Middletown transcript., 1918-03-09

CHAPTER xviIl-continued
H.
I'm your master! Do you know it
nowT" he demanded.
She did not answer him. He looked
ut the red marks left by his fingers
pm her cheek, and the sight aroused in
Rim q fresh, demoniac passion. He
faved. he shouted all the secrets of
mis- life to her. He. the thief, the
outlaw. had conquered the world!
Why should he fulfill. his compact to
keep the monsters within the bounds
Of Skiold fjord7
He had at first intended to. He had
abandoned, under the sway Of his pas
sion for the girl, his dreams Of world
conquest With Ida's love, he had even
indulged In the idea Of becoming an
ordinary man. He had meant to take
her to America and lose his identity
there in some peaceful existence.
He had recognized that 1t is this
same impulse which fills the world
with oxen for men, patient beasts who
might, with single-hearted purpose, be-
come lords Of their fate. But he had
weighed his new hopes with the past
and found them heavier.
Then the girls GOODNESS, her indif-
ference, had convinced him that win
ming love was quite different from in
venting scientific apparatus and dis
covering new laws. During the long,
silent voyage to Norway he had real
tied that he could never win her. He
could embrace only cold form whose
heart was anOther's.
And, with the awakening from his
dream, the worst in the man-if one
quality was worse than anOther-had
come to the top. He meant to keep
Ida and still achieve his purpose.
Donald's maneuver in bringing the
herd to Norway by the submarine
method had completely deceived Mac
Beard. He had thought all along that
the monsters had followed his motor
boat in obedience to his tuning fork.
He had not heard the call Of the
queen, because its swift vibrations
were audible as sound only for very
limited distance, in spite Of their effect
upon the men of the F55.
Now he resolved to lead the herd
back to the European shores and COM
plete his work Of destruction. He had
scattered the obsolete navy that was
sent out against him. He would go on
ward with no idea of mercy. He would
annihilate humanity. He would make
himself sole master of mankind.
And Ida should be his mate, but
not his equal, Us he had planned. He
would vent his rage on her. He would
teach her his powers. When he was
the only other human being existent,
then perhaps she would begin to I'M
derstand. He shouted all this to her.
He overwhelmed her with sarcasm and
rhetoric.
Ida, however, missed the keenness
of the points he made. She saw only
q mailman, foaming at 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
tiers. Exhausted by their efforts. the
monsters were incapable any longer of
condensing the hydrogen, but the i'm
pulse to reply remained. From every
mart of the inland sea they swarmed
toward him.
The sea rose into a choppy surge.
The motorboat, riding the waves like
a cork, heaved and pitched. Ida saw
MacBeard. his eyes alight with tri-
umph, 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; insttnc-
tivelv they were aware of 1t, 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 1t was
furious. as everywhere. So it is in the
state, when it obtains power. So in
the human body, when the cells rebel
and organized life flares out. The
swarm came on, q mere discOrdant
multitude.
MacBeard, seated in the stern, felt
five sharp pricks upon the hand that
dangled toward the water. He drew it
back hurriedly. He imagined that
some insect had stung him. Then a
thinner dashed him across the face.
Two more seized him about the body.
An instant later, and he was out Of
hhe boat. which, released from his
weight and from the sea devils, righted
1tself again. Then he began the strug-
ole for life which he had always
feared. The nightmare that had brood
cd over his dreams had at last come
+rue. The Infatuated monsters had
turned 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
him. Perhaps that was as bitter as
the physical torment; perhaps some
,nkling of higher law did reach his
mind before the end.
~ L. <l;xl mas only n f1nmoHA-