Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-08-08

81 ( IL
" the inland sea was tNmuit 81
dghting monsters, The dead grew into
visibility AZ, they becAahahe thicker. The
floating ,E3{Shes u white almost OBJ
scurea NE lvgs. And still the insht
They tore each other and them.
elves, they dashed the wages into
foam: animal debris floated from end
TO end Of the ford. Al the dead Drift
ed toward the shore the strusxle be.
came more furious In the heart az the
go.
Gradually It subsidized. The last of
the herd was gone. The battle that
was to decide the fate OF the world
had been q civil one, and fought out
without mans agency.
The lash Of the. waves drove the
light motOrbo0t toward the cliffs. Il
stranded not 1ive hundred feet from
where Donald and his friends, awe
struck, had watched the progress Of
the titanic conflict. They ran toward
It and pulled Ida from the thwarts. It
had seemed incredible TINT she could
have survived.
For Q long time she lay motionless.
Drenched with the brackish winter, her
hair unbound, slse seemed to sleep in
Donald's aruas, while he and Davies
worked frantically to revive her. :.
Davies raised his head at last and
booked at Denald nxedly. Donald r.
fused TO meet his gnSe.
They set 30 work again. For two
hours longer tAey went through the
movements Of the rssuscitation Of the
drowned. They stopped at last, ex-
hausted. Davies laid his hand on Don
AIDS shoulder; this time Il was he
who could not meet. his friends look.
Suddenly they heard Clouts shout
ing, mad with Joy.
"Look, siri Mr.. Davies, look I" b
screamed.
They swung around The girls eyes
, had opened, and there was recognition
In them.
She drew the first faint breath; hes
weak arms stole round Donald's neck.
And in the universal Joy nobody
minded Clouts' mouth organ, as he
blew Home, Sweet Home"
"Hooray!" he yelaed, tossing up his
cap at the linale. "Mr. Davies, SIR, its
just as I told you, isn't IT. We've
brought her back to life, and now we're
going to wake up ourselves"
"What do you mean, Clouts1' asked
Davies.
why, SIR. don't you sect We've
Just been picked up and landed from
the Beotia. And we've been dreaming
all sorts Of deltriums ubout sea mon.
sters, and suchlike. II I might be n.
lowed, cir, ri put It to Captain Paget
Amt we just been rescued after tor.
pedoing the cruiser, sfr7' he asked
"Ain't the whole thing a dream1"
Donald looked up. II don't know,
Clouts," he said. II think you may b
; right. But it's q happy one"
Davies looked at him IN dismay.
do you really mean that, DonaldY"
b asked. '''Do you honestly think that
we have dreamed all thisy
"It's as plausible as any other e.
planation," Donald replied II can't
see why We shouldn't hate. It's too
Qreposterous-all That about the sea
devils and that harmless crank Mac.
Beard, who used to have newspaper
rows with poor old Mastermnn. Al
likely as not we'll see fim haunting
the Inventors club when we get back,
quite ignorant OF the part he has
played in our lives. You know dreams
do do that-they put inconsequential
people into absurdly important POSI-
TONS"
"But-haug It, Donald, how does
Miss Kennedy happentto be here2"
"Why, wasn't she on board the Be-
otia?" Donald replied. 'At any rate,
II It's all true, what have we got to
show for tt?''
He had placed his arm across his
breast, and ut that moment he felt the
crinkle Of 'dampened paper in his inner
pocket. He pulled out-tDe two pages
of Masterman's letter.
Donald unfolded it. 1t was quite
legible, in spite Of the stains of sea
water; but now for the first time he
realized that he held not one page, but
two. They had become stuck together
In some manner, and Donald had not
perused the second page.
1t was in the form of postscript,
and was the last sheet Of the original
manuscript, which Masterman. in his
characteristic way, had inserted after
the first. He had written:
But thank God. Donald, my boy. man
will triumph after all. thought the mon
sters were tnvulnerable. that nothing
could oppose them. But the Lord knew
what he was doing when he made them.
There will be only three weeks of suf-
fertng for man. Donald-three weeks.
For the creatures live for their queen;
they can hardly be said to have indepen-
dent life. They are sterile, like the bees,
and the queen has a lfe-span OF three
weeks alone. When she dies the old
swarm destroys itself. II the queen can
be captured all will be we'll. The queen
has three weeks in which to grow to ma
turity, fulfil the purpose of her existence.
and die. -
What tragedy! OF course time may
seem longer to her, but we deem our sew
enty years all too short. We are saved,
Donald -.
The letter rambled on, bat Donald,