Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-07-25

him of these startling events"
He touched his bell. and his secre-
tary. dapper. ulert little man, at once
appeared. excuse me one moment.
please" said the second sea lord to
Donald.
He whispered with the secretary,
whom Donald perceived to glance
toward him In rather apprehensive
manner. The secretary came forward.
making prepostcrously low bow.
II will conduct you to the prime min
lister ut once. Mr.. Paget," he said. mo
time must be lost. am going to have
a tuxicab cnlled."
Donald addressed the second sen
lord again.
II understand" he said, controlling
himself with an effort OF WILL ''Very
well, my lord, shall say no more at
this time. On you will rest the respon-
ability. And you will repent this bit
terly within day or two"
And he walked quietly out Of the
office, leaving the second sen lord and
the secretary staring mt each other. He
was ut the bottom of the stairway be-
fore they had recovered their self
possession. Then the sea lord snatched
up his telephone.
4. curious haze was creeping up from
the Thames, spreading perceptibly
from corner to corner. 1t blotted out
the redness of the evening clouds and
hung overhead like great, smoky
pail. A newsboy rushed past, shout
Ing. Donald saw the contents of the
placard that swung before him. 1t
mentioned Il series of local explosions
which had been occurring along the
east const of England.
Donald was trying to locate hotel.
He CROPPED his way from corner to
corner, clinging to the ratings of AREAS
and pillars of houses.
He had reached some open space.
which he imagined to be Trafalgar
square, but it was impossible to cross.
Carts. carriages. omnibuses, stalled by
the fog, doomed up on every side.
Horses stood snorting invisibly, few
inches away. Drivers struck out with
their whips promiscuOusly. Men were
shouting. women screaming. Panic
had begun. All knew that this was not
one of those rare black fogs that de-
scend upon London.
Then it was that the news Of the
mnn-monsters began to filter through
the crowd.
A man announcing himself, through
megnphone, to be the police commits
sioner, ordered all to remain still until
star bombs could be set off. Nobody
needed him, and his efforts to stay the
panic were unavailing. The mob had
begun to flow in one direction, sweep
ing all before it.
; Donald had been swept along with
1t, and then left, stranded and jammed
!: by the human torrent, into small re-
cess. In front of him he felt n parapet.
He tore himself away and was lost
In the crowd. Donald hoisted himself
to the pnrapet. scrambled to the outer
coping and chung there. The shriekinc
mob rushed past and never touched
him. Then there came the sound Of n
} mighty explosion, long volume of re-
sounding thunder. 1t went rolling
down the river like the discharge Of q
thousand cannon.
: And then, as food from a hose
pipe. burst of water from the skies
deluged the city. 1t boiled through the
! air with kissing lashes. as if the por-
!; open. The grinning face Of the moon
, broke through the smoky pail. Sud-
denly the stars appeared. And it was
calm, clear weather.
A roar of relief seemed to go up
from the throats of the multitude. And
very slowly the traffic began to resume
its course again.
. What had happened, us scientists
, nfterward surmised. was this: The n.y.
drogen, increasing until it attained a
certain chemical relationship to the
oxygen Of the atmosphere, had explod-
ed where it was densest, on contact
with fire, as in laboratory. But the
explosion instantly generated water
rs the two gases met. Hence followed
the deluge.
But as yet the government was only
, dimly beginning to understand that
this was some unknown natural force
and not contrivance of the enemy.
They did not know until Donald pre-
sented himself in the office Of the sec
ond sea lord at nine o'clock.
The second sea lord grasped him by
;; the hands. sssqs7ssfssss--es~.,,-'
"There isn't time to say more than
that apologize" he said. "The gov.
{ eminent has been searching for you
, since daylight. We've cabled Washing
ton. and they have placed you at our
disposal. You are the only man who
can advise US. and-the prime minis
ter wants you Immediately. And that's
no joke this time!"
t CHAPTER XIV.