The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-02-22

Unfortunately for MacBeard, ne ndu I,
been unable to learn much more than
this. The last page of the manuscript,
as well as the first. was missing. Mac
Beard was sure that Donald had kept
possession Of them.
Had he possessed them, he would :
have learned that the power of utter
ing these calls rested with the queen
of the swarm alone, a human organ
ism, the type of the race toward which
the monsters tended differentiatng
from them as the queen bee differs
from the worker or the drone.
He had discovered that the search
for food was the one purpose of the
| creatures existence 1t had assumed
religious aspect. Their god, their
altar stone, the sacrificial rite We're
all the souls instructive cropping up
ward, based upon the dominating ami
NAL impulse.
The tune that Clouts had played,
with its discords, had been the deep
sea equivalent of en- artillery salvo.
The terrified monsters had dispersed
in all directions, letting down the cur
tain of condensed hydrogen. Fortu-
nately for the professor, the main por-
ton of the herd had kept together, and |
this afforded him medium in which
!, he could, with difficulty, breathe. But
their rapid movement kept the hydro
. gen stirred up, and he was nearly as
phyxiated before he reached his refuge
within the cave. He did not like in
; haling carbonated jelly.
Seeing Donald and Davies upon the
island, he had attempted to open nego-
| tiations with them. Repulsed, he fed
e in terror, and on rounding the point
( saw Ida alone at the caves mouth. AT
once his scheme was born in his mind.
e Pushing ashore, he entered the cave
Y by the narrow way toward the rear.
r He came upon Ida suddenly, and
: grasping her in his arms, he placed
one hand over her mouth, preventing
r her from crying for aid. Then, drag
d ging her to the top of the precipice, he
4 sounded the assembly call.
Instantly the water beneath began
lie to dissolve. Thick clouds of steaming
Is hydrogen rolled up to the caves roof.
Soon there was a natural passage,
IS three hundred feet deep, from the in
d terror of the cave to the crater below.
IT He carried Ida down the descent.
,r The girl. who had contrived to drop
= her handkerchief, was no match for
IS the professor. She screamed once or
r twice, but the echoes of the cavern abb
sorbed the sound of her voice. And 50
lie she found herself again within the sub
u marine temple.
I,,y. md estn in
:" front of her, devouring her with his
i gaze. He could not understand whence
re this novel emotion in his heart derived
We it's power: and, now that she was his
captive, he did not know what to do
m Geometry. physics, mathematics anc
at the calculus all failed to help solve hi:
ce problem.
Overcome by the presence of tbs
IS woman he loved, the professor STAN
Ill mered like a youth with his first sweet
at heart.
Id "Why have you brought me hereT
ng asked Ida.
"Because-because I-er-I low
you" answered MacBeard.
ne Ida burst into ironical laughter. TIL
Id situation was so impossible that Their
as was room for no emotion but amuse
&c ment. And in that laugh the professo
lot felt a thousand arrows of jealous
on rend him.
Listen to mem he exclaimed pas
ed sionately. you don't know who | ar
ed or what am trying to do. am goin
ne. to obliterate the earth, as it is know
,ht to YOU. l command the Man of tn
ne Future. The Man who is to come. TIL
new race of the sea, which is to swee
lid away the puny monkey-man. And
his want you to share my power with me.
les Ida laughed Historically. She coul
all not help herself. MacBeard glared q
lis her. He did not know what to d.
"You shall see!" he cried, besid
himself with anger. "Yau don't b.
lieve what tell your I'll prove it."
"It doesn't make any difference, pr
fessor. I am not a blackboard" al
Sc swered Ida. "Will you kindly take N
ire, back to the place you brought n
re fromP'
eir "No!' shouted MacBeard. ''You'
ing stay here until you learn to love m
ing Why can't you love me?"
/ Ida's look was touched with pit
the She did not answer him.
MacBeard sounded his tuning for
s a and Immediately the monsters gat
.es- cred about them. The hydrogen hai
the rolled higher, disclosing the entire i
ids terror of the cave, and the idol. Ma
of Beard sounded another fork, and II
ion creatures began edging Ida toward Il
of recesses of the cave.
of "If I sound the sacrificial note 70
die" snorted MacBeard.
ing, Ida, perfectly passive, waited. II
to monsters guarded the entrance. 81
the was alone. Outside MacBeard pac,
ers up and down beneath the sea in fur
in He had encountered problem viii,
ard seemed insoluble.
As Ida waited, all at once mo
ing remarkable object broke upon h
mi gaze. Advancing through the midst