim that only then did Donald re-
member that 1t had been burning.
He unbuckled the headplece and
took of the mask of glass. He flung
1t from bin. A rioment he held his
breath as he felt the cool water-jelly
upon his face. Then. very resolutely,
he drew In his breath.