Middletown transcript., 1918-01-19
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CHAPTER discontinued.
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Donald turned and began skirtin'
the crinoid bed. The sea devil ha,
disappeared. The. water was like
thin, unstable jelly. AS they mad
their way along the bottom of the sea
the fieshy lily arms reached GU
toward them like children's pluckin,
fingers. At last the bed of crinoid!
ended. They trod on firmer ground
Their pace became accelerated.
He had lost all sense of time. HI
did not know whether he had jour
neyed one hour or three. He haltel
because there seemed nothing to do
Then he began to lead the way back
between the two crinoid beds, with the
intention Of reaching the clear ground
near the entrance to the cave.
There, there might be a chance OF
picking up Davies and Clouts; or, al
least, it might be possible from there
to return to the submarine with Ida
to replenish their oxygen reservoirs.
These still seemed ample, but it was
impossible to determine how much
oxygen remained.
They threaded the mazes Of the
winding path between the beds, while
from either side the fleshy arms
stretched out to grapple them. The
touch Of them was like fiery velvet.
The suction of the branches made
them cling, and Donald had to exercise
all his might to break away. Some
times their ankles became entangled
and they would stumble. Always the
arms hal formed q 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 disappoir ment in store
for them might prove unbearable.
Death or a little life would be the al
tentative, and the difference was hard
" perceptible.
Donald raised Ida's hand to his glass
mask and pressed the fingers against
1t.
She let her hand fall caressingly
upon his shoulders. She rose to her
feet, and he 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 1t chung to them, as
If it, too, sought to suck them down.
The light Of the electric lamps was
growing obscure. They wandered blind
~, struggling in a medium that was
almost impermeable.
Donald began to realize that the &C. |
ton Of the caustic alkali within the
metallic chamber was becoming ex-
hausted. He was beginning to choke.
His breath came in deep signs, and he
gulped in the thickening atmosphere.
Their steps grew slower. Ida could
hardly raise her feet. Once she STUN
bled and fell. picked herself up, and
started beside Donald again; then she
sank down exhausted. She could not
60 farther.
Death, horrible in form, awaited
them. It was becoming imminent.
Donald was growing delirious, and in
fancy he was strolling with Ida
through meadows, plucking flowers.
They were to be married on the NOR
row, and he was going to get leave of
absence to take her away. Where
should they spend their honeymoon?
or the coast Of the Shetlands. Why,
he had been there once, long before
=, All the while he was aware that he
was lying on the bed Of the sea, but
his personality seemed divided, and
while one part of him walked in those
Elysian fields beside his sweetheart,
the other suffered and choked and
pleaded impotently with a blind fate s
for aid-nOt for his life's sake. but ,
for Ida's.
The girls hand was unresponsive in I
his own. Perhaps she was dead al {
ready. Donald chafed it, but was ,
hardly able to distinguish it in that
jellylike environment, which was s
perceptibly now. {
The fingers were limp and cold. t
They were both numbed from the ex- +
posure-and Ida was dead. He would t
follow her, then. i
Slowly and with deliberation he I'M Il
fastened the copper cylinder from q
about his body. At once the little
electric light went out. 1t had grown Il
80 dim that only then did Donald re- b
member that it had been burning. f
He unbuckled the headpiece and t
'ook off the mask Of glass. He flung Q
t from him. A moment he held his '
breath as he felt the cool water-iellv
lpon his face. Then, very resolutely. 1 D
.e drew in his breath. III
IL
CHAPTER X.
The Cave Of the Idol. :"
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