The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1918-02-14

and he heard the thud Of a soft body
against the bottom.
The thing-whatever II was-was In
the boatl
Donald leaped forward and clasped
Ida about the waist. She vrithed in
the clutch Of the monster. and there
was look Of intense horror upon her
face. She seemed to be lifted bodily
toward the water. Donald felt the
slippery fingers Of the invisible being
elude his grasp. His hands moved up
and down over q smooth, blubbery
body.
And then he knew what IL was. II
was such q creature as he had seen
in the glass tank In Masterman's
house. but larger and more powerful.
And. giaring into his eyes, were the
two eyes, seemingly poised in the air,
two pupils Of the size Of currants. and
animated by a dlabolical intelligence.
The sun dipped down. and in an In
slant the fog, only partly dispersed.
closed In again. And as Donald
watched, he saw the pupils slowly d.
late In the dim light until they be-
came a. large as saucers.
Then, regulating courage. he dashed
his fist into the monsters face, and
the struggle began. He felt The i'm
pact Of his knuckles on flesh, and IL
gave him new heart. At least he was
fighting q thing Of flesh and blood. and
not a demon.
Ida lay swooning across the seat,
where the monster had dropped her as
II turned to fnce its new adversary.
And In the rocking boat Donald fought
for his own life and that Of the girl
he loved.
For the FIRST time he understood that
Masterman's story was not the dream
Of q disordered brain. but the expert
ence Of one who had striven 10 warn
q skepucal world.
And afterward he understood why
the boat had spun so dizzily long after
the vortex created by the sinking Of
the Beotia had subsided. Even then
the swarm Of monsters must have dis
covered their prey.
Perhaps II was the plankton In the
wafer, the jellyliks infusion on which
they fed, that had brought them there ;
perhaps the presence of drowning
men. Perhaps they had brought the
plankton with them, equipped for
some dreadful journey.
Donald tried to lock his arms about
the Shiny thing, but he could get no
firm grasp OF 1t. And each touch of
the hippers drew the blood to the sur.
, face Of bis skin By suction. bringing
out rows Of reddening spots that
stung. He was fighting a devil fish
with the intelligence Of q man, armed
with invisibilIty, creating overwhelm-
ing horror by its presence alone.
He felt his strength failing him. He
was dragged toward the edge Of the
rocking boat.
He stumbled and fell. He felt him.
self held fast; he felt his ribs were
compressed In a singing wise.
But as he fell his hand grasped one
OF the oars. Donald snatched 1t up
and, with last effort Of desperation,
freed himself for an instant. He
raised the oar and sent the sharp
edge Of the blade crashing forward.
He heard the sound as Of torn bal
loon. The squirming fiippers uncoiled
The boat tipped to the edge and right.
ed itself. A splash followed. Donald
sank down upon the seat.
Then gradually a milky cloud began
to diriuse itself upon the face Of the
waters, till IL acquired the shape Of q
dwarflike body. supine upon the
waves, with the short limbs, terminate
Ing In the webbed hands, budding al
obtuse angles to the trunk.
Donald sprang toward Ida. to shield
her from the sight Of It. He knew
that II she awoke and looked she
would go mad. But she lay uncon
scicus across the seat and did not stir
The boat stopped. There was q con
fused splashlng In the water. The
dead sea-beast was rent asunder under
Donald's Mortified eyes: torn limt
from limb by that abominable swarm
A mottled, plnkish ichor spread itseli
upon the face Of the sea.
Donald plunged in his oars and be
gan to pull with all his might, driving
the heavy boat through the water. The
plankton gave place ~ clean ocean
} again. The sun had set and II YVES
growing dark; with the fan Of night q
gentle wind came up hat began 70 dis
sipase the fog.