Carrizozo outlook. [volume] (Carrizozo, N.M.) 1910-1945, 1918-04-19

II will conduct yoh 10 sne prize min
lister az once. Mr.. Pnget," he said. ono
time must be- lost. am going to have
q inxlcab called"
Donald addressed the second sea
lord again.
~ understand" he snid. controlling
himself with nm effort OF Will. every
well, my lord, I shall say no more at
this time. On you will res, the respon-
slblllty. And you will repent this bit
tcrly within a day or two"
And he walked quietly out Of the
office. leaving the second sen lord and
the secretary staring Mt each other. lie
was mt the bottom OF the stairway be-
fore they had recovered their self
possession. Then the sea lord snatchcd
up his telephone.
A curious haze was creeping up from
the Thames, spreading %perceptibly
from corner TO corner. II blotted out
the redncss Of the evening clouds and
hung overhead like a great, smoky
pail. A newsboy rushed past, shout
ing. Donald saw the contents OF the
placnrd that swung before him. II
mentioned n series ~ local explosions
which had been occurring along the
east coast ~ England.
Donald was trying ~ locate n hotel.
lie CROPPED his way from corner to
corner. cllnglng to the ratings Of areas
and pillars Of houses.
He had reached some open spnce,
which he imagined Ia he Trafalgar
square, hut II was Impossible to cross.
Carts, carriages. omnlbuses, stalled by
the fog. doomed up on every side.
Horses stood snortlng lnvlslbly, n few
inches AWAY. Drivers struck out with
their whips promlscuously. Men were
shouting. women screaming. Panic
had begun. All knew that this was not
onc NJ those rare blnck fogs that de-
scend upon London.
Then II WIS that tho news of the
man-monstcrs began to litter through
the crowd.
A man announcing himself, through
n mcgnphonc, to he the police commits
sioner, ordered all TO remain still until
star bombs could be set on. Nobody
needed him. and his efforts to stay the
panic were u%nnvaillng. The mob had
begun 10 now In one direction, sweep
Ing all before II.
Donald had been swept along with
II, and then left, stranded and damned
by the human torrent. into n small re-
cess. In front Of him he felt u parnpet,
lie tore himself away and wns lost
In the crowd. Donald hoisted himself
Ia the pnrapet, scrambled to the outer
coping. and chung there. The shriekina
mob rushed past and never touched
him. Then there came the sound OF O
mighty explosion. n long volume OF re
sounding thunder. II went rolling
down the river like the discharge OF
thousand mo
And then. MS n food from n hose
pipe, n burst Of water from the skies
deluged the city. II boiled through Tho
mir with kissing lnshes, as II the por
tails Of the armament were broker
open. The %grinnlng fnce Of the moor
broke through the smoky pail. Sud
denly the stars appeared. And II wal
calm, clear weather.
A roar of relief seemed to go NJ
from the thronts OF the multitude. An,
very slowly the traffic began to RESUME
It's purse again.
What had happened, ms scientist
Rsterwnrd surmlsed, was this The ny
drpgcn, increasing until It attained
certain chemical relationship to IN
oxygen of the atmosphere, had explod
ed where II was densest, ON contnc
with fire. rs In n laboratory. But IN
explosion instantly generated waite
as the two gases met. Hence followe
the deluge.
But us yet the government was onl
dlmly beginning 10 understand thu
this was some unknown natural fore
and not a continuance OF the enem!