Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-01-09
CHAPTER Ix.-contlnued.

n0ngt0
.sa crinoid bed. The sea devil had
u. as,nnaored. The water was like a
I .sin unstable jelly. AS they made
! .hI. vav along the bottom of the sea.
w ~ aashy lily arms reached out
Nv them like children's plucking
es.orc At last the bed Of crinoids
-DSod They trod on firmer ground.
Tboir mace became accelerated.
n had lost all sense of time. He
ys MT know whether he had jour-
-oro5 one hour or three. He halted
S.oorse there seemed nothing to do.
Thon be began to lead the way back
between the two crinoid beds, with the
,0+on+fon Of reaching the clear ground
aaor the entrance to the cave.
There. there might be a chance OF
nirtfDg up Davies and Clouts; or. at
taog+ II might be possible from there
.o return to the submarine with Ida
20 ranlnnish their oxygen reservoirs.
These still seemed ample, but it was
,onossible to determine how much
oxygen remained.
Thew threaded the mazes Of the
winding path between the beds, while
f,om either side the f1eshy arms
stretched out to grapple them. The
touch of them was like fiery velvet.
Tho suction of the branches made
them cling. and Donald had to exercise
al his might to break away. Some
fines their ankles became entangled
and they would stumble. Always the
arms had 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 devouring
the substance that covered them.
At length the crinoid 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 disappoin in store
for them might prove unbearable.
Death or a little life would be the al
tentative, and the difference was hard
" perceptibls
Donald raised Ida's hand to his glass
mask and pressed the fingers against
It
She le- her hand fall caressingly
upon his shoulders. She rose to her
feet, and ne 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 It chung TO them, as
il 1t, too, sought to suck them down.
The light Of the electric lamps was
growing obscure. They wandered blind
y, struggling in a medium that was
almost lmpermeable.
Donald began to realize that the ac-
dOn Of the cauStic alkali within the
metallic chamber was becoming ex-
hausted. He was beginning to choke.
dis breath came in deep signs, and he
Their steps grew slower. Ida could
hardly raise her feet. Once she Stun
Oled and fell, picked herself up, and
started beside Donald again; then she
sank down exhausted. She could not
90 farther
Death, horrible in form, awaited
nem 1t was becoming imminent.
Donald was growing delirious, and in
nancy he was strolling with Ida
through meadows, plucking flowers.
1ney were to be married on the NOR
lU"' and he was going to get leave Of
ABSENCE to take her away. Where
SHOULD they spend their honeymoon?
VI me coast Of the Shetlands. Why,
uS uao been there once, long before
AL the while he was aware that he
was lying on the bed of the sea, bst
IS personality seemed divided, and
rn'le one part Of him walked in those
E'!Slan fields beside his sweetheart,
nc other suffered and choked and
s.eaueu lmpotently with a blind fate
.or aid-nOt for his life's sake, but
!, LIE girls hand was unresponsive in
- own. Perhaps she was dead al
tsaly' Donald chafed it, but was
aaEaly able to distinguish it in that
N.Y., sIylke environment, which was
TAehlng perceptibly now.
Ine fingers were limp and cold.
H lucy We're both numbed from the ex-
ss ,S Ida was dead. He would
follow her, then.
.,s SO"Iy and with elaboration he I'M
, sS, the copper cylinder from
So So MS body. At once the little
"a - Ignt went out. 1t had grown
m. UNI that only then did Donald re-
n. that it had been burning.
toot unouckled the headpiece snd
+ -. VI The mask of glass. He flung
hsat Sn Dim. A moment he held his
NM, Sal1 as he felt the cool jelly
h sI s MS face. Then, very resolutely,
ue| in his breath.