Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-06-13

NAL blend Of man and tiger. 1t had
been done with the plants.
But he was too old. He would be
seventy before this plan could be cur
ried to perfection. And then 1t was
improbable that the details would
work out as he anticipated. His final
iden came through Masterman.
Mastermnn was one of the many
men whom he had broken in his days
of power. But Musterman was of
different culiber from the rest. Mas
termnn had tried to come back, and
had almost succeeded.
MacBeard, Mt first contemptuous of
the old dreamer, came ut last to watch
Masterman uneaslly. He knew that
the old captain was crnZed upon the
subject Of deep-sea life; but he knew.
too, the facts TINT underlay his letters
to the newspapers.
He had sent paper embodying this
subject to the magazine of the Inven-
tors club. Unfortunately, Hatfield
had won the ballot for the editorshIo
that month. Masterman's scholarly
contribution had been consigned to the
waste basket, and the articles in the
magazine had been as follows: "a
King in Masquerade" "king james l
us Universal Man," shakespeare and
the JIM cipher" Bacon G.d the NIL
Cipher" what Civilization Owes to
Junes t.
When Masterman's proxy ballot won
! the editOrship during his absence. the
printers, instead of inserting his latest
paper, as he had requested. used u
| quantity Of his old unpublished ma
| terinl.
Secretly MacBeard had known thnt
the carapace which Masterman had
brought back from the North was not
that Of rtegOsaurus. His attack upon
Masterman had been inspired by envy
and hatred. He had examined the
relic, and admitted to himself that II
was that of an unknown deep-water
animal.
His respect for Masterman's abili.
ties increased tenfold.
He had begun spying upon the cap.
tain. He broke into his house while
he was away and rend his papers, with.
out. however, learning anything Of use
to him. Incidentally, he stole gold
presentation watch. q Chinese vase of
the Ming dynasty, and pair of lapis-
lazuli earrings which had belonged to
Masterman's wife.
When MacBeard heard the first ru-
mOrs to the effect that Masterman's
ship had been wrecked. and that all
on board had persisted. he planned to
fit out secret expedition to go to the
scene of the disaster and see what was
to be discovered. Then he had seen
the captain in the dining room of the
club.
He had been thrown off his guard
by Masterman's unexpected return.
had followed him and Donald to the
door of the card room, and had heard
the greater part of the story. He had
been unable to restrain his eagerness.
and had been detected spying.
Baked in his scheme to get posses.
sion of Mnsterman's letter, he had fol-
lowed Donald to the house in Balti.
more. There he had assaulted him
and taken the papers from him. He
had had no intention Of killing Don
add whom he despfsed heartily. Once
/ the secret, in which he now firmly be-
lieved, was in his possession, there
would come no reckoning for the as.
sault. He saw his way to immediate
rulership over the world.
To do MacBeard justice, he had been
scared away, not by fear Of the mon.
ster, but by the realization that Mas.
terman's terrific story was true. After
Donald had left the house MacBeard
crept back. He discovered the mon.
ster upon the floor, where 1t had pre-
cipitated itself in its death agony. 1t
had been disrupted by the internal
pressure, under normal atmosphere.
He made quick examination of it,
sat down in the kitchen, and spent the
remainder Of the night porting over
Masterman's papers. In these he
learned much that was essential to his
success.
He read that the creature in the
/ s<ahh "uS youuS OuC, "uiSu uuu uot
yet acquired the power of resistance
| to an ordinary atmosphere. Nature
was still in process Of modifying her
creation. and, as is always the case,
the young retained the atavistic dis.
abilities, just as the young Of fatfsh
swim like other fishes and have one
eye on either side of the head. The
notifications in the physiological
structure come with maturity.
The adult monsters, MacBeard
learned, had already acquired the abil-
ity to exist for an indefinite period
upon the surface of the sea. While
the young had gills, these became mod.
flied into species Of lung, capable of
breathing both above and under wa
ter. This was new adaptation Of ma
ture. MacBeard hurried back to the
| dead monster, and found the lung al
ready partly formed. That satisfied
him that Masterman was an accurate
observer.
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