The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-02-08
CHAPTER x.-continued.
p

large bone whetted to razor fineness,
and somewhat resembling a grind
stone.
1t rested behind the mound, on a fiat
rock about the size of large table,
and it tapered In thickness from that
of a sharp razor, at the curying edge,
to that of jackknife blade at the
base. 1t was perhaps two feet in d.
ameter.
whats the matter. Clouts?" asked
Donald, seeing the expression upon the
sailors face.
Don't you know what that is, sir7"
volunteered Clouts huskily. "It's a
sacrihcial stone, sir. I saw one of
them in the museum at Acatalpec, in
British Honduras, once, sir. They said
the Mayas used them, and that they
learned about them from the priests
that had them In Atlantis, the CONT
nent what sunk beneath the waves,
SIR
DO you see how 1t works, Donald?"
asked Davies. 'These beasts can't
| lift things. OF course they can't lift
under the pressure of miles of sea, and
so they have no lifting muscles. And
so they push instead. They push their
victims down upon the stone"
That was as far as he had explained
when Donald touched the edge of the
blade with his thumbnail. The flexible
bone twanged, sending forth a sound
| of immense volume. Travelling four
times as fast through the water vapor
as through the air, it seemed to re-
vertebrate under the cloudy roof for an
Unreasonable time, sending forth reso-
nant echoes. 1t was totally unlike the
| sound that they had heard before, and
yet equally clear and beautiful.
The response was astonishing. In
simultaneously, as 1t seemed, the inte-
| rior of the temple was filled with the
devil men. Donald had just time to
! catch Ida to him when they were
pushed backward behind the mound,
and ringed with phosphorescent fire.
The atmosphere seemed to have be-
come filed with tense and resilient
rubber.
The hall was crammed with the glob-
ular shapes of the monsters, that Gid
ed over the well-trodden ooze. And
from the midst of them MacBeard
stepped out. He touched the thing he
wore about his neck, and musical
tinkle, which followed, produced an in
slant cessation of all movement. The
ring of fire had slightly widened; the
prisoners were able to move within
a limited space.
'We know each other, think" said
MacBeard, with suaye irony.
"What do you propose?" inquired
Donald.
II don't quite know" answered the
professor thoughtfully. "You see, l
never took you into consideration at
all. You are, so to say, the fly on the
wheel. AS part of the human race,
you should meet the fate in store for
the race"
"You make me SICK" said Donald.
MacBeard looked rather angry.
you can have your life for the
present" he returned, "but not as a
permanent gift. 1 shall not single you
out to bestow on you the boon of con-
tinuing that constant adjustment to
external forces which Herbert Spencer
has named life In other words, you
can go to the devil until am ready
to take you in hand again, on one
condition"
"Name it, you blackguard," said
! Donald.
81 want the two missing pages of
! Masterman's manuscript"
take us all back to the submarine
| out of this hell's kitchen of yours,
then show US the way to the top of
| the island, and you shall have all the
rest of the papers,"
MaeBeard eyed Donald with amuse-
ment Il offered you your life, not the
Others" he answered. "One man re-
turning with story like Masterman's
would be called a lunatic; two would
awaken doubt; three would be fatal"
And then his eyes fell upon Ida.
She was standing at Donalds side,
as brave and defiant as he. and their
| eyes met. And at that instant some
thing happened to the professor that
upset all his calculations, something at
which he would have scoffed as en-
tireiy incredible.
he fell in love for the first time In
his life.
Science has never succeeded in pene-
trating the mystery OF love. 1t is not
known why one man falls in love at
fifty and another at nineteen; one at
sight and another after five years of
matinees and supper parties with the
object of his alteration. MacBeai1 did
not know why it had happened TO him,
but he knew that it had happened.
And with it there came the universal
instinct to display his superiority TO
the man at Ida's side, in whom he
intuitiyely sensed his rival.
you've played your cards pretty
badly" he sneered. 'You had the Sc
| cret in your hands. and you surren-
i 6ered It to me. You think little more
highly of old Masterman now, don't
your"